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Reviews tagging 'Gore'
The Devil in the White City (Abridged): Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson
29 reviews
k_overt's review against another edition
dark
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.0
The devil in the white city is like most classic literature, informative and uses big words. I had to read this book for an English class and it was one of the books that kept my attention. However at some points the plot was being dragged out unnecessarily for drama. If you want a book that describes historical events in serious detail, and goes into detail about people’s personal relationships of the time then this is the book for you. However, Sometimes it seems like Larson manipulates certain pieces of history to fit his context. For example he makes assumptions about how people ‘might’ have been feeling at the time or why they made the these decisions. This is bound to happen in a non fiction novel because they need to keep the reader engaged. If you want a book that is word for word historical facts, then this book is 80% for you. The beginning is slow because he has to introduce the characters and context so the reader can understand. However this also shows weakness in Larsons writing. One of the reasons I like an author is their ability to give information in a way that doesn’t cause the reader to become disinterested or confused. I don’t like the way Larson paces part one. However in a non fiction writing this form of writing can be seen as a strength. But for a reader like me I had a difficult time focusing on some parts that of the novel. Things that I liked was Larson ability to order events in a way that wasn’t confusing. The way the chapters are ordered based on what is happening is great, and when looking back it makes more sense. Overall the book is okay, and helps the reader learn about historical events in an entertaining way. I hope they make this book into a mini series so that they can truly understand not only the historical information, but also to transfer Larsons unique way of writing onto the big screen. I would recommend this book to someone interested in learning more about history. This book covers the worlds fair as well as the United states first known serial killer. In the past years many people have become interested in true crime and crime of passion. This book is a great for giving the audience a glimpse into the mind of a psychopath. However you might be feeling unsatisfied when the book ends.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Torture, Gore, Child death, and Death
lyssierose09's review
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Medical content, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Gaslighting, Gore, Kidnapping, Abortion, and Torture
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Misogyny, and Pregnancy
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.
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
brittishliterature's review against another edition
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, and Murder
meganpbennett's review against another edition
dark
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
3.0
I read The Devil in the White City on the advice of a true crime-loving librarian colleague. It's interesting, with H.H. Holmes killing indiscriminately around during the Chicago World's Fair, though I started reading the book without realizing that H.H. Holmes was the Devil in question.
The book has lots of interesting detail on the World's Fair - after all, how could Chicago hope to beat Eiffel and his Tower from the previous World's Fair? Enter an engineer named... Ferris.
The book was less graphic than I thought it would be, but there is rather disturbing imagery involving Holmes killing and disposing of the bodies.
I think the book would have been stronger had the author not switched perspectives between Holmes and the builders of the Fair every chapter. I think it would have made more sense for the author to have chosen a time frame - three months? - and written about the building of the Fair, then Pendergast, then Holmes. That would have strengthened the connect between them
The book has lots of interesting detail on the World's Fair - after all, how could Chicago hope to beat Eiffel and his Tower from the previous World's Fair? Enter an engineer named... Ferris.
The book was less graphic than I thought it would be, but there is rather disturbing imagery involving Holmes killing and disposing of the bodies.
I think the book would have been stronger had the author not switched perspectives between Holmes and the builders of the Fair every chapter. I think it would have made more sense for the author to have chosen a time frame - three months? - and written about the building of the Fair, then Pendergast, then Holmes. That would have strengthened the connect between them
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Child death, Death, Violence, Body horror, Confinement, Gore, Torture, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Misogyny, Abortion, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Alcohol and Pregnancy
renbot's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
4.5
An incredible journey where you truly care for the victories and failures of all of the characters
Content Warnings
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
kaitlinlovesbooks's review
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
3.5
I expected to like this more. The writing is excellent, but I was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of detail included about the construction of the World’s Fair. There were far too many names for me to keep track of, especially when it felt like every single one of them referred to someone who was white with blue eyes. I really liked the audiobook narrator‘s voice, but sadly I think this is one time where my comprehension would have benefited from reading the print version instead. I found Holmes’ story to be far more gripping, despite or perhaps because of its macabre descriptions (a couple of scenes are borderline graphic). Overall, this should be a good fit for history buffs and true crime devotees.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Violence, Body horror, Gore, Death, Child death, and Blood
Moderate: Mental illness
Minor: Abortion and Addiction
cassieyorke's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
4.0
Erik Larson is one of the most talented popular historians of our age, and he has one tremendous strength and one glaring flaw. His strength is the breathtaking beauty he injects into every line he can, and his settings are often so realistic that he puts you in the past, whether you want to be or not. But his one glaring weakness is his tendency to get lost in the mundane, filling half of his books with things he himself might find interesting - like architecture or naval engineering - while coming up just short of making these things palatable for the average reader.
