Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

73 reviews

alagasianflame's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.0

As one who was more interested in H. H. Holmes than architecture history, let me say the high rating is largely due to the fact that Larson manages to make committees and ledgers equally as fascinating as a man who built his own murder castle without anyone noticing. This is accomplished by the extensive backgrounds Larson lays out for practically every major player involved in the designing and building of the Fair. At the beginning, these winding expositions seem extraneous and, at times I’ll admit, perhaps even a little dull, but they serve as a foundation upon which is built the later trials and tribulations of the Fair’s designers, much of which was apparently caused by interpersonal strife and not, necessarily, pure financial or physical deterrents. By turning flat facts into tragic or triumphant events in the personal lives of the men (and occasional woman) involved, they come alive and make this tale something more engaging than a dusty history text book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Child abuse, Kidnapping, Racism, Child death, Death, Colonisation, Forced institutionalization, and Mental illness

quasinaut's review against another edition

challenging dark informative inspiring slow-paced

4.25

Wow, it's mind-boggling how much research went into recreating a historical narrative like this. Piece by piece, year by year, building by building, we see how the Chicago World's Fair came together and H. H. Holmes racked up debts and misdeeds. 

The pacing was slow, sometimes slower than I'd like, but the level of detail showed how many pieces and people had to come together to lead to the resulting events. On the one hand, I can really appreciate how much of an accomplishment the World's Fair was, considering just how many mishaps it encountered along the way. And on the other, I can be truly horrified by how much Holmes got away with before being caught. 

Plus, it was just cool to learn about the innovations and societal influences that came from the fair. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Death

carriethruplotlines's review against another edition

challenging dark informative inspiring sad medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting and Death

kenley11's review against another edition

dark informative sad tense medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Abortion, Murder, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Child death, Death, and Gore

pins_and_needles's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Murder

lulugirl297's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative mysterious tense medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gore, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Child death, Child abuse, Body horror, Abandonment, Violence, Lesbophobia, Gun violence, Mental illness, Infidelity, Domestic abuse, Death, Toxic friendship, Suicide, and Confinement

ornateapple's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious sad slow-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Murder, and Sexual violence

evetoi's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Colonisation, Death, Body horror, and Murder

amsswim's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

I'm so glad I finally read this, it has been on my TBR for years now.

I am already a big fan of non-fiction literature and historical reads, this combines the best of them both. This non-fiction book read like fiction in my opinion, making it quick to go by. The many intertwining stories were not difficult to keep track of and all interesting. This is for sure one of those reads that leaves you with a greater understanding of the time period (e.g. 1890s) as a whole, and puts into context the overlap of inventions, important figures, and other legendary events.

If you like historical fiction or non-fiction, true crime, or well written books, I recommend this read.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abortion, Murder, Blood, Animal death, Violence, and Death

Minor: Medical content, Misogyny, Child abuse, Dementia, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Racism, and Sexism

samarakroeger's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

My SIXTH Erik Larson book in the span of one month. Dear god.

Anyways, this is probably his most well-known book (and was the hardest to get ahold of on libby). The two narrative threads were both interesting (something that was lacking in his most similar book to this, Thunderstruck). I sometimes got lost in the sea of names (looking at you, architects), but it didn’t detract from the story.  I honestly didn’t know much about the Chicago World’s Fair (or the murders). I would have liked to have known more about how the event changed America (it’s part of the title) and whether it inspired something similar in the future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Trafficking, Violence, and Child death