Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The Alienist by Caleb Carr

22 reviews

sapphic_shroom's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Having watched the TV show adaptation of The Alienist, and enjoying it immensely (superb casting choices all around!), I was very curious to read the source material. Regrettably, that only came to fruition now, partly because the book was hard to find in my country, and I rarely order books online, and partly because my attention jumped from on thing to another, so once I did get my hands on a copy, it sadly sat on my shelf for a full year before I picked it up. 

And I am so glad I finally did. I have a sort of love-hate relationship with historical fiction, and I blame most of it on my short attention span which prevents me from enjoying books that don't hold my interest long enough. I was admittedly worried this would hinder my enjoyment of this book as well, which would be a sad thing considering how much I loved the show. Thankfully, I was hooked from the first chapter and would end up reading nearly a hundred pages or more a day - which is impressive considering my pace of reading. 

Everything about this book is captivating - the vivid historical setting, the inner voice of our narrator Mr. Moore, the circumstances of the crimes our group of investigators is trying to solve, the characters themselves. By the end of the book, I had not only become attached to our main trio - Dr. Kreizler, Mr. Moore and Sara Howard - but to the Isaacson brothers, Stevie, Cyrus, Mary, and so many more. All of the characters seemed thoroughly developed and most importantly - alive. Not many authors are able to write such characters. 

Perhaps if I had slowed down a little and enjoyed the book over a longer period of time, I would've felt more satisfaction in the investigation and the conclusions the characters arrived at nearing the end of the book, but I still felt as if I was in some way investigating with them, connecting the clues and digging deeper into the mind of the serial killer tormenting those young boys. 

The description of New York and its society in the 1890s was very well done and ensured that the atmosphere of the book would be even more gripping. It is obvious that the author put much thought and research into depicting the place and time accurately. 

All in all, one of the best books I've read in a while. I am excited to pick up The Angel of Darkness some time in the future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Child abuse, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

kaitlyn15's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense medium-paced

3.5

I think I went into this book with a lot of expectations, which is never a good start. I loved the TV adaption, so I had to read the novel when I found out about it. The resemblance between the two is very strong, especially in the characters (particularly Kreizler). However, I would say this book was too long. The first half was a bit difficult to get through, until it picked up. There was also a couple instances of slurs. Even if we are aiming for historical accuracy, I just don’t see a need for that. Overall, it was a good book though. The mystery was very well plotted out, the main characters were three-dimensional, and the reveal made sense. I don’t know that I would read it again (and I’m not reading the sequel immediately), but I don’t regret reading it by any means. 
Association Words: gotta stop with the slurs, dark, heavy, kinda sciencey(ish), that baby can fit a lot of trauma in it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Murder

Moderate: Homophobia

Minor: Sexual assault and Animal cruelty

bxnnny's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.0

a fairly slow-paced and dense read, but kept me interested throughout. felt like an 1800s version of mindhunter. i found the main character to be one of the least likeable characters (besides the obvious criminals/bad guys) as he often came across as whiny and narrow-minded and i grew tired of his constant need of approval and inclusion by the others. there were also some weird undertones of homophobia and perhaps even transphobia and just general bigotry mainly from him that i didn't enjoy either. i suppose one could argue that "times were different then," but i still wasn't a fan. the writing could often times be pretty dense and over-explanatory, but i become used to the writing style as the story progressed and i ultimately was interested enough in the plot to keep reading. i didn't expect teddy roosevelt to be a character at all, much less play a fairly prominent role, and the book at times just felt like a weird teddy roosevelt fan fiction. which, i guess it could actually be considered one...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry, Trafficking, Child abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Bullying, Adult/minor relationship, Medical content, Racial slurs, Racism, Transphobia, Mental illness, Murder, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Confinement

Moderate: Rape, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, and Stalking

Minor: Sexism, Sexual violence, and Antisemitism

brocuspocus's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative slow-paced

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

2.5

One of the most unevenly-paced books I've ever read. A good story, but bogged down by unnecessary exposition and large gaps in development. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Pedophilia, Hate crime, Homophobia, Murder, and Physical abuse

rob's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.0

It had the potential to be a great story, but failed to realistically tie everything together.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Torture, Violence, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child death, Gore, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Animal death, Death, and Sexual violence

clemencepct's review against another edition

dark 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? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Rape, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Transphobia, Sexual assault, and Gore

Moderate: Sexism, Excrement, Racism, and Homophobia

braynard's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

I am a huge fan of science-based murder mysteries. I am also a huge fan of period piece. Naturally, this book gave me the best of both world. It was a crime thriller that avoided the cheesiness and stereotypes sometimes encountered in the genre. It also kept a good pace throughout the novel, meaning there were never spots where I got stuck or bored. 

In fact, I managed to finish this book in less than a week. 

There are some content issues within the book. It obviously focuses heavily on death, police corruption, and violence. It also features some of that classic 1890s racism, classism, and sexism. As long as you are prepared for all of those, it's a great read. 

The only plotline I was not a huge fan of was the story of Mary Palmer, Kreizler's maid.

She struggles with speech, so her character in the novel is already ostracized from the main plot. Two thirds of the way in, we fine out Laszlo is in love with her, only for her to die a chapter later. I get that there needed to be some consequences to remind Kreizler of the stakes, but it seemed unfair to me that Mary had to be the one who suffered them.

This is an wonderful book. If you like murder, history, psychology, or all three, please consider checking it out. Or, check out the television adaptation under the same name. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Pedophilia, and Violence

Minor: Racism, Sexism, and Sexual assault

old_murr's review

adventurous dark mysterious sad 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

3.0

I tried reading the unabridged version and I just could not get into it. The audio version was much shorter and kept to just the interesting and adventurous parts. A rather thrilling detective/psychological thriller set in the late 1800s, which was an interesting setting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child death, Sexual assault, and Child abuse

acrosstheskyinstars's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Classism, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Stalking, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Colonisation and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

alih's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Murder, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, and Pedophilia