#bookreview ~ The Phantom Prince: My Life with Ted Bundy by Elizabeth Kendall
Hey Y'all! Welcome to the first review of the year! Hope 2020 has been treating you well and let's get right into this.
My first book review I have ever done on my blog was "The Stranger Besides Me" by Ann Rule. That was actually my first book I have read in the True Crime genre, but to be honest with you, it was not my favorite. Long story short, I felt Rule used her "friendship" with Bundy to her advantage and kicked off her career writing True Crime novels. One thing that did leave me curious from Rule's book was that she mentioned Bundy's ex girlfriend, Elizabeth Kendall, had written a book about her relationship with Bundy. It was no longer in print, but I was like I NEED to read it! Through research I found out that "The Phantom Prince: My Life with Ted Bundy" was going to be back in print at the start of 2020 and I was excited.
Back story: I knew the Netflix movie "Extremely Wicked Shockingly Evil and Vile" was based on Kendall's perspective of Bundy. Little did I know it was based on this book. In the 2020 edition Kendall gives us updates on where she is in life, post-Bundy, and what projects she has been working on since Bundy is still relevant to this day. Also, Molly, Kendall's daughter, writes her story. Bundy was, in a sense, her father-figure growing up, so now we hear from Molly as well.
Let me start off by saying, I'm am really proud of Kendall. It takes guts to report the man she loved to authorities, plus finding the way to sobriety. I know that can be a whole another struggle on its own.
This book was not what I had imagine it to be. Like I knew it was about Bundy, but I felt like I was reading Kendall's diary. It starts off with her explaining why she moved to Washington from Utah and how she met Bundy. They fell for each other fast and Bundy saying all the right things that Kendall wanted to hear. It made it easy for him to start taking advantage of her. From money to using her car, Bundy quickly made himself comfortable in the relationship in less of the year they have known each other.
Fast forward a few years when the disappearances in Washington started to happen, Kendall was having problems with Bundy and she couldn't figure out why. She suspected another woman was involved, but she didn't have any idea what Bundy was actually up to. It wasn't until a co-worker of hers showed her the composite sketch of the "Ted" police were looking for when Janice Ott and Denise Nauslund went missing. Kendall, at first, didn't believe it, but something in her urged her to report Bundy to police. From this moment on, Kendall's inner struggle begins, which unfortunately leads her to have a relationship with alcohol.
Kendall goes on to describe how she helped police when it came to Bundy and how she felt guilty every time she did. She thought Bundy was innocent, despise what her gut was telling, and was only going to damage his future career as an attorney. Bundy had this charm over Kendall, that Kendall believed that this was the man she was going to marry and build a family with no matter what.
Honestly, this was a good book to read, but I do warn you... you will see how fragile Kendall was and how manipulated she was by Bundy. Kendall wanted to fulfill her own timeline so bad, that she ignored all the reg flags and thought about the good times. She didn't want to lose the time she invest in Bundy and thought that they were truly going to have a future together, so she stuck it out. With a failed marriage already under her belt, she did not want this relationship with Bundy to fall the same way.
This book really put into perspective on what society can do to a woman. Growing up in Utah, the norm for a woman was that you get married young and have kids. Kendall, didn't have a career ambition. What she really wanted was to be a wife and have kids. At 24 and divorced, she felt that she was no longer attractive and that dream she had was no longer one to have, until she met Bundy. Bundy made her feel that with him she was going to accomplish that, but in reality, Bundy was only taking advantage of that. Good Bundy was over here playing house with Kendall, but when Bad Bundy was out, he was out there committing the nastiest of murders in history. If it wasn't for that co-worker, Kendall might have never left that relationship or worse.
When I read Molly's story, my heart broke. While her mother did love her, she felt like her mother was so infatuated with Bundy he came before her. There was one situation when Molly was young, in which, she felt extremely uncomfortable by Bundy. From that moment forward, she kept her distance. She didn't talk to anyone about this, since she thought it was no big deal.
Molly also felt an extreme guilt because she lived, while Bundy killed many innocent women. She felt that why did she get the chance to live while many others were killed. Eventually, Molly also followed her mother's footsteps into alcoholism. While none of this was her fault, she couldn't shake away that feeling until she got the right support. Molly did recover from this and lives a normal life now.
Kendall's story just goes to show besides the women Bundy murdered, his doings affected everyone he became involved with. Bundy destroyed people emotionally and physically. This man did not have a soul.
Final Verdict: If you love true crime, highly recommend! You really get to know the other side of Bundy and how women could easily fall into his charm.
