I really wanted to fall in love with this book the way I did In the Garden of Beasts, but it was a struggle for me to get through. The information was interesting, but there were a few issues that made this book a drag.

First, I think it's marketed poorly. The title makes it seem like the serial killer HH Holmes is the focal point of the story, which he isn't. The book is split between two alternating narratives: Holmes and the 1893 world's fair. Holmes seems to take up about a third of the book while the rest explains how the fair came to exist in every excruciating detail. I didn't necessarily dislike that, but I think if you're picking up this book for the true crime aspect, you'll probably be disappointed. It felt very secondary.

Larson says at the end that he took inspiration from Truman Capote's In Cold Blood and I believe. It's the same overly detailed storytelling, which is at times quite enjoyable, but I felt smothered by details when it came to the sections about the fair. Every decision, every problem, every person involved was discussed, to the point where I often struggled to retain any information at all about them. There was so much that was fascinating about the fair, but it was difficult for me to get through all the information. If you're looking for a definitive work on the 1893 world's fair, I couldn't recommend this enough.

I also felt that because the book had two distinct stories with little to no overlap (apart from setting), neither felt fully formed. Both felt like they ended very quickly and wrapped up fast. Neither felt whole to me, and as a result, the book itself came away feeling lacking. I kind of wished he'd picked one topic and stuck with it, although I don't think I could have sat through 300 straight pages about the fair.

I also wanted more about the fair while it was open. The first half of the book is about the buildup, and the last quarter is the conclusion, which left little time to describe the fair in all its glory. I didn't feel like I really got a good picture of what is was like, and after 200 pages discussing how it came to be, I was really hoping to see more of the final product in a sense. I wanted the excruciating detail here, but it felt lacking.

Overall, I did find this book interesting and informative. I'd recommend picking this up if you're at all interested in the 1893 world's fair, or if you're an Erik Larson fan. I think for the average reader this might be a little dry (I certainly struggled with it at times), but it was still very worthwhile.