Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

316 reviews

erebus53's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.25

For a story with attractive writing and the occasionally beautiful truth of phrase, I have never read a book with more characters that I loathed. It is set in a university clique where the students so devote themselves to their study of ancient Greek, and their sycophantic affection for their tutor, that they become quite disconnected from the rest of campus and the real world. It's like you take cliquey academia and then turn it up to 11½. Not quite as schizophrenic as Bunny by Mona Awad, though one of the characters shares the same name, there is a sense that the narrator is not quite reliable.

I didn't get a clear sense of when this was set but I'm guessing that because it references anti-Arab race hatred and Sadam Hussein, that it would have to be about 1991, though most of it feels a little earlier than that. Maybe my perception of it is warped by it having been written before computers and cellphones were ubiquitous.

I was completely culturally at is with a bunch of characters who range from sociopathic to just mildly self-involved, all with a heaping helping of sense of entitlement... all the characters have bad or absent parents which is probably deliberate. These kids are almost adults, similes, and frequently inebriated. They are perfectly ok with tolerating friends as they demonstrate casual disregard for others, drink driving, kleptomania, infidelity, fraud, Racism, Sexism, religious bigotry, and stiffing others for the bill at expensive restaurants. These antics are presented to the narrator as endearing.. again; reliable??

When a classmate goes missing, I as a reader have the ethical question, would I have killed the horrible kid myself?! If I did would that make me a bad person? This kid is demonstrably awful, to mind. Does it matter that he was raised awful, by awful parents, and had a learning disability? Given support could he have improved? Who would have the patience!!!

The book drags. If the scenery had been nice I wouldn't mind so much, but I just wanted to kick all of the characters to the curb. I've been off-the-rails, drunk, clueless, far from home, and made bad decisions. I really liked the part of the story where our narrator has to live in a horrible free room, with a hole in the ceiling, through the coldest winter in ages, and there descriptions of going to common spaces and hanging out at the University because.. it's heated. That I could relate to. But the rest of it...?

I'm not sure why I do this to myself.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Classism

Minor: Rape

carolina_carvalho's review against another edition

mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Incest, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Murder

alastorthewerewolf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Holy f*cking sh*t this book has decided to change my whole life goals

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Homophobia, Incest, and Mental illness

Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Outing, and Classism

sundayray's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Chronic illness and Incest

anneroza's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, and Kidnapping

maygetdizzy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

abeautifulshelf's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Murder

kjm19's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

Wow. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

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

dorisko's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

2.0

IT’S FINALLY OVER.
Overrated, too long, boring and stiff. So many times I almost put that book down. It was kinda fun until halfway when

they killed Bunny.

After that everything went downhill. NOT ONE of the characters was likeable. They weren’t even morally grey, they were just boring pompous assholes. The book doesn’t know what it wants to be. It’s not a murder mystery, it’s not found family, it’s certainly not dark academia because these idiots never study, and even if they do they have nothing interesting to say about their field of studies. Also to make the most boring and bland character the narrator was certainly a choice.
Seriously why did I keep reading, I should have DNF this book halfway.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Murder

Moderate: Homophobia and Incest