smithyreads's reviews
178 reviews

4.5 Stars

This was such a good book! The writing was amazing. Fantastic even. The ending was amazing, and it ended so nicely. It felt neither rushed nor like it was missing anything. I quite literally picked this book up at the bookstore two days ago and read it non-stop. I could not put it down. Each chapter was "well, I mean just one more. It couldn't hurt" until it was 4 am and I had to force myself to actually go to bed.

Unfortunately, I feel as if I missed out on some of the charm and relatability of the book as I am not a writer or even kind of a writer. I think if I was this would have been a five-star for me. Other than that though, it was fantastic and will be a proud new book to my slowly growing book collection, and I would highly recommend it!

I really enjoyed this book! I usually don't care for any nonfiction books but this one really captured my attention. I think it helped that it was about history and I tend to like learning about historical events, however, this book also didn't ~feel~ like nonfiction. It was very entertaining and was told in a way that was very easy to follow. It amazed me how much happened all at once that I never knew. I especially loved the H.H. Holmes parts. The trials and hardships of the fair as well as the fallout and aftermath of it all. The fact that all this was happening as Holmes was out there killing unsuspecting victims at a time of great wonder was so interesting. It was almost split in two with it focusing on holmes in one chapter and the fair in the next. However, I don't believe that it brought me out of the storytelling at all. It was overall a very interesting read and I thoroughly enjoyed it. :)