Reviews tagging 'Torture'

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

51 reviews

mariakureads's review against another edition

dark informative sad slow-paced

3.5

I am so happy to say I finally finished this one!
It's been on my TBR since who knows when and after a few starts and stops, I'm done.

Larson wrote a very detailed, and I do mean very, account of the Chicago's World Fair, the atmosphere and history of the time, as well as the serial killer hiding amongst, the glitz, dirt, toils, glamour that the Fair brought to the city at the time.

The book involves a large set of people, all oddly enough interlocked in different ways and avenues and Larson explored and provided so many facts through his meticulous research that at different points were not only quotes provided, but newspaper clippings, menus, images, and witness accounts which some were interesting and others felt staid and dry and I lost interest at different parts of the book.

At times so factual that when the alternative chapters of the serial killer, H.H. Holmes, were introduced, it would sometimes grab my attention for a few pages but it felt odd as I was thrown off a few times by the pacing especially the further I read on to find that while the World's Fair and Holmes were in the same city, there was nothing concrete to tie them together since Holmes was adamant that he didn't do anything or was guilty of such killings—that the disappearances were a happenstance, surely, by his account.

Larson is a great researcher, this I'm sure of, and gave me so much new information specific to the fair and all the people, some later becoming famous in their own right, that all in all, while I had a few disconnects, the book is a solid read.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Torture, Murder, and Gaslighting

Minor: Child death, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

megmoo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Torture

margolovie89's review against another edition

dark informative slow-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, and Medical content

a_meanderer's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, and Murder

sandysawmill's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

5.0

I’ve started this book several times and it finally clicked. Such an interesting dive into a piece of chicago and architectural history, as well as one of the first serial killers in the US. My favorite parts were about early unions and capitalists and the parallels to today; the description of new inventions that came out at the fair such as the Ferris wheel and shredded wheat; and the history of urban architecture and city planning like how the first skyscrapers were created and how much architecture can shape people’s lives and dreams. Architecture as “frozen music.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Mental illness, Torture, Blood, and Murder

bring_me_a_book's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Gore, Suicide, Torture, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder

psdarlin's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Kidnapping, and Colonisation

Minor: Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Stalking, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

cheypreston's review against another edition

dark informative tense slow-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Medical trauma, and Murder

cameojane's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

2.5

This book was just too dark for me. I really enjoy Erik Larson's books. Not a big fan of this one though. I did enjoy the portions about the World's Fair. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Murder, and Gaslighting

eliya's review against another edition

dark funny informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

3.5

this took me f o r e v e r to read 
i started on sept 7th and MAN did it slow me down. took me 11h 46m to read and i was not very motivated to read it, but once you get in the groove it reads like gossip. 

some people don’t recommend doing the audiobook and reading at the same time but i honestly do recommend it. there are some differences in the wording, some paragraphs added or taken out here and there, but it felt like i got the full recounting. 

the author is very clever in the way he kind of leaves little foreshadowing clues - toward the end i think i was a little over the “that was… until” type of wording from him though. omnipresent in the most educated way lol. felt very much like i was living it // a work of fiction rather than an amalgamation of random facts here and there. 

really enjoyed learning about the chicago fair, crazy how many things were just accepted because of the time. i would not have like to be apart of that time lol. 

i made so many notes reading this lol there were so many fun facts that felt so important i’m glad - really glad - i read this but MAN i’m also glad it’s over 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Violence, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Confinement, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, Grief, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Sexual content and Terminal illness