Reviews tagging 'Abortion'

The Devil in the White City (Abridged): Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson

24 reviews

robinwritesallthethings's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

5.0

What It’s About: This is a dual narrative detailing the execution of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair and the dealings of famous serial killer H. H. Holmes during the same time period. At first blush, the two topics don’t seem to go together, but it becomes clear throughout the story that Holmes likely wouldn’t have been able to accomplish everything he did in the city without the excitement and opportunities provided by the grand event.

Plot: Holmes is quite a well-known figure, but there is a lot of misinformation floating around about his exploits. This book is a very realistic accounting of his activities, leaving room for doubt where it’s necessary, but also speculating about moments no one possibly could have witnessed. While I thought I wouldn’t be as interested in the part about building the fair, I actually found it very compelling. Knowing all the facts, it’s shocking that there was ever a fair at all. It’s also apparent that Holmes’ portion by itself doesn’t actually take up much space. He was a consummate liar, so not a lot can be said about him that is verifiable. Adding the fair gives the history more weight and heft, and at the same time provides a necessary context for how Holmes escaped detection for so long. The advantage of combining both is also that they are complete, so there is resolution at the end of everything on all sides.

Research and Organization: The organization here is essentially chronological, and flips back and forth between the fair and Holmes when necessary to frame what he was doing while Chicago was focused elsewhere. Many primary sources are used and quoted, and when they are not available, copious research was used to recreate circumstances that were not observed.

Trigger Warnings: Because of the time that the book covers, you’ll encounter period-typical racism and sexism. There is a lot of poverty and general death, as well as the obvious murder because of one of the book’s subjects.

Final Thoughts: This was a more somber and less sensational true crime novel than others I’ve read, but ultimately, I feel like it worked. It was very informative, and sheds light on a crime spree that it’s likely just wouldn’t be possible today because of the way everything is connected.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Torture, and Murder

Moderate: Abortion

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Miscarriage

emercedesrich's review against another edition

dark informative medium-paced

3.0

There is a wealth of Chicago history here that's very compelling. However, I am not entirely sure why so much of the book is dedicated to HH Holmes. In his afterword, Larson explains that he believes putting this great evil next to great innovation reveals something about men's ambition, but I never found that connection organic or compelling here. The result is a book that feels out-of-date in its approach to the topic. I also think it's fair to say that men should probably not guess at women's final thoughts about the men who kill them, regardless of how much information and primary sources you have leading up to that final event.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture and Murder

Moderate: Xenophobia, Abortion, and Colonisation

julziez's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

2.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, Abortion, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Colonisation

kodi_rae's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

4.0

I often find nonfiction books harder to read. Even with ones with topics that really interest me, I find my mind wandering. So I was pleasantly surprised at how much this book sucked me in, however I would have personally liked more pictures interspersed as well to get a better sense of people and place. It does seem like the author might have taken some liberties with pieces of the story, so keep that in mind when reading. And the lack of any sort of modern-day critique of Christopher Columbus, Wild Bill Cody’s show, and the myriad use of Native Americans and other people of color left much to be desired. Despite these grievances, I still found it to be interesting and wanting to learn more. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, and Murder

Minor: Gun violence, Mental illness, Racism, Blood, Excrement, Dementia, Abortion, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and Classism

mmp1002's review against another edition

dark informative tense slow-paced

3.5

Larson does an excellent job in making the reader feel as the architects and engineers do. Perhaps too good of a job, as the first two-thirds dragged. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Terminal illness, Violence, Abortion, and Murder

rachelsheplak's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Abortion, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

kingsteph's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Torture, Violence, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Rape, Suicide, Xenophobia, Medical content, Abortion, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

kenley11's review against another edition

dark informative sad tense medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Abortion, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

evetoi's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Abortion, Murder, and Colonisation

amsswim's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

I'm so glad I finally read this, it has been on my TBR for years now.

I am already a big fan of non-fiction literature and historical reads, this combines the best of them both. This non-fiction book read like fiction in my opinion, making it quick to go by. The many intertwining stories were not difficult to keep track of and all interesting. This is for sure one of those reads that leaves you with a greater understanding of the time period (e.g. 1890s) as a whole, and puts into context the overlap of inventions, important figures, and other legendary events.

If you like historical fiction or non-fiction, true crime, or well written books, I recommend this read.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Violence, Blood, Abortion, and Murder

Minor: Child abuse, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Medical content, Dementia, Cultural appropriation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism