Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

199 reviews

abigailhaagen's review against another edition

dark mysterious

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

Story was incredibly well-told, the characters very fleshed-out, and I was engrossed and read almost 400 pages in one day. However, it also romanticized a lot of unhealthy behaviors, which probably wasn't great for me mentally (no, Abigail, you can't return to college to study Ancient Greek while drinking bourbon and smoking cigars

and plotting murders

smh)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, and Vomit

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Antisemitism

shelby327's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

The secret history is weird to reflect on because the characters and the plot are so terrible, and it is often very slow, but the read is so good and so worth your time. It’s overall extremely enjoyable and one of my favorite books that I have ever read. The writing is beautiful, and the plot is so beautifully produced that even though it is slow and at times repetitive, it’s still interesting to read. I look forward to reading more on Tart in the future.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

goldbs's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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, Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Islamophobia, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Homophobia, Incest, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Gaslighting

lilybarna's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Incredible writing and story and reflection of humanity. You have to fight your way through parts of this book, which I believe is intentional and entirely worth it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Sexual content

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

georgialee01's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Blood

jenpurlteach's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, and Alcohol

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Murder

Minor: Incest, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

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

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

deathmetalheron's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.25

This is one of those books that comes with a lot of hype, a lot of culture surrounding it, and if you even dip your toes in it's hard to sort of step back and give an honest rating. I had never heard of it til this year so it makes sense that it's a "modern" classic, but it's important to sit back and give it a sober impression.
First off, there is so much good in this book--in spite of being slow-paced, it's an incredibly gripping read. Richard + crew are exactly what you want out of morally compromised protagonists, they are flawed and overall bad people but they are compelling enough to read about. The references and the overlying theme of Greek tragedy playing out slowing in postmodern Vermont is really a stroke of genius. You can get little treats if you go back and read the parts in ancient languages again, learning new aspects about the characters and early foreshadowing in some cases.
The strongest aspect of this book is its condemnation, or rather strong criticism of elite academia and university. While there is no "hammer to anvil" moment where Richard goes on a diatribe about why college/"university" is dumb (and the text is all the better for it), the overlying theme of this permeates the vast majority of the text and creates the relationship dynamic with Richard and thew crew. By the end Richard has his realization that while college was somewhere he wanted to go and where he felt he had to, to the other Classics (particularly Henry) life is nothing more than an extremely extended stint in college, due to their wealth. Julian (arguably the true antagonist and representation of the entirety of academic excess) is basically the end-goal for Henry. 
The other factor that shines is how even though everyone is unlikable to some extent, Bunny, who features some of the more obvious detestable traits like elitism, bigotry, and begging for money, it is

still remarkably sad that his murder is what the story is framed around, and by the end when Henry and the rest are revealing their true characters you come to realize that in his soul Bunny was no worse than any of them. In that sense his death feels extremely tragic.

 
Now, where do I find critique with this text? For one, the obsession with the aesthetic of this damn book leaves a sour taste in my mouth--this is certainly one of those books where it's easy to get lost in "no, you don't get it, this is the real point" I do feel that moping around smoking cigarettes and wearing New England prep fashion is not exactly the takeaway you want from this book. I have the benefit of reading this in my 30s, and I knew people like the Classics when I was in college. The Magicians is much more hokey and goofy but it gets away with making fun of dark academia without making it feel sexy. The reaction to that makes me wonder if the themes of anti-elitism should have been more prominent and we didn't need to spend as much time going over the times Richard walks around drunk or how many Bloody Marys Charles orders and how fast he drinks them. At around 400 pages the prose begins to dip and we get extended, plodding sections that really betray the pace.
It's a phenomenal book, and I have so much good to say about it. But at the risk of falling into the milieu of takes on this book, there is a very clear set of themes to me, and yes, you can miss it if you get too lost in the aesthetic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, Suicide, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Rape and Antisemitism