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9.31k reviews for:
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
Erik Larson
3.87 AVERAGE
9.31k reviews for:
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
Erik Larson
3.87 AVERAGE
It was a good story, but dubious history. I am not a fan of the "non-fiction novel" style. In fact, I found the most compelling part of the book to be the search for the Pitezel children at the end, not just for the nature of the hunt, but because it was presented as actual facts rather than the supposition of what people might have been thinking at the time.
In the end, the most interesting part of the book was the ways in which the fair did actually change the country.
In the end, the most interesting part of the book was the ways in which the fair did actually change the country.
adventurous
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
informative
medium-paced
the choice to tell three different historical events that happened to occur at the same time was initially very interesting to me. i kept waiting for the three stories to converge or overlap to explain the author's reasoning for telling all these stories at once, but it never happened ): these stories weren't really related to each other past occurring in the same period and place. i feel it made the book confusing at times, as there were a lot of people to keep track of.
each story is still interesting and well-written. i think i would've just preferred to read three individual books about each event, rather than hop between the three in one book.
each story is still interesting and well-written. i think i would've just preferred to read three individual books about each event, rather than hop between the three in one book.
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
informative
medium-paced
dark
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
this did not live up to expectations at all :( i’ve been wanting to read this for ages and it was so dry??? maybe it was a marketing issue or a clash with the publisher but it was a hot mess of storylines that had absolutely no relevance to one another. holmes’s sections were so sensationalized, and frankly i did not care about burnham at all. i did learn some cool facts about the fair though!