Reviews tagging 'Torture'

The Icepick Surgeon by Sam Kean

21 reviews

chupacobbruh's review against another edition

dark funny informative medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Mental illness, Slavery, Physical abuse, Body horror, and Medical trauma

kbergsten's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Homophobia, Gaslighting, Gore, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Torture, Transphobia, Ableism, Abortion, Animal death, Antisemitism, Child abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Self harm, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Violence, Physical abuse, and Rape

kc_onmybookshelf's review against another edition

dark informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Antisemitism, Blood, Medical trauma, Animal cruelty, and Medical content

Moderate: Murder, Suicide, and Torture

_dasbrot's review against another edition

dark informative fast-paced

2.0

for the most part, this book was alright. it had some interesting chapters — especially the one about the guy who set Russian biology back 50 years, and the Appendix. 
but...the way its written makes some chapters (e.x. the one about Edison and Tesla) very hard to get through because you can't tell whether it was written with actual bias or if that was just the tone, something i found incredibly frustrating. 
he used outdated and racist terms about indigenous people to "stay true to the time" the stories were in, which i felt was unnecessary. 
also the chapter that talked about sex and gender did not mention nonbinary people and used he/she instead of they, so while it handled it okay overall, it was lacking for a book that came out so recently. 
there was also a use of "schizoid" and "OCD" as adjectives to call something "crazy", etc. which is was incredibly disappointing and ableist. 

overall, i don't think i would reccomend it to anyone, but i didn't have a completely bad time reading it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Racial slurs, Medical content, and Mental illness

Moderate: Torture, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Miscarriage and Mental illness

use of ableist and racist terminology where it was unneeded

laurenkimoto's review against another edition

challenging funny informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

Here are some non coherent thoughts on this book as my brain is still reeling from it and the appendix…

The transitions between chapters and delightful little paragraphs that are reminiscent of the “next time on…” that follow tv shows 

Kean’s sense of humour, sarcasm, and wit shine through on occasion to bring some relief when talking about such a serious topic. 

I appreciate that the section breaks in each chapter are little pictures of objects that relate to the content of each chapter. 

The book starts off “easy” talking about pirates but then hits you with the trans Atlantic slave trade. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Transphobia, Torture, and Slavery

Moderate: Ableism, Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Antisemitism, Blood, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Classism, Colonisation, Death, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Genocide, Murder, Racism, Sexism, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pregnancy, Torture, Suicide, War, and Toxic relationship

clarabooksit's review against another edition

dark informative reflective slow-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Slavery, Dysphoria, Xenophobia, Violence, Torture, Medical content, Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Classism, Mental illness, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racism, Misogyny, Medical trauma, Genocide, Colonisation, Child abuse, and Antisemitism

Moderate: Suicide and Suicide attempt

Minor: Addiction and Alcoholism

livdelrosso's review against another edition

dark informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, Mental illness, Dysphoria, Torture, and Pedophilia

reviewsandreadathons's review against another edition

dark funny informative sad fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Medical content, Ableism, Death, Deadnaming, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Transphobia

akazzy8's review against another edition

challenging dark funny informative mysterious medium-paced

4.75

This book was excellent! I was looking for a good spooky season book, and this was really the perfect option for me. It has notes of creepiness and dark themes, but isn't a murder mystery which is a genre I can't stand and really dominates the spooky book aisles. It is extra creepy as it talks about real happenings, and like any history book as a way to educate and make adjustments for a more equitable future.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Xenophobia, War, Violence, Transphobia, Torture, Slavery, Racism, Murder, Miscarriage, Medical trauma, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Gore, Genocide, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Death, Colonisation, Antisemitism, Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Alcohol

While there are many content warnings, I would mention they are stated in more of a detached academic fashion. While there are horrible portions, it is not always written like a story, so readers detachment from some of these acts make this book less "graphic". This certainly is not to say that these warnings aren't still there!

readundancies's review against another edition

dark informative reflective

4.0

This non-fiction read was my kinda morbid. I loved the scientific context mixed with the true crime documentary tone of the writing. 

Let it be known that this is not for the faint of heart. A lot of the more disillusioning and heavy content is covered in a very clinical way, and it can take a bit of getting used to. There are some really coldhearted individuals out there and this book highlights some of the most infamous of the lot. 

It’s so interesting though. I was living for this content. The number of times I said What the fuck?!? while reading was too many. 

At this point I should probably mention that I read this non-chronologically. It’s written in a way that each chapter is directly connected to and leads into the next. But, I was feeling out of sorts and decided to switch things up and read all over the place with respect to chapters. I didn't find it even mildly disconcerting, so I'd say if you wanted to read chapters out of order, it's very doable. 

My favourite chapters in no particular order include: 

• Piracy: The Buccaneer Biologist
• Slavery: The Corruption of the Flycatcher
• Grave-Robbing: Jekyll & Hyde, Hunter & Knox
• Murder: The Professor and the Janitor
• Ambition: Surgery for the Soul
• Malpractice: Sex, Power, and Money
• Fraud: Superwoman.

If you're looking for a science-based non-fiction read with some true crime flair to the writing, I definitely recommend this.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Death, Dysphoria, Gore, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Slavery, Torture, and Violence