Jamie B. (mrsb) -
Helpful Score: 2
I am one that WILL NOT stop reading a book ... but I must say that this book tested me to the very brink!! I had an extremely difficult time getting into this book and even understanding it. It is written with a lot of old flowery words that are strung together and end up being a wee bit confusing. I found myself rereading the same sentence over and over again and still not comprehending what I read, so I'd have to go back and reread the entire paragraph and then finally giving up and moving on.
This isn't a book of fiction, like I thought it was ... it is all about the true crime that took place. BUT, it doesn't seem to be just about this crime and I think that it actually gets lost in all of the other bits of information that is contained within the book, and then it's like the author then tosses in bits about the actual crime.
I also found myself going back and forth because there are LOADS and LOADS of footnotes that offer more information about what was written ... which, in itself was difficult to believe ... and then forgetting where I was or what I had just been reading. This book read more to me like a school book than a book for enjoyment. HTH ...
This isn't a book of fiction, like I thought it was ... it is all about the true crime that took place. BUT, it doesn't seem to be just about this crime and I think that it actually gets lost in all of the other bits of information that is contained within the book, and then it's like the author then tosses in bits about the actual crime.
I also found myself going back and forth because there are LOADS and LOADS of footnotes that offer more information about what was written ... which, in itself was difficult to believe ... and then forgetting where I was or what I had just been reading. This book read more to me like a school book than a book for enjoyment. HTH ...
Rosemary F. (canadianeh) reviewed The Italian Boy: A Tale of Murder and Body Snatching in 1830's London on + 242 more book reviews
This is a medical thriller come true - the labyrinthine recount of the murder of one particular boy that became central in the outcry against body-snatching. When a well-preserved body could bring as much as nine guineas it was a tempting profession to rob graves. But as the supply of corpses dwindled, some descended to murder. A vivid description of life in the London underworld.
Laura W. (Crazy4books) reviewed The Italian Boy: A Tale of Murder and Body Snatching in 1830's London on + 88 more book reviews
This book was not what I expected. The focus is more on the minutiae of life in 1830s London and less about the case itself.
