The Darkest Web: Drugs, Death and Destroyed Lives . . . the Inside Story of the Internet's Evil Twin by Eileen Ormsby

4.0 AVERAGE

ladymondedream's profile picture

ladymondedream's review against another edition

4.0
challenging dark emotional informative sad fast-paced
Content warning: this review discusses the sensitive topics that are covered in this book.

Did I enjoy The Darkest Web by Eileen Ormsby? No, I did not. Activities on the dark web are known for being heinous and not something you’d ‘enjoy’ reading about. However, I’ve always found the subject of a hidden internet world incredibly interesting, and this book delivered as much information as I wanted (and more than I really needed).

It’s separated into three parts: dark (dark net markets, or DNM), darker (
murder-for-hire
), and darkest (
hurtcore and CSAM
). While all parts are well-written and filled with information, I found myself with tonal whiplash going from the ridiculous and almost funny part two to part three, which is truly the worst and depraved that humanity has to offer.

I will note that this book is not for the faint of heart, especially part three. I cannot stress enough how important it is to look at the content warnings. It is very difficult to read, and I almost DNF’ed it multiple times for that reason.

That said, The Darkest Web is an intriguing view into a virtual world that most will never see.
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dapielle's profile picture

dapielle's review against another edition

3.0
challenging dark informative medium-paced
_denise_'s profile picture

_denise_'s review against another edition

4.0
challenging dark emotional informative fast-paced

isaiahfawcett's review against another edition

5.0
dark informative medium-paced

hgmmathewrichards99's review against another edition

4.75
challenging dark medium-paced

nix_jinx's review against another edition

4.0
dark informative reflective tense medium-paced

ilycianna's review against another edition

4.0
challenging dark informative mysterious tense medium-paced

philipross's review against another edition

4.0
challenging dark

jazzc1231's review against another edition

3.0
dark informative medium-paced
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abbuelita's review against another edition

5.0
challenging dark informative tense fast-paced
Though everything written here is true, this reads like a thriller. I was immediately sucked into the story of Silk Road and how the entire operation was brought down. The author is an excellent storyteller and does a great job of weaving a narrative. The last section regarding the darkest parts of the dark web is extremely hard to read and I would potentially advise people to skip it entirely and just read the first two parts. The author herself describes how this part was incredibly difficult to write and she almost abandoned it. Overall this was an incredibly compelling peek behind the curtain into dark web activities.