Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson

23 reviews

pupsandpancakes's review

adventurous sad tense fast-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Confinement, Murder, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Violence

psdarlin's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Confinement, Gun violence, Child death, Mental illness, Colonisation, Death, Racial slurs, and Kidnapping

Minor: Racism, Stalking, Suicide, Violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, Domestic abuse, Sexism, Medical content, Chronic illness, and Homophobia

eliya's review against another edition

dark funny informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

3.5

this took me f o r e v e r to read 
i started on sept 7th and MAN did it slow me down. took me 11h 46m to read and i was not very motivated to read it, but once you get in the groove it reads like gossip. 

some people don’t recommend doing the audiobook and reading at the same time but i honestly do recommend it. there are some differences in the wording, some paragraphs added or taken out here and there, but it felt like i got the full recounting. 

the author is very clever in the way he kind of leaves little foreshadowing clues - toward the end i think i was a little over the “that was… until” type of wording from him though. omnipresent in the most educated way lol. felt very much like i was living it // a work of fiction rather than an amalgamation of random facts here and there. 

really enjoyed learning about the chicago fair, crazy how many things were just accepted because of the time. i would not have like to be apart of that time lol. 

i made so many notes reading this lol there were so many fun facts that felt so important i’m glad - really glad - i read this but MAN i’m also glad it’s over 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Torture, Violence, and Classism

Moderate: Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Confinement, Gore, Grief, Misogyny, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Sexual content and Terminal illness

stacylaughs's review

dark informative inspiring tense fast-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Torture

Moderate: Violence, Confinement, Child death, and Kidnapping

Minor: Pandemic/Epidemic and Alcoholism

rachelsheplak's review against another edition

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Gore, Child death, Blood, Abortion, Body horror, Gun violence, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, and Violence

kingsteph's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.25

---

Content Warnings

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

adventurous challenging dark informative mysterious tense medium-paced

3.5

---

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

kellyofcali's review against another edition

dark informative slow-paced

3.75

This is a well written book that crosses two related subjects - one, the world's fair, and two, a serial killer. I found both interesting, which means he did a good job, though I did find it dragged on a little long towards the denouement of both storylines. It's also a little confusing what is real vs. not, though I know that bothers some people more than others.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Death, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Child death

Moderate: Infidelity, Pregnancy, Kidnapping, Domestic abuse, Confinement, and Grief

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Sexism

anjadesa's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Gore, Murder, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Blood, Child death, Confinement, and Injury/Injury detail

thepeachmartini's review against another edition

dark informative medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.25

This was hard for me to get into in the first 1/3 of the book, which is basically the background of the architects and the lead up to starting the building for the fair. There are three stories tangled together. The chapters bounce between the two main stories - the fair itself, and the story of H H Holmes, and the story of Prendergast just feels...out of place. It's tacked onto the end of some of the other chapters; the whole tale could take one chapter if filled with the writers flowery language and over-descriptive explanations. It feels like it was an afterthought... "Hey! it's kinda kooky...let's just squeeze it in here." 

I skimmed a LOT of pages about the architects, their gout, bad teeth, and overall poor health. Once we get to actually building the fair and such, it starts to pick up a bit. Once the fair is in full swing, things are interesting - the exhibits, the events, etc. And of course Holmes' story is interesting and could have easily been a separate book (which may have been a better idea than trying to meld the two). 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, and Child death

Moderate: Confinement and Abortion