Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

The Icepick Surgeon by Sam Kean

21 reviews

monstersinspace's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective fast-paced

3.5


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arijones91's review against another edition

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funny informative reflective medium-paced

4.5


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phoebemurtagh's review against another edition

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dark funny sad medium-paced

3.5

3.5 stars

They some things shouldn't be attempted by the faint of heart or squeamish. As a squeamish person myself, I'd like to refine that: you can most certainly attempt, but you might need to skim through the physical descriptions of how to perform an ice pick lobotomy.
This was a good collection of scientists gone bad: some of the stories were disturbing and familiar ones I'd already heard, while some were disturbing and new. My only criticisms would be that while such a book must necessarily take a dark sense of humor, I found the author's attempts at levity in the face of evil just a little irreverent sometimes. More disappointingly, though, the author refers to bunk science as "voodoo" in at least one place; it's a small thing, but perpetuating a stereotype that African disaporic religious traditions that developed as a result of American slavery are somehow 'less valid' and the equivalent of bad science is below the mark for any journalist.
All in all, I preferred The Disappearing Spoon, but this is a good book, too.

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kbergsten's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative reflective fast-paced

5.0


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kc_onmybookshelf's review against another edition

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dark informative reflective medium-paced

4.0


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panthalassa's review against another edition

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dark informative reflective medium-paced

3.5


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laurenkimoto's review against another edition

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challenging funny informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

Here are some non coherent thoughts on this book as my brain is still reeling from it and the appendix…

The transitions between chapters and delightful little paragraphs that are reminiscent of the “next time on…” that follow tv shows 

Kean’s sense of humour, sarcasm, and wit shine through on occasion to bring some relief when talking about such a serious topic. 

I appreciate that the section breaks in each chapter are little pictures of objects that relate to the content of each chapter. 

The book starts off “easy” talking about pirates but then hits you with the trans Atlantic slave trade. 

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livdelrosso's review against another edition

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dark informative reflective medium-paced

4.0


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reviewsandreadathons's review against another edition

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dark funny informative sad fast-paced

4.0


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akazzy8's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny informative mysterious medium-paced

4.75

This book was excellent! I was looking for a good spooky season book, and this was really the perfect option for me. It has notes of creepiness and dark themes, but isn't a murder mystery which is a genre I can't stand and really dominates the spooky book aisles. It is extra creepy as it talks about real happenings, and like any history book as a way to educate and make adjustments for a more equitable future.

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