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justwordsandink's review against another edition
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
2.0
lunahbee's review against another edition
dark
informative
slow-paced
2.0
I wanted to like this more than I did. I did appreciate a lot of the history behind the Chicago World’s Fair. It was the surprising highlight of the book.
geenag90's review against another edition
4.0
Probably one the most detailed and descriptive books I have ever read.
rosamune's review against another edition
3.0
I'm torn about this book. On one hand, the story of H.H. Holmes was fascinating, but on the other hand, I found most of the Burnham portions of the book to be dry. In the end, I enjoyed the book, but it was a bit of a slog to get through, especially the early sections where the building of the Fair was the focus.
There were also a number of instances where Larson's speculation of events bothered me in how he portrayed the feelings of people. A lot of those things can be gleaned from later writings of those same people, but there is nothing but fiction in describing the final moments and thoughts of a woman being murdered.
There were also a number of instances where Larson's speculation of events bothered me in how he portrayed the feelings of people. A lot of those things can be gleaned from later writings of those same people, but there is nothing but fiction in describing the final moments and thoughts of a woman being murdered.
mimsen's review
Other readers seem to love this about the book, but there are just too much details and random facts listed and I don't see, what they add to the narrative and the actual story - unsure what the actual story/purpose of the book is. I am on page 55 and so far the narrativ is just meandering and my initial interest is completly lost. I won't read 400 more pages of this. I gather the idea, when it comes to non-fictional books about history, i just want the plain facts and nothing that reads like a novel.