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a_meanderer's review
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, and Murder
bring_me_a_book's review
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Gore, Suicide, Torture, Kidnapping, Grief, and Murder
eliya's review against another edition
3.5
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
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
sometimes_samantha_reads's review against another edition
4.5
My sister in law recommended this to me. I'm not usually into true crime, but if its paced like this and narrated by Tony Goldwyn, I'm all for it! The parallel stories of Burnahm and Holmes was fascinating and I learned so much. The story was chilling but I kept listening to satisfy the morbid curiosity. I learned that Holmes is supposedly buried less than 30 minutes from where I live, which is wild.
I think I'll try to seek out more audiobooks. I quite liked Tony Goldwyn's narration so I think I'll start there.
Graphic: Child death, Medical content, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child abuse, Gun violence, Grief, and Gaslighting
kellyofcali's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Child death, Death, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Murder
Moderate: Confinement, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Grief, and Pregnancy
Minor: Sexism and Fire/Fire injury
sopranna's review
3.5
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
wheelygoodreads's review
1.75
Many parts seemed to drag on, no helped by the formatting—this book really could have used shorter chapters, rather than longer sections. Getting through this felt like work.
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Torture, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
sharonus's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Torture, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Kidnapping and Grief
zakcebulski's review against another edition
4.25
Erik Larson does it again!
This book only goes to reaffirm my love for Erik Larson and his writing.
From my understanding outside of the world of true crime fandom, this is one of the most popular true crime involved books ever. I can absolutely see why.
What Larson does in this book is nothing short of an absolute achievement of research and storytelling. The amount of coherency he commands while weaving these two utterly complex stories is mind boggling, and a feat that few alive could do.
The book tells two stories, one of the World's Fair of 1893, and one of a man who has been called "America's First Urban Serial Killer"- H. H. Holmes.
The World's Fair section was the part that I knew the least about, going in to reading this book. I knew that it occurred and some of the displays that were unveiled at this fair... and that was it!
However, throughout this book Larson expertly crafts all of the work that went in to designing and constructing this Fair.
I fell in love with learning the intricacies of the architecture- as someone who knows cryptically little about architecture, I commend and appreciate Larson's writing, as he describes this foreign concept in an easily digestible way.
There is a sweeping feeling over grandeur which is captured expertly by Larson as he explains the vastness of the hurdles the Fair committee is trying to overcome.
I thought that this was amazingly well done. There were several scenes in which I felt like I was witnessing an impossible task come to fruition- this was absolutely fascinating to read through.
I will say, on the same coin, this portion of the book did at points drag to me. I was very interested in portions of it, but, for some reason I just felt the pacing slowed down a little bit.
The true crime parts of this book regarding Holmes were absolutely fascinating. It was amazing to see the true amount of forethought which Holmes exhibited, and, how he was truly a super-villain. He built a three story monument to death, depravity, and murder. This is absolutely, and I mean this, terrifying. He built this in an age of non-development by comparison. Imagining the damages he could have caused should he have had access to more modern technology is truly terrifying.
Holmes is one of those people who was born in the right time for what he wanted to do, which is ceaselessly unfortunate, as his wants revolved around manipulation, control and murder.
The amount of thought he put into his murders and his cons was is nearly inhuman- he was truly a man alone in his thoughts and actions.
I have to commend Larson's ability to seamlessly weave these two tales together. Each chapter (primarily) alternates between the World's Fair and the deeds of Holmes. I thought that this was a great way to convey the story, as it was not an oversaturation over either story. There was enough discussion about architecture before skipping over to serial murder and back again.
I never found myself becoming totally bored and glazed over while reading each chapter, and, in fact, I found that there was a great amount of benefit to the pacing specifically in the way this book was written.
I was recommended this book when the Last Podcast on the Left covered H. H. Holmes back in 2016 or so? And, I picked it up right away, but, I never got further than page 40. I am glad that I got through this book, as I feel that this book is one of the modern greats.
The illustrations of the time are exquisitely illustrated by Larson, and he puts the schema around the age so that we are able to visualize what is going on.
The sense of wonder of the World's Fair was done in an exceptional way to the point where it truly felt like it was a fairy tale.
I thought that the epilogue wherein all of the people who worked on the fair had their stories come to an end were so poignant. They had worked to create something absolutely amazing- something that defied the limits of human creation, and once it was done the bittersweet feeling of the end came to them all.
Also? Learning about all of the shit that was at the World's Fair? The Ferris Wheel and its 2,000 TWO FUCKING THOUSAND passengers? Annie Oakley and Bill Cody? Tesla? Edison? TR? Braille? This place was fucking amazing for human achievement.
I thought that this book was fantastic and I would recommend it to anyone who has even a passing fancy in either true crime or history- I think that both sides of this book are well done to the point where even the most fervent fan of either will learn something new.
Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, and Gaslighting
reddeddy's review against another edition
4.0
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