Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson

20 reviews

magosti1's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-paced

2.0

Deeply disturbing true crime novel about a serial killer in Chicago while the worlds fair was being built. Too disturbing 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Blood, Kidnapping, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

headachesince03's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative inspiring mysterious tense slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

reddeddy's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Drug use, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Abortion, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Classism

smkelly1997's review against another edition

dark informative slow-paced

3.5

I thought this book would revolve around H. H. Holmes much more than it did. Instead it was mostly about the creation, construction, and running of the fair. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Infidelity, Mental illness, Torture, Medical content, Murder, Abandonment, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Abortion

Minor: Dementia

librarymouse's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

3.75

The literary descriptions and firsthand accounts of the fair, and the effort and love put into it's design and creation made me wish I could have attended. The detailed descriptions of Holmes' murders and his disarmingly charming personality made me glad that I was born over a full century after 1893. I like greatly enjoyed The Devil in the White City, the second half was a far easier read than the first. I'm not sure if I've retained as much of the information about the fair's designers and the events that took place while it was open as I wanted to. While interesting, the section about the initial design process and the political lobbying that took place in order to get the fair to occur in Chicago read similarly to a textbook, in stark contrast with the narrative way the rest of the history was told. Overall, an informative and interesting read. I would use enjoyable to describe the writing, but not the content.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Racial slurs

Minor: Xenophobia

mgoodwin's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, and Murder

jcburcham's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative slow-paced

3.0

Audio. This is really two books in one (the stories overlap in time and location) and the reader should consider this warning/review before deciding to plunge in. I write this because I wish someone had warned me, but none of the reviews I read hinted at a concern.

This book came highly recommended, and I knew one of the main plot lines followed the history of Herman Webster Mudgett (alias H. H. Holmes and many, many others), a serial killer whose true victim count will never be known. The other plot line is the creation of the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago.

The author, Erik Larson, is a master of investigative research and his books are written in a compelling, almost novel-like fashion. So even though there is a small amount of speculation infused in his descriptions of how Holmes killed a few of his victims, the much more horrific aspect for me was learning that this man, who appeared so charming and likable, conducted his business under the guise of a hotel, complete with at least one airtight, vault-like bedroom that could be infused with deadly gas, and what was essentially a crematorium furnace. How he was able to run this operation for <i>years</i>, with various guests or employees just "disappearing" and no investigation by the police, haunts me. 

But what really made me sick to my stomach was Larson's descriptions of victims (almost exclusively young women and children) before their unexpected and absolutely terrifying final moments. For the most part, the reader is spared graphic detail, and the author certainly handles the subject with genuine respect and no sensationalism, but the implication of what happened--what is left unsaid--is just as horrifying. There are descriptive images in this book that I will never be able to erase from my memory. 

Reading about the 1893 World's Fair held in Chicago offered a welcome relief from the horror depicted in the story about Holmes. Although heavy with facts and details, one can feel the excitement building and the reader wonders if everything will come together! I really enjoy this sort of historical storytelling, and it's why I'm such a fan of Erik Larson. I learned so much!

Rating this book is not easy...the pain and sadness I feel for Holmes's victims is genuine, and learning of his story has cost me much sleep. I understand why some like this book and others do not, and I think one should consider carefully before diving into this piece of history, despite being well written and accurately portrayed by the talented Erik Larson.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Torture, and Murder

emmacjmeyer's review against another edition

dark informative slow-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Torture, Violence, Kidnapping, Abortion, and Murder

cupofbooksreviews's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

I have given The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson two out of five stars ⭐️⭐️

A dark and devious book filled with architecture and killings. A mixture of two I never thought I would read in the same book.

This book started off quite strong for me; learning about an architect called Daniel H. Burnham and a serial killer called H.H. Holmes. I find non-fiction books fascinating especially when based around true crime events, although that meant that there were a lot of brutal attacks that happened to a lot of people.

I found this book started to repeat itself quite a lot, especially during the chapters that surround Daniel Burnham and the architecture of the Chicago World Fair. I appreciated that the information was important and relevant however, due to the repeated information I started to become quite bored of Daniel Burnham’s story. 

As I became less intrigued by this book, I ended up reading this book for a fair few weeks which dragged out the experience. I had hoped there was more information regarding H.H. Holmes rather than Daniel Burnham.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Abortion, Murder, and Alcohol

alliemikennareads's review against another edition

dark informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

The Devil in the White City was 10 hours of audio at 1.5 speed. I previously read it in physical format years ago and I must say I liked the audio format much better. 

Bullet point review: 

- I forgot how much the book discusses architecture; this got tedious at times. 
- I loved the rich detail about the Chicago worlds fair and the way the book splices the fair, its history, and HH Holmes’ evil deeds together. 
- I still found it a great form of true crime/ nonfiction that reads like fiction. 

TW for some really graphic descriptions of a slaughterhouse, gas chambers, suicide, murder of women and children and dead body discovery. 

If you can get past the graphic parts and like historical fiction, I’d definitely recommend this one!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Suicide, Violence, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting