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mariakureads's review against another edition
3.5
It's been on my TBR since who knows when and after a few starts and stops, I'm done.
Larson wrote a very detailed, and I do mean very, account of the Chicago's World Fair, the atmosphere and history of the time, as well as the serial killer hiding amongst, the glitz, dirt, toils, glamour that the Fair brought to the city at the time.
The book involves a large set of people, all oddly enough interlocked in different ways and avenues and Larson explored and provided so many facts through his meticulous research that at different points were not only quotes provided, but newspaper clippings, menus, images, and witness accounts which some were interesting and others felt staid and dry and I lost interest at different parts of the book.
At times so factual that when the alternative chapters of the serial killer, H.H. Holmes, were introduced, it would sometimes grab my attention for a few pages but it felt odd as I was thrown off a few times by the pacing especially the further I read on to find that while the World's Fair and Holmes were in the same city, there was nothing concrete to tie them together since Holmes was adamant that he didn't do anything or was guilty of such killings—that the disappearances were a happenstance, surely, by his account.
Larson is a great researcher, this I'm sure of, and gave me so much new information specific to the fair and all the people, some later becoming famous in their own right, that all in all, while I had a few disconnects, the book is a solid read.
Moderate: Murder, Torture, Body horror, Confinement, Death, and Gaslighting
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Child death
kingsteph's review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Torture, Child death, Confinement, Murder, Violence, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Xenophobia, Abortion, Pregnancy, Rape, Child abuse, Racial slurs, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Suicide, Medical content, and Animal death
lulugirl297's review against another edition
3.5
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
camilleion's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Murder, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Torture, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Infidelity, and Classism
Minor: Body horror, Gore, Gun violence, Suicide, Abandonment, and Mental illness
reddeddy's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Suicide, Torture, Violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Stalking, Child abuse, Gore, Child death, Death, Drug use, Body horror, Confinement, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, and Infidelity
Moderate: Abandonment, Abortion, Animal death, Blood, Terminal illness, Cultural appropriation, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Chronic illness, Classism, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, and Gun violence
smkelly1997's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Death, Torture, Child abuse, Mental illness, Medical content, Infidelity, Abandonment, Classism, Murder, Child death, Chronic illness, and Colonisation
Moderate: Abortion
Minor: Dementia
renbot's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Violence, Murder, Torture, Suicide, Stalking, Mental illness, Medical content, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Chronic illness, Child death, and Confinement
Moderate: Suicide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, Dementia, Grief, and Gore
Minor: Cultural appropriation and Alcohol