laura_litandflicks's review against another edition
3.0
(3.5/5 Stars)
While I didn’t love Nellie’s writing style, the profound impact of her undercover experience and subsequent account cannot be denied. Nellie Bly’s bravery likely improved thousands of lives and changed the sphere of mental health forever.
Full review at litandflicks.com
While I didn’t love Nellie’s writing style, the profound impact of her undercover experience and subsequent account cannot be denied. Nellie Bly’s bravery likely improved thousands of lives and changed the sphere of mental health forever.
Full review at litandflicks.com
samanthabw's review against another edition
4.0
3.5*
Wow, what horrible treatment of those poor women! Are we surprised on how easy it was to be declared insane in 1887? Really shocking, I’m glad that mental health (and women’s rights) is much more respected in 2021.
What I will say is I felt a bit iffy on the ethics of a privileged sane women doing this sort of exposé. I’m happy it resulted in changes and better care in the asylum, but it seems quite unethical to have her subjected to this. I guess that was just Nellie Bly’s thing as a journalist? She was doing “The Simple Life” over a hundred years before Paris and Nicole haha.
Wow, what horrible treatment of those poor women! Are we surprised on how easy it was to be declared insane in 1887? Really shocking, I’m glad that mental health (and women’s rights) is much more respected in 2021.
What I will say is I felt a bit iffy on the ethics of a privileged sane women doing this sort of exposé. I’m happy it resulted in changes and better care in the asylum, but it seems quite unethical to have her subjected to this. I guess that was just Nellie Bly’s thing as a journalist? She was doing “The Simple Life” over a hundred years before Paris and Nicole haha.
_ninahannah's review against another edition
5.0
Imagine giving one of the most revolutionary exposes in history less than five stars... couldn't be me.
books_plan_create's review against another edition
3.0
I never thought a little 90 page book would make me feel so angry. Anger for the way people labeled "insane" were treated at Blackwell Island insane asylum for women. It was truly horrific. This is a rabbit hole I don't need to go down as far as research goes, but one I know I will.
cstefko's review against another edition
3.0
3 stars
The narration wasn't always clear, but this graphic history was interesting enough. I would have liked a little more background about Nellie Bly herself.
The narration wasn't always clear, but this graphic history was interesting enough. I would have liked a little more background about Nellie Bly herself.
endlesstbr's review against another edition
4.0
Neat illustrative style of pen-and-ink graphics, with a stark quality to portray the horrid conditions in Blackwell Island as shared by Nellie Bly in a salacious and revolutionary journalistic endeavor in the late 19th century.
spinebrreaker's review against another edition
5.0
I would never have done this, and I think it's a credit to all investigative journalists that they're willing to put themselves at risk to expose the truth. Clearly it has a great effect, and did even as far back as Nellie Bly in 1887. Her work is captivating and exciting and gripping, and I love that writing for a "scandal" paper didn't dull her quest for the truth or her scathing denunciation of the people who didn't care, didn't listen, and didn't act while she was in the asylum. Let's make this determined, courageous woman required reading.
ladyfives's review against another edition
4.0
Read the original in 2018, and the graphic novel adaptation in 2022, and could not understand why they’re listed under the same book ever since. Graphic novel elevated it quite a lot; so much so that it feels wrong that it’s only getting a visual adaptation now!
zena_ryder's review against another edition
4.0
Ten Days in a Madhouse is a quick, fascinating read about the terrible conditions a young reporter found inside a nineteenth century 'lunatic asylum'.
In 1887, Nellie Bly pretended to be insane so she could be committed to a women's asylum in New York. Her goal was to report on the treatment of the patients in the facility, after her newspaper editor got her out in 10 days time.
What she found was incredibly disturbing. Women who Bly judged to be perfectly sane and lucid were ignored by doctors. Patients were routinely physically and emotionally abused. They were housed in dirty, cold, uncomfortable environments. The food was insufficient and inedible. Legitimate illnesses were not treated and they were sometimes even refused water to drink.
Bly's undercover reporting did result in increased funding and better treatment for the patients. I don't know the extent of the improvements, though.
If you're interested in 19th century American history, or medical history, I recommend this book. Despite being written in the 19th century, the style is quite modern and readable.
In 1887, Nellie Bly pretended to be insane so she could be committed to a women's asylum in New York. Her goal was to report on the treatment of the patients in the facility, after her newspaper editor got her out in 10 days time.
What she found was incredibly disturbing. Women who Bly judged to be perfectly sane and lucid were ignored by doctors. Patients were routinely physically and emotionally abused. They were housed in dirty, cold, uncomfortable environments. The food was insufficient and inedible. Legitimate illnesses were not treated and they were sometimes even refused water to drink.
Bly's undercover reporting did result in increased funding and better treatment for the patients. I don't know the extent of the improvements, though.
If you're interested in 19th century American history, or medical history, I recommend this book. Despite being written in the 19th century, the style is quite modern and readable.