Reviews tagging 'Death'

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

72 reviews

bring_me_a_book's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious sad medium-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Body horror, Death, Child death, Deadnaming, Grief, Kidnapping, Murder, Suicide, and Torture

pagesfromhome's review against another edition

dark informative slow-paced

2.75

This was my first dive into Erik Larson's writing, and while I loved his style (lots of details that really put you in a moment), I think this fell a little bit flat for me. It felt like he just wanted to write a book about the World's Fair, but decided to throw in the story of H.H. Holmes to make it a bit more interesting. From what the book tells, there's essentially no connection between Holmes and the Fair, so pushing them into a book together doesn't make sense.

That said, I loved the sections about the fair and genuinely wish that had been the entirety of the book rather than being pulled between the two different stories. Even though there are times when Larson dives into characters with no real conclusion on them until the last part of the book, he does such a vivid job of building them that you kind of forgive it. All in all, not a waste of a read, but I doubt I'll be reading it again or thinking too much about it.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child death, and Death

Moderate: Kidnapping

dobermaier's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Murder

Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Racism, and Child death

Minor: Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, and Kidnapping

sophialib's review against another edition

dark informative tense slow-paced

4.5

love the way this book was written but a little bit hard to get through bc there is so much information

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Death

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

alicelalicon's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

3.5

---

Content Warnings

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

annabunce's review against another edition

dark informative medium-paced

3.0

Meh. I probably should have just read the wikipedia article about H.H. Holmes. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Gore, Domestic abuse, Body horror, Stalking, Murder, Child death, Medical content, Death, Death of parent, Blood, and Drug abuse

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

crownoflaurel's review against another edition

dark informative sad medium-paced

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Colonisation, and Child death

Moderate: Classism and Cultural appropriation

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Xenophobia, Mental illness, Medical content, Trafficking, and Stalking

alagasianflame's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.0

As one who was more interested in H. H. Holmes than architecture history, let me say the high rating is largely due to the fact that Larson manages to make committees and ledgers equally as fascinating as a man who built his own murder castle without anyone noticing. This is accomplished by the extensive backgrounds Larson lays out for practically every major player involved in the designing and building of the Fair. At the beginning, these winding expositions seem extraneous and, at times I’ll admit, perhaps even a little dull, but they serve as a foundation upon which is built the later trials and tribulations of the Fair’s designers, much of which was apparently caused by interpersonal strife and not, necessarily, pure financial or physical deterrents. By turning flat facts into tragic or triumphant events in the personal lives of the men (and occasional woman) involved, they come alive and make this tale something more engaging than a dusty history text book.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Child abuse, Kidnapping, Racism, Child death, Death, Colonisation, Forced institutionalization, and Mental illness