Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Alienist by Caleb Carr

21 reviews

turtle_puff95's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Loveable characters? Yes

3.5

I think having watched the TV show first both helped and hindered my reading experience. I'm usually one to read the book first and then pick out how the TV shows or movies for the plot wrong. I think on this case though, it helped because if I had just picked this up and started reading it, I'm not sure I would have finished it. The deaths were brutal, and to children no less. Not really a subject I read often. If I hadn't already known what was going to happen, I could have seen me dnfing this book.
Now I do think it slightly hindered my experience because I kept thinking of the show and wondering why they added certain things that was not in the book.

The man with the silver teeth in the show is obviously a red herring meant to make us think he's the killer. Such a man wasn't in the book at all. Also, the last boy they managed to save in the show was Joseph, the boy Moore had befriended. In the book, he's killed and sent to Moore in a sack 😰

I still finished this rather quickly and the story kept me listening, but I think I listen to things faster the more macabre they are. It's my way of getting them over with faster.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Animal death, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Medical content, Stalking, Bullying, Sexual assault, Mental illness, and Racial slurs

swapacoinforafish's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny informative mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I enjoyed this book very much. The story was gripping and the writing very succinct. I was invested every step of the way and really enjoyed the range of characters.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Gore, and Murder

Minor: Child abuse, Mental illness, Animal death, Child death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Cannibalism, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, and Torture

itsjadenbaby's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I liked the use of an Alienist and a journalist as the protagonists of the story. It takes the story to a new place where a cop protagonist couldn’t go. I really enjoyed it, the audiobook is a solid narration.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Child abuse, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Trafficking, and Murder

Moderate: Torture, Gun violence, Hate crime, Blood, Homophobia, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Animal death, Cannibalism, and Police brutality

elenikin's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

It was a little slow to get into but then came together more quickly towards the end. Interesting to follow the characters use psychology to piece together the clues to who the serial killer was, especially during the 1890s. Interesting mix of history, crime, and psychology. Well written, but gruesome. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Murder, Domestic abuse, Blood, Death, and Excrement

Moderate: Animal cruelty

that_bookworm_guy's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This is a dark story that has a pot of descriptions and explanation of the plot and the history. I've read reviews that have mentioned it's a lot of description and details, but I absolutely love that

The story is long but doesn’t feel as long as it looks. I was a little intimated by the length but it feels shorter than it is. 

I really enjoyed this

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Violence, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Vomit, Body horror, Medical content, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Torture, Blood, Sexual content, Trafficking, Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Murder, Racism, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

katielizroy's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

A super compelling plot but the writing style reads a bit slow. Great book for those interested in old New York City though a lot of the details throughout are a bit tough to read

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Stalking, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Gore, Pedophilia, Blood, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Ableism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Cannibalism, and Death

hambo221's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Death, and Sexual content

jmross10's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The book was a bit drawn out.

The strongest part for me was the use of history to inform the story, particularly the criminology aspect. It was interesting to see how the characters drew certain conclusions based on early studies and new practices. I especially liked that they tried (at least one) scientific principle that had no real basis. It shows the trial and error aspect of research which suits the subject matter. 

It’s not a fast read by any means but it was an interesting one. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Violence, Murder, Death, Homophobia, Animal death, Death of parent, Child abuse, Child death, Racism, Racial slurs, Gore, and Mental illness

Moderate: Excrement, Police brutality, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, and Grief

aileena99's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, and Child death

Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexism, Murder, Transphobia, Homophobia, Child abuse, Racism, and Pedophilia

carrionkid's review against another edition

2.5

Well that sure was a novel

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Murder, Police brutality, Racism, and Racial slurs