Reviews

Nightmare Alley by William Lindsay Gresham

erinsbookshelves's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-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

4.0

anaisdai30's review

dark mysterious tense fast-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

4.75

jordanrcox's review

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

5.0

madguru's review

2.0

A very dated book that provided the scaffolding for a 2021 movie I quite enjoyed (to say the movie was based on this book would be quite a stretch).

lenadesouza's review

dark mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

The best crazy, alcoholic, depressed people are all communists. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse

Minor: Sexual violence

samsortasucks's review

challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Addiction, and Abortion

Minor: Gore

bronwynmb's review against another edition

4.0

I wasn’t sure if I liked this until I got to the very end. I liked the early parts, the sideshow, but the middle dragged for me. The last page, the last paragraph really, made me appreciate it more. Which isn’t fair, the story is great and disturbing, but that last bit just pulled it all together. (I feel misled by the introduction and how Dr Ritter is described. I expected more.)

krystofsubr's review

4.0

No taxis. Taxi drivers remember faces.

thedocument's review

dark tense medium-paced

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

4.5

gillian_aftanas's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Murder, Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Abortion, Cursing, Grief, Suicide, and Sexual content

Minor: Abandonment, Ableism, Animal death, Cultural appropriation, Incest, Animal cruelty, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Classism, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Racism, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual harassment, and Self harm