Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

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

8 reviews

amriherd's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

3.75

Not my favorite Larson, but for my add brain it was great. Murder chapter, fair chapter, murder chapter, fair chapter.  Never left you in one place long enough to get bored. Enjoyed the fair aspects the most, but didn't love the way the Holmes chapters were organized and presented. Great narrator on the audio though.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Murder, Child death, and Violence

bluemaiden's review

dark informative slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

kingsteph's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.25

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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

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

booksthatburn's review against another edition

dark informative medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child death, Death, Death of parent, and Violence

Moderate: Animal death and Torture

reddeddy's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

cupofbooksreviews's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

I have given The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson two out of five stars ⭐️⭐️

A dark and devious book filled with architecture and killings. A mixture of two I never thought I would read in the same book.

This book started off quite strong for me; learning about an architect called Daniel H. Burnham and a serial killer called H.H. Holmes. I find non-fiction books fascinating especially when based around true crime events, although that meant that there were a lot of brutal attacks that happened to a lot of people.

I found this book started to repeat itself quite a lot, especially during the chapters that surround Daniel Burnham and the architecture of the Chicago World Fair. I appreciated that the information was important and relevant however, due to the repeated information I started to become quite bored of Daniel Burnham’s story. 

As I became less intrigued by this book, I ended up reading this book for a fair few weeks which dragged out the experience. I had hoped there was more information regarding H.H. Holmes rather than Daniel Burnham.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Murder, Physical abuse, and Violence

ashley_elizabeth's review

dark informative mysterious slow-paced

3.75

I greatly enjoyed learning about this time period and, more specifically, these two unique experiences in US History. I came in knowing very little about the Chicago 1893 World's Fair, so this was incredibly informative and I felt compelled to look up photos to see more of what  is being described in the book. The story of Holmes, while terrible, was also incredibly fascinating. Would have loved a little less exposition and a slightly brisker pace.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

Moderate: Child death