Thank you for stopping by! I know I started with a really serious topic, but I couldn't contain myself to postpone this read. Let me know your thoughts and what other books in the True Crime genre do you recommend.
My first book review I have ever done on my blog was "The Stranger Besides Me" by Ann Rule. That was actually my first book I have read in the True Crime genre, but to be honest with you, it was not my favorite. Long story short, I felt Rule used her "friendship" with Bundy to her advantage and kicked off her career writing True Crime novels. One thing that did leave me curious from Rule's book was that she mentioned Bundy's ex girlfriend, Elizabeth Kendall, had written a book about her relationship with Bundy. It was no longer in print, but I was like I NEED to read it! Through research I found out that "The Phantom Prince: My Life with Ted Bundy" was going to be back in print at the start of 2020 and I was excited.
Back story: I knew the Netflix movie "Extremely Wicked Shockingly Evil and Vile" was based on Kendall's perspective of Bundy. Little did I know it was based on this book. In the 2020 edition Kendall gives us updates on where she is in life, post-Bundy, and what projects she has been working on since Bundy is still relevant to this day. Also, Molly, Kendall's daughter, writes her story. Bundy was, in a sense, her father-figure growing up, so now we hear from Molly as well.
Let me start off by saying, I'm am really proud of Kendall. It takes guts to report the man she loved to authorities, plus finding the way to sobriety. I know that can be a whole another struggle on its own.
This book was not what I had imagine it to be. Like I knew it was about Bundy, but I felt like I was reading Kendall's diary. It starts off with her explaining why she moved to Washington from Utah and how she met Bundy. They fell for each other fast and Bundy saying all the right things that Kendall wanted to hear. It made it easy for him to start taking advantage of her. From money to using her car, Bundy quickly made himself comfortable in the relationship in less of the year they have known each other.
Fast forward a few years when the disappearances in Washington started to happen, Kendall was having problems with Bundy and she couldn't figure out why. She suspected another woman was involved, but she didn't have any idea what Bundy was actually up to. It wasn't until a co-worker of hers showed her the composite sketch of the "Ted" police were looking for when Janice Ott and Denise Nauslund went missing. Kendall, at first, didn't believe it, but something in her urged her to report Bundy to police. From this moment on, Kendall's inner struggle begins, which unfortunately leads her to have a relationship with alcohol.
Kendall goes on to describe how she helped police when it came to Bundy and how she felt guilty every time she did. She thought Bundy was innocent, despise what her gut was telling, and was only going to damage his future career as an attorney. Bundy had this charm over Kendall, that Kendall believed that this was the man she was going to marry and build a family with no matter what.
Honestly, this was a good book to read, but I do warn you... you will see how fragile Kendall was and how manipulated she was by Bundy. Kendall wanted to fulfill her own timeline so bad, that she ignored all the reg flags and thought about the good times. She didn't want to lose the time she invest in Bundy and thought that they were truly going to have a future together, so she stuck it out. With a failed marriage already under her belt, she did not want this relationship with Bundy to fall the same way.
This book really put into perspective on what society can do to a woman. Growing up in Utah, the norm for a woman was that you get married young and have kids. Kendall, didn't have a career ambition. What she really wanted was to be a wife and have kids. At 24 and divorced, she felt that she was no longer attractive and that dream she had was no longer one to have, until she met Bundy. Bundy made her feel that with him she was going to accomplish that, but in reality, Bundy was only taking advantage of that. Good Bundy was over here playing house with Kendall, but when Bad Bundy was out, he was out there committing the nastiest of murders in history. If it wasn't for that co-worker, Kendall might have never left that relationship or worse.
When I read Molly's story, my heart broke. While her mother did love her, she felt like her mother was so infatuated with Bundy he came before her. There was one situation when Molly was young, in which, she felt extremely uncomfortable by Bundy. From that moment forward, she kept her distance. She didn't talk to anyone about this, since she thought it was no big deal.
Molly also felt an extreme guilt because she lived, while Bundy killed many innocent women. She felt that why did she get the chance to live while many others were killed. Eventually, Molly also followed her mother's footsteps into alcoholism. While none of this was her fault, she couldn't shake away that feeling until she got the right support. Molly did recover from this and lives a normal life now.
Kendall's story just goes to show besides the women Bundy murdered, his doings affected everyone he became involved with. Bundy destroyed people emotionally and physically. This man did not have a soul.
Final Verdict: If you love true crime, highly recommend! You really get to know the other side of Bundy and how women could easily fall into his charm.
Thank you for stopping by! I know I started with a really serious topic, but I couldn't contain myself to postpone this read. Let me know your thoughts and what other books in the True Crime genre do you recommend.
Talk to you soon!
Marina
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