Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

602 reviews

reellyfish's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense 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? Yes

5.0

I read this book because my mother said it was her favorite and now I understand why.

It is rare that I truly completely lose track of while reading but every time I sat down to read this book, I could not stop. (Though perhaps the exceptionally long chapters play into that)

I must say it was a bit annoying that I had to keep google translate open while reading in order to translate the Greek and Latin phrases.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism and Alcohol

Minor: Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Antisemitism, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

mackennac's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Blood, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

laina_olive's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Minor: Car accident

mel_s_bookshelf's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Gun violence, Incest, and Panic attacks/disorders

nico_asteri's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-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

4.0

I've been meaning to read this for a while. I thought it was pretty good. The characters were pretty unlikeable which I think they're supposed to be, but they were interesting, which is more important for a story like this. I didn't love it as much as I thought I was going to, but it's a solid book with an engaging story and I can see why it's so popular.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use and Suicide

Moderate: Gun violence and Incest

hannahlberg's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No

4.0

I hated this book. I hated it so much I loved it. 

It took me 3 tries to actually start reading it, and even then I had to talk myself into finishing it, but also as soon as I got 30% in, there was no way I couldn’t not finish it. 

I'm very glad I did finish as I feel I have climbed up a very impressive mountain. 

The reason this book was so unbelievably difficult for me to sift through was because Richard and co are the most pretentious elitist d*ckwads I've ever willingly read about. and since he is the narrator, it's not like you ever escape the mindset for even a moment -

I think this rage I felt about the characters is both the reason why I kept wanting to dnf and had to force myself to finish and also the reason I HAD to finish, HAD to see it through. 

If you ever were a part of a cohort in school, especially one in the arts, read this- it will give you war flashbacks. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

thelilgriffin's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

This book is haunting and well-written. It has a slow build up which is well satisfied. There is so much unexpected yet also known but there is never a dull or boring moment. This book is very well written but may leave you slightly disturbed and puzzled. I think its an excellent read, but not for the feint of heart. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, and Gun violence

Moderate: Addiction, Cursing, Drug abuse, Gore, Mental illness, and Racial slurs

Minor: Sexual content

Not for the feint of heart. Great, haunting read.

stierwood's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-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

4.0

Lots of highlights and low points, including but not limited to the 2 dimensionality of the only female character, the page-turning aspect, the dialogue & prose being both incredibly descriptive/beautiful/smart & pretentious/awkward at the same time, the sharp and interesting (except for camilla) and highly dislikeable characters, and the incest 😟 much to unpack. Deeply disturbed

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

vnfhcxksiw's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

abibliophobic_nerd's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Islamophobia, and Grief