Reviews tagging 'Violence'

白城恶魔 The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

47 reviews

jennmichelle_otsr's review against another edition

dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious medium-paced

5.0

This was my first read by Mr. Larson. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is amazing how much effort the 1893 World’s Fair took to bring to life against a multitude of obstacles. The viewpoint pivots between that of architect Daniel Burnham and one of America’s earliest serial killers H. H. Holmes (one of many aliases). I will not spoil anything by listing the numerous figures you will recognize in the tome or the invention that “out-Eiffeled Eiffel’s Tower” from the Paris World Fair.

Larson’s tone and style remind me of Kate Moore’s prose. The story is simply laid out for the reader in a narrative style instead of a typical drier nonfiction style. I find this type of book more my speed for nonfiction.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Medical content, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

boomwormbrittany's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

5.0

The Devil in the White City is a non-fiction book about the building of the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago and the murders committed by H.H. Holmes during this World's Fair.
I thought this was a really interesting book to read. I had read The Splendid and the Vile before by Erik Larson and really enjoyed it. This was no different. I though this was a fantastic and interesting overview of both topics.
What I really loved about Erik Larson's books is that he writes them as if we are in the people's heads who helped created the World's Fair and in the head of H.H. Holmes which is a big unnerving. I thought that this had a really interesting overview of what went wrong and right at the fair. From the start it seemed to be an uphill battle to get the fair going let alone to the grandeur that it did become.
I was a little more interested in the H.H. Holmes aspect of this story because I've never seen a whole overview of his story before, just very brief snippets. I thought that Erik Larson did a fantastic job setting out this story and making us really feel for the victims of Holmes.
I would definitely say if you want an engaging and fascinating story about history around the World's Fair and Holmes, I would highly recommend this. If you want an interesting overview of history, definitely pick up any of Erik Larson's books.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Violence

ottolee's review against another edition

dark informative inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Xenophobia, and Cultural appropriation

oceanwriter's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious tense slow-paced

3.0

Though this book has caught my eye in bookstores, I went into it somewhat blindly. I knew it involved H.H. Holmes, but I didn’t anticipate everything else it included. 

 

Rich with Chicago history, this book discusses the lives of H.H. Holmes and Daniel H. Burnham with a large focus on the World’s Fair. 

 

Honestly… this was a weird mix with only a slight element connecting the two along with the overall setting of Chicago. While, yes, I did find the book interesting, I was also overwhelmed with the amount of information coming at me. This was very much two separate books with one being more built on fact and the other built on a lot of speculation. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Confinement, Violence, and Kidnapping

Minor: Racism, Suicide, and Fire/Fire injury

julziez's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

2.75

---

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

mekowaletti's review against another edition

I normally don't like true crime due to the glorification of killers but I gave this a chance as I enjoy Chicago history. Unfortunately there are just too many white men that are central figures to the story and so I didn't see myself getting much out of this that I didn't get from my Chicago history class. I enjoyed the world's fair background but not enough to continue

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Addiction, Sexism, and Violence

ame_why's review against another edition

informative slow-paced

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

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. 

---

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

j_the_human's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious slow-paced

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Violence, Kidnapping, and Murder

margolovie89's review against another edition

dark informative slow-paced

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Torture, Violence, and Medical content