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carodunn's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Sexism, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, and Dysphoria
Minor: Sexual violence and Suicidal thoughts
marleysclassics's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Because, though it might seem strange, in my opinion one of the best parts of this book was the developments of the characters in terms of likability. I liked all of them as I didn‘t know them at all and with every page I read I began to detest every one of them a little more. While I wouldn‘t call every single person of in this book a bad person, some certainly are. And I was so here for it, because it felt like hating them more meant understanding them more.
If you want to read this book because of the vibes - definitely. They‘re there, yet I wouldn‘t expect too much of the academia and a little more of the dark aspect. Not to say that academia isn‘t a reoccurring theme, because it is, but there really aren‘t that many lessons or anything. It‘s more about the whole setting, and the motives of the characters yet in a more abstract way.
I also loved the writing, because it is beautiful and meaningful and often SO pretentious - and it knows it is and it‘s okay because it romanticises and critiques its own style and contents at the same time. (I actually think that‘s the essence of the whole dark academia genre.) I flew through the pages, and especially the first part of the novel was SO addictive. You know what‘s going to happen from page one and still you become more interested with every page. And sometimes you can‘t even tell what draws you too the pages, yet there is something. Unfortunately, this lacked a bit in the second half. Especially towards the end, there were some parts which really grabbed me, but there were also long passages which I wasn‘t interested in. At some point, this narrative just turns into a fever dream/nightmare/sequence of drug abuse, and partly this became a tiring. But also not entirely.
In the end, I‘m pretty sure I‘ll have to read this again.
P.S.: I never answered the question „Are the flaws of the main character(s) a main focus of the book?“ more confidently.
And now I‘ll put this book in my shelf right next to The Picture of Dorian Gray
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Moderate: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, and Grief
Minor: Animal death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Blood, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and Car accident
hbocking's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Suicide, Islamophobia, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Incest, and Self harm
pbeeandj's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Racial slurs, Suicide, Islamophobia, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Classism
Moderate: Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Animal cruelty, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Vomit, and Antisemitism
colittle's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Suicide, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Islamophobia, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Outing
telemesmerism's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.75
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Islamophobia, Suicide attempt, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death, Incest, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Medical content, and Car accident
briochebun's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
“Love doesn’t conquer everything. And whoever thinks it does is a fool.”
ੈ✩‧₊˚
The Secret History has been on my TBR for quite some time and I am so glad that I finally put some time aside to read it.
While I cannot say that my life was forever altered by this novel (though my feelings on that may change with time) I feel as though giving it anything less than 4 starts would be doing it an immense disservice. Readers of TSH will be able to see the impact that the novel has had on the Dark Academia genre and I think that in and of itself is an incredible feat that speaks to Tartt’s skill.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Islamophobia, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Outing, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Car accident and Death of parent
Minor: Kidnapping
caelinsullivan's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Islamophobia, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Minor: Sexual assault
nadia_luq's review against another edition
- 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
2.75
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Islamophobia, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, and Blood
eclloyd's review against another edition
- 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
2.5
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Islamophobia, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Alcohol