Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

The Alienist by Caleb Carr

17 reviews

itsjadenbaby's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I liked the use of an Alienist and a journalist as the protagonists of the story. It takes the story to a new place where a cop protagonist couldn’t go. I really enjoyed it, the audiobook is a solid narration.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Child abuse, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Trafficking, and Murder

Moderate: Torture, Gun violence, Hate crime, Blood, Homophobia, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Animal death, Cannibalism, and Police brutality

elenikin's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

It was a little slow to get into but then came together more quickly towards the end. Interesting to follow the characters use psychology to piece together the clues to who the serial killer was, especially during the 1890s. Interesting mix of history, crime, and psychology. Well written, but gruesome. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Murder, Domestic abuse, Blood, Death, and Excrement

Moderate: Animal cruelty

kaitlyn15's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

3.5

I think I went into this book with a lot of expectations, which is never a good start. I loved the TV adaption, so I had to read the novel when I found out about it. The resemblance between the two is very strong, especially in the characters (particularly Kreizler). However, I would say this book was too long. The first half was a bit difficult to get through, until it picked up. There was also a couple instances of slurs. Even if we are aiming for historical accuracy, I just don’t see a need for that. Overall, it was a good book though. The mystery was very well plotted out, the main characters were three-dimensional, and the reveal made sense. I don’t know that I would read it again (and I’m not reading the sequel immediately), but I don’t regret reading it by any means. 
Association Words: gotta stop with the slurs, dark, heavy, kinda sciencey(ish), that baby can fit a lot of trauma in it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Murder

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Sexual assault and Animal cruelty

bxnnny's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

a fairly slow-paced and dense read, but kept me interested throughout. felt like an 1800s version of mindhunter. i found the main character to be one of the least likeable characters (besides the obvious criminals/bad guys) as he often came across as whiny and narrow-minded and i grew tired of his constant need of approval and inclusion by the others. there were also some weird undertones of homophobia and perhaps even transphobia and just general bigotry mainly from him that i didn't enjoy either. i suppose one could argue that "times were different then," but i still wasn't a fan. the writing could often times be pretty dense and over-explanatory, but i become used to the writing style as the story progressed and i ultimately was interested enough in the plot to keep reading. i didn't expect teddy roosevelt to be a character at all, much less play a fairly prominent role, and the book at times just felt like a weird teddy roosevelt fan fiction. which, i guess it could actually be considered one...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Trafficking, Child abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Bullying, Adult/minor relationship, Medical content, Racial slurs, Racism, Transphobia, Mental illness, Murder, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Confinement

Moderate: Rape, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, and Stalking

Minor: Sexism, Sexual violence, and Antisemitism

caidyn's review against another edition

This is the second time I tried to read this and same result. Not into it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Transphobia

brocuspocus's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

One of the most unevenly-paced books I've ever read. A good story, but bogged down by unnecessary exposition and large gaps in development. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Pedophilia, Hate crime, Homophobia, Murder, and Physical abuse

jmross10's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The book was a bit drawn out.

The strongest part for me was the use of history to inform the story, particularly the criminology aspect. It was interesting to see how the characters drew certain conclusions based on early studies and new practices. I especially liked that they tried (at least one) scientific principle that had no real basis. It shows the trial and error aspect of research which suits the subject matter. 

It’s not a fast read by any means but it was an interesting one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Violence, Murder, Death, Homophobia, Animal death, Death of parent, Child abuse, Child death, Racism, Racial slurs, Gore, and Mental illness

Moderate: Excrement, Police brutality, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, and Grief

aileena99's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, and Child death

Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexism, Murder, Transphobia, Homophobia, Child abuse, Racism, and Pedophilia

benfkz's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Child death

Moderate: Murder, Pedophilia, Gore, and Homophobia

Minor: Sexism and Gun violence

elwirax's review

dark mysterious reflective tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

"The defenders of decent society and the disciples of degeneracy are often the same people."

What I enjoyed most about this book was the very vivid world building and its great exploration of psychology, criminology and the ever elusive question of what makes a serial killer. I loved the case report style of the writing, the snippets of hindsight and the historical context which really made the book feel like non fiction. There were also many interesting themes explored such as class division, immigration, lack of equality (racism, sexism) and the birth of new radical ideas in the time period which made the story so compelling. 

However, the characterisation really lacked for me. Sara was by far my favourite in the adaptation but the book didn't always shine light to her greatness. Kreizler and Moore were equally interesting in the show but were rather flat in the book. I think their characterisation and relationships were more developed in the adaptation, the lack of this in the book made it feel like a slog to get through at times with all the info dumping in terms of buildings and the landscape. 

Another major factor that I disliked in this book was the use of outdated language ( n word f slur and g slur). Just because it's historically accurate does not mean I want to read it. 

Overall, the period setting, themes and the mystery felt authentic and kept me interested. However, this was not a perfect book with often problematic language or ideas. The slow nature of the book can be attributed to the concentration on aspects that didnt serve much of a purpose and could've been re-directed into better character building. Therefore I couldn't give it anything above a 3.5. Nonetheless, it was an interesting read that I may return to in the future for the atmosphere alone.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Murder, and Child death

Moderate: Violence, Racial slurs, and Homophobia