Still, White City is one book I'll happily give four stars, since it does such a fantastic job of sweeping you away to Gilded Age Chicago. It immerses you, familiarizes you with lovely details of daily life, introduces you to key players and average people alike, then leaving you to marvel at the unspeakable lost beauty of the World's Fair. He does the best that a twenty-first century author possibly can at conjuring a bit of that long-forgotten enchantment and romance, and I found myself putting the book down and dreaming a bit about what it would have been like at night. He gave me a glimpse of one of those spellbound moments long ago, and put me next to long-gone people when they were still drawing breath - or holding it, like I was. The fact that I had to wade through chapters of engineering and architectural details to get there felt a bit like Burnham must have - building this enchanting vision out of plain old steel and glass and finally getting to see it, just for a little while. Maybe that was the point; I'm not sure. If it was, I'd rather have had just a little more adventure getting there.
The sections about H.H. Holmes were more interesting, if horrifically disturbing. Most people enjoying this book have probably been true crime fans, hoping for a glimpse into the depraved mind of an early serial killer. Maybe they weren't quite as disturbed as I was, or didn't feel quite the same sympathy for his unfortunate victims. It speaks to Larson's talent as an author that he made those young women as real as anyone else, forcing you to care for them like any other living person. So those chapters were exceptionally well-written, if difficult to endure.
Larson has improved his craft since White City, like all authors do, and his later work shows more talent at making the mundane more interesting, blending it better with the substance of the overall book. Anyway, I did love this book and I'd happily recommend it to anyone who wanted to journey back in time to the Gilded Age, to see what life was like in the 1890s. Larson is second to none at transporting his readers back in time.
Still, White City is one book I'll happily give four stars, since it does such a fantastic job of sweeping you away to Gilded Age Chicago. It immerses you, familiarizes you with lovely details of daily life, introduces you to key players and average people alike, then leaving you to marvel at the unspeakable lost beauty of the World's Fair. He does the best that a twenty-first century author possibly can at conjuring a bit of that long-forgotten enchantment and romance, and I found myself putting the book down and dreaming a bit about what it would have been like at night. He gave me a glimpse of one of those spellbound moments long ago, and put me next to long-gone people when they were still drawing breath - or holding it, like I was. The fact that I had to wade through chapters of engineering and architectural details to get there felt a bit like Burnham must have - building this enchanting vision out of plain old steel and glass and finally getting to see it, just for a little while. Maybe that was the point; I'm not sure. If it was, I'd rather have had just a little more adventure getting there.
The sections about H.H. Holmes were more interesting, if horrifically disturbing. Most people enjoying this book have probably been true crime fans, hoping for a glimpse into the depraved mind of an early serial killer. Maybe they weren't quite as disturbed as I was, or didn't feel quite the same sympathy for his unfortunate victims. It speaks to Larson's talent as an author that he made those young women as real as anyone else, forcing you to care for them like any other living person. So those chapters were exceptionally well-written, if difficult to endure.
Larson has improved his craft since White City, like all authors do, and his later work shows more talent at making the mundane more interesting, blending it better with the substance of the overall book. Anyway, I did love this book and I'd happily recommend it to anyone who wanted to journey back in time to the Gilded Age, to see what life was like in the 1890s. Larson is second to none at transporting his readers back in time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Stalking, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Pregnancy and Terminal illness
sace's review
dark
informative
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Gore, and Misogyny
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