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carol16's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Murder, Alcoholism, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Sexual content, Violence, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, and Incest
Minor: Homophobia, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, and Islamophobia
manderleylilacs'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
4.0
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Violence, Islamophobia, Drug use, Racism, Addiction, Murder, Racial slurs, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Classism, Alcohol, and Gun violence
Moderate: Incest, Abandonment, Physical abuse, and Gore
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Rape, 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.sycamore_tree's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Murder, Incest, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Violence, Homophobia, and Mental illness
Minor: Gaslighting, Drug abuse, and Drug use
carefulfearanddeaddevotion'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
The only thing that saved this book from being a 1 star read is the writing. The scenes are well-paced, the conversations natural, the descriptions--both of location and feeling--are extremely vivid. Unlike The Goldfinch, I was able to finish this book. Like The Goldfinch, I found the characters bland and insufferable. I really just could not empathize or even sympathize with any of them. When Bunny was alive, he was bigoted and not very likeable. Once he died, I did feel bad for him, but only because I am not a psychopath and I think murdering a friend because they found out you murdered someone else is bad, actually.
I did find myself actively enjoying the book after
Not really that important overall, but was I actually meant to believe that he's in love with Camilla?? I'd sooner believe that he's in love with Cloke. He definitely had much more believable chemistry with all the boys in the group (or even Judy) than he did with Camilla. Just like Meredith and Oliver(?) in If We Were Villains I don't buy it, I really don't. Stop with the forced heterosexuality, stop shoving that shit down my throat. /lh
Graphic: Murder, Violence, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Alcoholism, and Suicide
Moderate: Homophobia, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Vomit, Incest, Blood, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Racism, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Mental illness, Islamophobia, Gun violence, Gaslighting, Drug use, Drug abuse, Classism, and Antisemitism
corkadillo's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The writing is exquisite. The characters have depth and mystery. The plot unfolds deliciously from the very first line. I can't wait to read it again.
Moderate: Murder, Suicide, Emotional abuse, and Violence
taylorc19's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Now, for what I didn't like so much:
- This book dragged. It took me two months to finish it, and I'm someone who usually can finish a book within a few days of opening it. I couldn't push myself to finish more than a chapter at a time. I found my eyelids growing heavy and my yawns becoming more frequent as I tried to slog my way through the dense yet uninteresting plot. This story could have been written in 300 pages. I gained absolutely nothing from the monotonous chapters of the character who died's funeral or from the search party for them. I found myself skimming through the last 40% of this book, and I wouldn't say I missed much.
- Maybe I'm not made for character-heavy, low-plot books. But that brings me to my next grievance: how can you write a character-driven book and make every single character utterly vile? The only character who I found myself somewhat sympathizing with by the end was Judy, the neighbor of Richard who gossiped too much and frequently did drugs such as cocaine and meth. Could we really not give any more positive personality traits to the core six students or Julian? Camila and Charles (the twins) appear to be kind and relatively receptive towards Richard when he first joins the group, however, they spiral into a violent alcoholic (Charles) and a manipulative liar (Camila). Bunny goes from jovial and bubbly to a person who blackmails their friends and is so insecure he is driven to a mental breakdown. And, my God, don't get me started on Richard. He is possibly the most uninteresting person I have ever had the displeasure of reading about. He seems to live such a pitiful existence where all he wants is acceptance from others. With character-driven books, I feel like I have to actually care about the characters. I wish nothing but the worst for basically every single person in this book. These characters were snobby, elitist, reprehensible, borderline sociopathic criminals yet I'm still supposed to believe Richard's favorable descriptions of them?
- Why are we adding random bouts of incest into this book???? I don't understand what that added to any of the characters nor why it was important to the plot??? It felt included merely for the shock factor.
- I think this book would have benefited from switching narrators during the second half. After the murder (and I use that term rather loosely) occurs, Richard should not have been the narrator. He doesn't know what's going on at all, he isn't involved in any of the police proceedings, and he spends the last 300 pages of the book rambling in a drunken stupor about-wait for it-NOTHING! I wish we had switched narrators to Henry or even Charles. People who were actually being questioned and were actually plotting on how to get away with the murder. Henry is framed to be this psychopathic mastermind. However, we don't actually get any explanation of his thoughts after the murder, who he planned to pin it on, or how he explained virtually anything to the police. I understand it's not a police-proceedings book, but I mean, come on, give us some explanation as to how they got away with this instead of just throwaway comments at the end by a paranoid Charles. Giving us Henry's point of view would have also explained the ending more since that came out of nowhere.
- Why did we throw in that line about Richard having the urge to rape Camila????????????? And why did we never touch on that again???????????
This book was dense, boring, and had no real point. Having superfluous, flowery language and rambling about Greek studies does not make for a good book! I almost DNF'd it hundreds of times while reading, but I needed to be able to say I gave it a fair shot. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone unless you enjoy reading about miserable creatures who think they're God's gift to the world. Someone please tell me what I'm missing that is so magical and life-changing about this book.
Good riddance, Hampden. I won't miss you.
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Classism, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Antisemitism, Death, Homophobia, Medical content, Mental illness, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Murder, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Violence, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Incest, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, and Toxic friendship
luhchan'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Gun violence, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, and Drug use
ctb681'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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Gun violence, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Child abuse and Car accident
dillydallyallie'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
5.0
Graphic: Gun violence, Incest, Physical abuse, Vomit, Grief, Addiction, Car accident, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Drug abuse, Toxic friendship, Blood, Racial slurs, Suicide attempt, Classism, Cursing, Drug use, Death, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence
naomi_salters's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Car accident, Chronic illness, Drug use, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Cursing, Drug abuse, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Grief, Incest, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Medical content, Self harm, Sexism, Addiction, Death, Body shaming, Hate crime, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Bullying, Homophobia, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Animal death, and Violence