Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Alienist by Caleb Carr

25 reviews

leirben's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Pedophilia, Torture, Blood, Cannibalism, and Murder

50shadesofrae's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense 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

4.0

Love the show, and had a fun time finding the differences. 

I think there are some slower or clunkier moments that drag the pace a bit, but the characters are delightful and it’s a fun ride through the Victorian era. The imagined characters in a clearly well researched cast of real historical figures just does it for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and Murder

Moderate: Alcohol

yliana's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.75

i watched the show earlier this year and when I realized that it was based on a book, i knew i had to read it. i enjoyed the show a lot more tbh, which completely shocked me. i think that this book so interesting and one thing i think that was missed from the show was the in-depth conversations about the killer, his potential motives, and his way of thinking. that's definitely something that can be hard to translate organically into a show and i found that it was better done in the book.
the reason i liked the show more is because i feel like i got to know the characters better and felt much more deeply for them. i don't think that i would've enjoyed this book half as much if i didn't already like and care about these characters because of the show.
i still really enjoyed this and found it so interesting to see the thought process of all of the detectives (i also started watching criminal minds, FINALLY, last week so it was even better seeing the parallels between the way the detectives approach the cases). obviously this is just fiction but it's made me even more interested than i've already been in murder investigations from before more modern techniques were fully developed and accepted.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Transphobia, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

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

Moderate: Excrement, Police brutality, Antisemitism, and Cannibalism

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.

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Content Warnings

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

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

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.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Gore, and Murder

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

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.

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Content Warnings

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

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

Minor: Animal death, Police brutality, and Cannibalism

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

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

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

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Content Warnings

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