Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

504 reviews

the_neeerd's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious reflective 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

This is my favorite book because everyone in it sucks so bad. not a single character makes a good choice. and then they all make each other worse. If you take this book seriously, you're missing the point. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, and Antisemitism

Minor: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, and Grief

roaming_enn's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-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? Yes

4.75

Does such a thing as "the fatal flaw," that showy dark crack running down the middle of a life, exist outside of literature? It used to think it didn't. Now I think it does. And I think mine is this: a morbid longing for the picturesque at all costs.

Beauty is terror. Whatever we call beautiful, we quiver before it. And what could be more terrifying and beautiful, to souls like t he Greeks or our own, than to lose control completely? To throw off the chains of being for an instant, to shatter the accident of our mortal selves?

Summary:
This book is about a bunch of Ancient Greek undergraduate students and that time they murdered one of their classmates. The one who dies is revealed in the beginning, and it is the HOW they get there that's the real story. The story is told in first-person through Richard Papen's POV, a newest Greek student that the professor accepts, newest member of the group that had been together for longer. He is writing just under a decade after the events of the book. 

Thoughts:
I love how academic it was, and it feels like a book written by an academic (which it was) for other academics. The author doesn't hold your hand, assuming you're smart enough to follow the story with what she gives you. There was at least one scene that I thought was entirely unnecessary for the Islamophobia it spewed, and I'm still not sure why it was included. The ending was a little disappointing because I wanted things to be a particular way but they ended up not. I wish it had been more than just a handful of years later when the story is told, rather than Richard still being a young man. But in either case, a lot of people seem to hate this book. I loved it. I don't love the characters, but I found them, and the story, REALLY compelling. And for me, that makes up for not loving the characters. 

Be sure to check all the content warnings. I tried to include as many as I could think of in this review. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Islamophobia

Minor: Cursing, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Vomit, and Antisemitism

brennerson's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

5.0

This book is actually haunting me, and it’s all I can think about. I loved learning about these characters from the POV of Richard (but I desperately need Camilla’s POV) because I also felt like I was trying to make it in the group as an outsider. Trying to figure out the subtle glances or dialogue between characters reminded me of meeting a group of very close people for the first time and not fully understanding their relationships but still being mesmerized by them.

But if you want loveable, sweet characters, and a reliable narrator, this is not the book! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Incest

Minor: Rape

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

I loved The Goldfinch and was expecting to love this one too, but instead, I’m unclear why this book was such a big deal. The whole time, I keep wondering if this book inspired Shonda Rhimes into How to Get Away with Murder, and like that TV show, I hated the premise of the plot and still watched every episode and read every page, and in the end, all I am left is to wonder why I did.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

lizzymcalpine's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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? Yes

4.5

half of my annotations are just "what the fuck" or, alternatively, "WHAT THE FUCK". worth a reread to try to find all the hints and foreshadowing! really enjoyed it but struggled to keep reading the 150 or so pages before Bunny dies.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Incest

Minor: Homophobia, Racial slurs, and Racism

bugtickle's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.75

It is a slow burn, this isn’t going to be a fast read…but as it got closer to the end the more I couldn’t put it down.  I found myself thinking more and more about the characters… who was the ring leader? How did they go from one problem to the next and make the choices they did? The group or mob mentality was interesting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Alcohol

uncica's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Antisemitism, Medical content, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

coralynski's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

carol16's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

3.25

Really disturbing book that made me deeply depressed - not entirely sure why this is on the list of dark academia books because it just doesn't give much academia vibes. I think I am more of a light academia girlie. I did however think it was well written and gives much to chew on - which is why it is rated 3 stars. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Homophobia, Racial slurs, Islamophobia, and Religious bigotry

manderleylilacs's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-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? Yes

4.0

I'm really glad I read this, it was down as a bucket list read for a long time. a I'm honestly shocked that so much of the dark academia aesthetic was tied to this novel, since it's shown throughout the book that the students taking Greek are pretentious, self-absorbed pricks; and it seems like everyone else in the university is incompetent or drunk/high constantly. The valley girls who the Greek students look down on seem to be the only semi-decent people here. That isn't a critique at all since that looks to be the point, but I don't know how that part of the fandom was able to emerge, I was gripped towards the end of the book wondering what would happen to the group, not that I was particularly wishing for a happy ending for any of them. I might have been more ~enamoured~ with the characters or aesthetic is I had read this as a teenager.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Islamophobia, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Gore, Incest, Physical abuse, and Abandonment

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Religious bigotry

I'm really glad I read this, it was down as a bucket list read for a long time. a I'm honestly shocked that so much of the dark academia aesthetic was tied to this novel, since it's shown throughout the book that the students taking Greek are pretentious, self-absorbed pricks; and it seems like everyone else in the university is incompetent or drunk/high constantly. The valley girls who the Greek students look down on seem to be the only semi-decent people here. That isn't a critique at all since that looks to be the point, but I don't know how that part of the fandom was able to emerge, I was gripped towards the end of the book wondering what would happen to the group, not that I was particularly wishing for a happy ending for any of them. I might have been more ~enamoured~ with the characters or aesthetic is I had read this as a teenager.