Many reviewers commented on the excess of violent scenes. In addition to noting the novel's gruesome details, a review in "Burton's Gentleman's Magazine" (possibly William Evans Burton himself) criticized its borrowed descriptions of geography and errors in nautical information. The reviewer considered it a literary hoax and called it an "impudent attempt at humbugging the public" and regretted "Mr. Poe's name in connexion with such a mass of ignorance and effrontery". Poe later wrote to Burton that he agreed with the review, saying it "was essentially correct" and the novel was "a very silly book".