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A review by ericasbookshelves
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson
dark
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
3.5
This book was really fascinating in some parts but really slow in others. I went a pretty long stretch of time not picking it up or only reading a few pages at a time because it delved so deep into the intricate details of building the fair. Dont get me wrong, that was interesting but also a bit much at times in the middle. I l realized when I started reading this that I didn’t actually know much about the Chicago worlds fair so it was pretty cool learning about just how many hardships and hurdles to jump there were leading up to it.
The sections about H. H Holmes were interesting but there sure wasn’t much of them, Which was a bummer. I think if I had known that going in it would have been less of a disappointment but I had always heard this book was half worlds fair, half Holmes. So for it to be more like 70% fair, 30% Holmes wasn’t exactly what I was expecting or looking for. It was a really well researched book as a whole and I do feel like I learned a lot, but I wouldn’t go into it if Holmes is what you’re mostly there for. I’ll definitely read more from this author
The sections about H. H Holmes were interesting but there sure wasn’t much of them, Which was a bummer. I think if I had known that going in it would have been less of a disappointment but I had always heard this book was half worlds fair, half Holmes. So for it to be more like 70% fair, 30% Holmes wasn’t exactly what I was expecting or looking for. It was a really well researched book as a whole and I do feel like I learned a lot, but I wouldn’t go into it if Holmes is what you’re mostly there for. I’ll definitely read more from this author