Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

602 reviews

takarakei's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I give this book props for being the OG Dark Academia (which is why I read it), but personally I am more interested in more recent additions to that genre. That being said I can respect it for the influence this book has had. I like that the subgenre has moved into a place of critiquing elitist academia in a not so subtle way (I feel that any critique of academia in this was too vague to be taken seriously).
I definitely feel like it could have ~100 pages of monotony edited out, or those parts should have been replaced by more time with Julian in the classroom / explaining the catalyst of what they were studying influencing the original group (and why they were in the woods...)
I found it interesting to think about the moral quandary of Bunny being a supremely unlikeable character and how we as readers can empathize with the desire to get rid of him from the other character's POV. All the characters are disastrously flawed and the only one I actually feel bad for in the end is Camilla. If you can stand to read about pretentious flawed horrible characters who are continually awful to each other then I guess it's an interesting character study book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Suicide, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Racism, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Animal death, Racial slurs, Rape, and Religious bigotry

just_a_random_dead_thing's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Incest, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual assault, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, and Classism

Minor: Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Car accident, and Death of parent

mariavdl's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Homophobia and Incest

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Sexism

darkty's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

I HATED AND DISPASED THAT BOOK SO MUCH.  Like just look in the content warnings...

TWIN INCEST WHAT IS THAT SHIT BRO YOU GUYS ARE CRAZY

 like bro! But I have to confess, I coud not put it down...sadly

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Incest, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

felofhe's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

emilunax's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, and Suicide

book_slay's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

i_m's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

...I actually didn't know that this book was a thriller hehe. So that came as a surprise. I really liked how

Bunny's death is revealed in the prologue and then the first half of the book works up to why he was murdered

because it made the first half really suspenseful. I felt like the second half kind of dragged because that has already happened and I didn't really know what was supposed to happen next. Still, I'm glad it was included because the book would've ended too abruptly otherwise.
All in all, this book was actually scary, and I really liked it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug use, and Gun violence

Minor: Incest and Suicidal thoughts

shelbylanglois's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Incest, Suicide, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

telemesmerism's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.75

Just not really worth reading. an awfully long book to read about characters who suck and arent interesting and a very mediocre plot

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Islamophobia, Suicide attempt, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Incest, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Medical content, and Car accident