msbananananner's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
momofwestnpop's review against another edition
2.0
DNF. This book was super informative and gave lots of history which was interesting, BUT, it was incredibly boring and long. I rarely don't finish a book, but I just didn't feel like continuing on!
natbelks's review against another edition
5.0
One of my all-time favorite books by one of my favorite authors. This wonderful book beautifully intertwines historical fact, technical details and murder to create a deeply engrossing read. I highly recommend this book!
leannaaker's review against another edition
4.0
Two stories: one of the World's Fair in Chicago and one of H.H. Holmes, a man who murdered several people in Chicago at the same time. I enjoyed reading this, but as a historical account of the fair, but also as a sort of creepy mystery about Holmes.
afox98's review against another edition
4.0
Interesting juxtaposition between the story of how the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago came about and the story of a serial killer using the fair to lure victims. I'd give the fair part of the story 5 stars and the serial killer part 3 stars. They were only tangentially related. The fair was an unbelievable triumph that almost didn't happen - beset by arguments among the architects, power struggles between committees, fires, soil issues, and economic troubles in the country. For the serial killer part, there wasn't enough depth to the story for me. However, in reading the book notes, I see now that's because there's not as much verifiable info on him.
monicaa_d's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
mysterious
4.0
A fascinating look at the trainwreck and triumph that was the Chicago World's Fair. The author spins a narrative perfectly balanced with hard facts, following the major players in the building of the fair as well as a serial killer using the lure of the exposition to murder young people in Chicago. This kept me on my toes and was a great history lesson with plenty of drama to heighten the intrigue.
sarahpuschel's review against another edition
3.0
I love the way that Erik Lawson was able to make history come to life. I love even more that the book runs a parallel timeline, alternating chapters between the Chicago World’s Fair and H.H. Holmes. That being said, the H.H. Holmes chapters are what kept me reading a majority of the book. Having zero interest in architecture, I found some of the World’s Fair chapters in Part 1 to be dry and frequently caught myself just skimming through them to get to the next H.H. Holmes chapter. However, in part 2 (after the construction of the fair), they became more interesting.