Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

The Alienist by Caleb Carr

26 reviews

mirrorofneptune's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

This is an interesting book, but decidedly not for me. I found the premise interesting and liked the main cast of characters, but I found myself repeatedly “checking out” and then checking back in as the plot progressed– there were a couple plot detours I think the book could’ve done without that might’ve helped the pacing. I can’t speak to the historical accuracy of the methods used by the investigative team, but some of their leaps of psychological logic really tested my suspension of disbelief. I was honestly done long before we got to the big confrontation with the perpetrator. 

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence, Child death, Murder, Torture, and Pedophilia

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.

---

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

raginsagein's review

challenging dark informative mysterious slow-paced

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

1.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Child abuse, and Child death

Moderate: Alcohol, Addiction, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Drug use, Antisemitism, Deadnaming, Classism, Colonisation, and Cannibalism

that_bookworm_guy's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• 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

4.0

This is a dark story that has a pot of descriptions and explanation of the plot and the history. I've read reviews that have mentioned it's a lot of description and details, but I absolutely love that

The story is long but doesn’t feel as long as it looks. I was a little intimated by the length but it feels shorter than it is. 

I really enjoyed this

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Violence, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Vomit, Body horror, Medical content, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Sexual content, Trafficking, Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Murder, Racism, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

carlaabra's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This was surprisingly good, and I don’t like historical fiction usually. Our narrator is witty (I’ve chuckled) and self-aware, which makes sense given the story is being recollected by our narrator 15 years in the future. I’m not a big fan of the explicit foreshadowing at the end of chapters, eg (I’m making this up) “I felt as though XYZ was looking up, but as I would find out in a few days time, our troubles would only get worse”. Before reading I thought some of the psychoanalysis/profiling would be boring/repetitive (I’ve watched Criminal Minds so I’m basically an expert /s) but it’s been quite interesting. I liked all the main characters and how they bounced off eachother. One gripe is the author’s treatment of side characters, who seemingly exist to be in danger and create tension. Our main characters are too precious to harm, I guess. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture and Violence

Moderate: Sexual violence

katielizroy's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

A super compelling plot but the writing style reads a bit slow. Great book for those interested in old New York City though a lot of the details throughout are a bit tough to read

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Stalking, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Gore, Pedophilia, Blood, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Ableism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Cannibalism, and Death

wanderlustsleeping's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative mysterious medium-paced

3.75

Very glad I finally read this one! Took me back to that forever fascinating to me intersection of philosophy, science, and psychology. I absolutely love the history of those three, particularly in their foundations of past. I particularly loved the breaking down of theories, and how the main characters decided their next steps along the way.

I had no idea going into it just how much history would be involved, and it was formative and delightful, without being too long, or droll. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Murder

Moderate: Sexual violence and Pedophilia

lilias's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Rape, Child death, Sexual assault, and Child abuse

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Xenophobia, Stalking, Racial slurs, Racism, Trafficking, Torture, and Transphobia

sapphic_shroom's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Having watched the TV show adaptation of The Alienist, and enjoying it immensely (superb casting choices all around!), I was very curious to read the source material. Regrettably, that only came to fruition now, partly because the book was hard to find in my country, and I rarely order books online, and partly because my attention jumped from on thing to another, so once I did get my hands on a copy, it sadly sat on my shelf for a full year before I picked it up. 

And I am so glad I finally did. I have a sort of love-hate relationship with historical fiction, and I blame most of it on my short attention span which prevents me from enjoying books that don't hold my interest long enough. I was admittedly worried this would hinder my enjoyment of this book as well, which would be a sad thing considering how much I loved the show. Thankfully, I was hooked from the first chapter and would end up reading nearly a hundred pages or more a day - which is impressive considering my pace of reading. 

Everything about this book is captivating - the vivid historical setting, the inner voice of our narrator Mr. Moore, the circumstances of the crimes our group of investigators is trying to solve, the characters themselves. By the end of the book, I had not only become attached to our main trio - Dr. Kreizler, Mr. Moore and Sara Howard - but to the Isaacson brothers, Stevie, Cyrus, Mary, and so many more. All of the characters seemed thoroughly developed and most importantly - alive. Not many authors are able to write such characters. 

Perhaps if I had slowed down a little and enjoyed the book over a longer period of time, I would've felt more satisfaction in the investigation and the conclusions the characters arrived at nearing the end of the book, but I still felt as if I was in some way investigating with them, connecting the clues and digging deeper into the mind of the serial killer tormenting those young boys. 

The description of New York and its society in the 1890s was very well done and ensured that the atmosphere of the book would be even more gripping. It is obvious that the author put much thought and research into depicting the place and time accurately. 

All in all, one of the best books I've read in a while. I am excited to pick up The Angel of Darkness some time in the future. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

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...

---

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