Reviews tagging 'Police brutality'

The Alienist by Caleb Carr

14 reviews

jhbandcats's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

As a fan of Caleb Carr, I was floored to see a recent interview where he announced he had terminal cancer. He was describing his newest book, My Beloved Monster, a memoir of his life with a semi-feral cat which also addressed his abusive childhood. Because I loved both cats and Carr, I had to read that book. 

I finished the memoir a few days ago and immediately started The Alienist. When I first read it, Google didn’t exist and I knew nothing of Carr’s history. Reading it now was a very different experience than in 1994. I understood Carr’s references and had images of old New York at my fingertips, able to see High Bridge Tower, Croton Reservoir, and other landmarks. 

I could see Carr’s childhood everywhere in the book. His knowledge about alcoholic and abusive parents clearly comes from experience. That and his study of New York City give a vivid feel to the whole book, despite its taking place a century earlier than when written. 

The Alienist is a page-turner but it’s not for the faint of heart looking for a beach read. It addresses class and wealth and education, power and corruption, mental illness and the care of the mentally ill, the desperation that drives children into prostitution, and the violence that results from continued abuse and bullying. It’s a beautifully written story about a terrible time when terrible things happened all too frequently. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Body horror, Mental illness, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Blood, Child abuse, Classism, Pedophilia, Torture, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Excrement, Homophobia, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Violence, Child death, Police brutality, Racism, Sexual violence, and Bullying

sappypatheticm's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Animal death, Gore, Xenophobia, Sexual assault, Homophobia, Murder, Sexual violence, Violence, Kidnapping, Racism, Rape, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Pedophilia, Death, Blood, Child abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, and Child death

Moderate: Excrement, Cannibalism, Police brutality, and Antisemitism

tellingtragedy's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Blood, Murder, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Sexual violence, and Rape

Moderate: Sexism, Racism, and Animal cruelty

itsjadenbaby's review

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.

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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. 

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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

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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

ezahn17's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Blood, Body horror, Child death, and Murder

Minor: Racism and Police brutality

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

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. 

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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

carrionkid's review against another edition

2.5

Well that sure was a novel

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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