Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

602 reviews

solana_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug use, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Xenophobia, and Murder

lesliekate's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Antisemitism, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Physical abuse

Minor: Sexual harassment

cdo499's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-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

these people are so fucked up but it's such a good book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Death, Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Minor: Physical abuse and Rape

it's really good, but PLEASE know that when people say dark they MEAN IT

dasha_musa's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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

4.0

I didn't love this like I hoped I would, but I liked it and found it enjoyable for the most part (stuck between 4.0 and 4.25 stars).

I think Tartt does a great job crafting some disgusting and repulsive -- yet intriguing -- characters to which you are, nonetheless, drawn. I jumped around between characters in a game of "who I like most" only to find a reason to dislike them just 5 pages later. I also really enjoyed having Richard's POV as the source of narration. He was this lost outsider turned confidante that made the story more compelling.

The prose is beautiful and the imagery really lends itself to feeling like you saw it first-hand, but at times it does feel a bit long. The pretentiousness does live up to the hype - if you're into that. The experiences and emotions of this book are almost grotesque, disillusioned, fascinating. But, the story still didn't pack the profound punch that I was expecting, though I suspect my opinions may reconfigure slightly as I continue to ruminate. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Homophobia, Incest, and Blood

Minor: Rape

hellothereforeitsalex's review against another edition

dark relaxing sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

abbytruestory's review against another edition

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Violence, Murder, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Racism, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and Sexual harassment

4lifegirlboss's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

Elitism is dangerous

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexism, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Homophobia, Racial slurs, and Racism

Minor: Incest

readinghavoc's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

I really enjoyed this book – it was dense at times and intimidatingly long, but the pay-off is well worth it. Kept me on the edge of my seat and continuously shocked me. The first hundred pages dragged and I almost put it down, but I'm so glad I didn't. The last 100 pages alone more than make up for it. The characters were hard for me to connect to because they were so pretentious but as you progress through the book it becomes clear that that serves its own purposes in the story. Super bizarre story, would recommend it to someone looking for a really thoroughly laid out thriller who doesn't mind making the investment for a big thrill. Interested to read some of Tartt's other work (after some easier, quicker reads lol).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Classism

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Vomit, Kidnapping, Stalking, Death of parent, Outing, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

kakeyame's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Sexism, Islamophobia, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Gun violence, Mental illness, and Alcohol

soniajoy98's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, and Kidnapping

Minor: Rape and Sexual content