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nrsolis87's review against another edition
1.0
I’m fairly certain this is the worst book I’ve ever read. I know I’m in the minority, but I really disliked The Alienist by this author, too. In my opinion both of these books were overwritten and arduous. The only reason I forced myself to finish reading this book is because I couldn’t find a single spoiler regarding how it ended and although I hated reading it, I needed to know how it concluded, so I could further hate on this book. Petty Betty is me. I am her. Here are the reasons I hated this book and I’m going to include spoilers for anyone else who just can’t get through this dumpster fire and needs to know how it ends.
1. It’s too long and rambles. Didn’t need 600 pages to get to the freaking point.
2. It’s horribly overwritten with dialogue that adds nothing to the story and is so pretentious it will make your eyes roll.
3. The characters are so cartoonish and their conversations are so cringe that it reminded me of bad day time TV.
4. The amount of times he mentions how you CAN’T TRUST FORENSIC SCIENCE is just absurd. We get it, you hate crime shows and are the best Sherlock Holmes of the new age
1. It’s too long and rambles. Didn’t need 600 pages to get to the freaking point.
2. It’s horribly overwritten with dialogue that adds nothing to the story and is so pretentious it will make your eyes roll.
3. The characters are so cartoonish and their conversations are so cringe that it reminded me of bad day time TV.
4. The amount of times he mentions how you CAN’T TRUST FORENSIC SCIENCE is just absurd. We get it, you hate crime shows and are the best Sherlock Holmes of the new age
mactammonty's review against another edition
2.0
This is an updated character from his first two books. It takes place in modern times but with a similar cast of side kicks. The MC comes across as full of himself at times, turning the book into a long lecture. He also repeats himself throughout the book.
If these long rants were removed the book would have been much better.
If these long rants were removed the book would have been much better.
kimgabriel's review against another edition
2.0
Felt like I was repeatedly stabbing myself in the eye with a fork but I have failed to finish so many books this year I was determined to finish this one. Ay yi yi! It was not bad: I liked the characters well enough and the setting and the plot but good grief! This could have been 1/2 the length and still be in need of a good strong red pen.
hannahgiven's review against another edition
1.0
our time on earth is limited, which makes me even more regretful to have wasted some of my precious time reading this book. this book is a testament to the fact that we do not need more books by white men. whether he knows it or not, this man hates women, and he makes it very clear in his writing. furthermore, he hates fat people and takes every opportunity to make a disliked character fat and include jabs about them going to mcdonald’s. finally, his attempt to write some “diversity” into his book was simply painful. every black character (all minor) lives in a housing project, he makes endless jokes about his partner being asian, and he’s sure to mention that the only mexican character speaks good english.
i urge you, save yourself from the painful dialogue, the 300+ pages that needed to be edited out of the book, and the complete and totally unsolicited guide to how to keep a cheetah in upstate new york (but for real the cheetah thing was so weird).
i urge you, save yourself from the painful dialogue, the 300+ pages that needed to be edited out of the book, and the complete and totally unsolicited guide to how to keep a cheetah in upstate new york (but for real the cheetah thing was so weird).
finocchio's review against another edition
3.0
Really a 3.14159 rating.
Good story and rich characters...however, I was ready for what turned out to be the rush hour of tying up all the loose ends.
I can handle profanity better than anyone I know, having worked in juvenile lock-up and being an ex-hippie. However, the method of applying profanity tended to create one monolithic personality type out of three dynamically different main characters. I won't even mention the fact that the main characters smoked like chimneys and it was pointed out oh way too often.
The use of graduate students to help shed light on a chiaroscuro (ongoing) criminal case bordered on unethical behavior for a professor --especially when considering the enormous benefit bestowed upon the selected 5 students (they got to stop their coursework and didn't have to take an exam and were promised recommendations -- no strings attached except that the chosen 5 had to agree to take up the challenge unanimously and in secret). That just is not ethical or fair.
Another bone of contention: If someone's blind (and I've had a blind lover), you can tell. This is rather black and white. Yet the PhD/MD main character who is a hyper-observant professional profiler couldn't tell someone was faking it even though he romanced her and was intimate with her?
All that being said, I was still engaged to the bitter end and am looking for another chance to watch the dynamic duo in action. Go figure...Profile me as masochist.
Good story and rich characters...however, I was ready for what turned out to be the rush hour of tying up all the loose ends.
I can handle profanity better than anyone I know, having worked in juvenile lock-up and being an ex-hippie. However, the method of applying profanity tended to create one monolithic personality type out of three dynamically different main characters. I won't even mention the fact that the main characters smoked like chimneys and it was pointed out oh way too often.
The use of graduate students to help shed light on a chiaroscuro (ongoing) criminal case bordered on unethical behavior for a professor --especially when considering the enormous benefit bestowed upon the selected 5 students (they got to stop their coursework and didn't have to take an exam and were promised recommendations -- no strings attached except that the chosen 5 had to agree to take up the challenge unanimously and in secret). That just is not ethical or fair.
Another bone of contention: If someone's blind (and I've had a blind lover), you can tell. This is rather black and white. Yet the PhD/MD main character who is a hyper-observant professional profiler couldn't tell someone was faking it even though he romanced her and was intimate with her?
All that being said, I was still engaged to the bitter end and am looking for another chance to watch the dynamic duo in action. Go figure...Profile me as masochist.
diannel_04's review against another edition
I was so excited for this book. What a disappointment. I got 60 pages in and knew I would never be able to finish it. Pages and pages of descriptions of the history of the village had my eyes closing. Horrible.
notenoughbooks's review against another edition
1.0
I don't usually write reviews for fiction, since what people find appealing varies so much that my opinion probably isn't all that meaningful to anyone but me. But this time I needed the catharsis. I wrote out a scathing review detailing my problems with Surrender, New York. And then for no particular reason, just before posting, I indulged in a google's worth of curiosity about Caleb Carr. I had known nothing about him except that he wrote The Alienist and its sequel, which is why I picked this book up with optimism and slogged all the way through it despite steadily-waning enthusiasm. His lengthy Wikipedia entry describes his upbringing in sufficient detail to tell me that the ludicrous plot, poorly-realized characterizations, and nonsensical motivations in Surrender, New York make much more sense as an angry attempt by the author to lash out against his abusive past. The unrealistic dialogue, the racism, and the misrepresentation of psychological "facts" and processes are not clarified so easily, but I can feel slightly less offended by them if I understand that none of that was the author's priority.
"Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about." Unless they wrote about it on their Wikipedia page, in which case you do know a bit about it after all.
As a reader, I was deeply disappointed in Surrender, New York and regret the time I spent on it. As a human being, I sincerely hope that Carr found some solace and/or answers in what seems to have been a deeply personal exercise that inexplicably made it past editors and publishers and into the wider world.
"Everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about." Unless they wrote about it on their Wikipedia page, in which case you do know a bit about it after all.
As a reader, I was deeply disappointed in Surrender, New York and regret the time I spent on it. As a human being, I sincerely hope that Carr found some solace and/or answers in what seems to have been a deeply personal exercise that inexplicably made it past editors and publishers and into the wider world.
vsbedford's review against another edition
2.0
This is not good - overly long, peopled with super unlikable characters, and, ultimately, a real dum dum "mystery."
I received an ecopy from the publishers and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I received an ecopy from the publishers and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
astrozombie's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25