Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

602 reviews

directorpurry's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Eating disorder, Incest, Misogyny, Racism, Murder, and Classism

Minor: Animal cruelty and Car accident

lindasoderlundd's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Homophobia and Medical content

Minor: Child abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual content, Vomit, Antisemitism, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

lavendar_fr0g's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

The first half was great, I was excitedly trying to see what’ll happen next. But after the actual murder, the book went all over the place. It was confusing, all over the place and wasn’t as fun to read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Suicide, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Incest, and Antisemitism

Minor: Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Outing, Toxic friendship, and Classism

alexandrabelze's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense slow-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

5.0

omfg. donna tartt is my mother. she’s insane for this.  holy SHIT!!! every single word was a vital part of this novel–down to the damn syllable. she has perfected the art of writing. the pacing of the book was magnificent and the characterization was stellar. every moment was so VIVID! her word choice was so perfect in every sense and every sentence and paragraph and piece of dialogue flowed so perfectly throughout the entire novel. her use of prose is so …entertaining? idk how to describe her writing but it’s everything i ever needed and more. she created a plot so full and detailed that i have no qualms at all; everything was perfectly laid out and set into place. this is the longest review i’ve written BY FAR. 

okay FIRST OF ALL, the INCEST? mawma i was floored. and camilla refusing to marry richard because she was in love with henry…girl please. be so real. henry’s death was fucking insane. every second of that encounter starting from charles barreling through the door to henry’s body hitting the ground was insane. AND THEN we find out that marion married one of bunny’s brothers!!!!!! stfu!!! and they had a baby!!! and the family decided to nickname it BUNNY. IM SORRY?! and when i read that letter that francis sent to richard my heart STOPPED. i would’ve been so mad at donna had she killed him off istg. he’s my one and only i love him far too much. good god this book. I JUST REMEMBERED the entire ritual that they had? oh my god!!!! donna!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Islamophobia, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Vomit, Antisemitism, Stalking, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Ableism, Cancer, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Rape, and Death of parent

sskalon's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

I wish people understood this book for what it is, a satire. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Incest, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Toxic friendship

ambdocksey22's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Biphobia, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Outing, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

kelseyr713's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

I appreciated this on a technical level, but there is so little happening (in terms of plot) from page to page and it’s just not what I’m looking for in the contemporary books I read. I love this level of detail in science fiction or fantasy or speculative novels, but I don’t think it’s necessary here.

It definitely made the English Literature major part of my brain light up again though. I was thinking about essay topics as I read (the amount of character analysis alone…)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

micromedbh's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Homophobia, Violence, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Self harm, Suicide, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Blood, Car accident, and Death of parent

fiolud's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Violence, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Suicide attempt

hopespicey's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

what would you do? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Self harm, Sexism, Blood, Religious bigotry, and Classism

Minor: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Medical content, and Toxic friendship