Reviews with content warning for Gun violence - Le Maître des illusions

Was this a good book? Yes. Did I enjoy it? Not really.

First, it was so long. I would check to see how many pages I read, realize I had only read about 10 pages, and then just feel annoyed at the author for writing so much. (Though it is almost fitting that a pretentious book with pretentious characters be as long and self-absorbed as it was). I could have enjoyed this so much more if it has like 150 less pages.

Then, I didn’t like the characters. I either disliked them or felt neutral about them. So, I couldn’t empathize with any of them, which made it hard for me to enjoy the story.

And (not a spoiler, I promise) why did Richard keep saying he loved these people? I didn’t feel love between anyone. I just felt like they all used each other. Maybe that was the point, I suppose. To illuminate how selfish people can be and to demonstrate how they think they love someone when really their idea of the person is self-serving because it feeds their ego or identity in some way. Maybe I’m not allowing the characters to have depth with that interpretation, but with the nihilistic perspective used throughout the book, I feel like my take is pretty accurate. So it just annoyed me because it didn’t feel self aware.

What I did enjoy was the portrayal of specific people spiraling because of a set of circumstances that just wrecked their mental state. I thought that was psychologically interesting, sort of lol. But that too started to wear on me and I was getting tired of watching these people fall into

substance abuse issues.

I also enjoyed the style of writing. Even though it dragged, the author’s writing was fantastic and engaging.

I noticed myself picking this book up to “get through it” rather than to actually enjoy reading it. I kept pushing because this book was so beloved, but in the end I don’t really think I was converted into loving it.

I think I like the idea of dark academia more than I actually like dark academia. Something about reading about academic snobs drives me crazy, no matter how cool the ‘vibes’ are.

List of spoilers with questions I had and/or general commentary:

1. So, let me get this straight, they (minus Richard) all killed a man in some drugged out daze? And somehow Richard figured it out because one of the guys had been out of town for a couple days? And tickets to Greece or whatever? Weird.
2. Incest?! wtf. So strange that came up and then was like never mentioned again. I wondered if I actually read that right, bc it was mentioned so flippantly.
3. Was Henry really wanting to kill Charles, or was that just meant to demonstrate Charles’ unraveling?
4. Henry was a psychopath and we’re just gonna not acknowledge that any further than the one conversation? And then make Charles feel crazy for thinking Henry wanted to kill him? Okay then lol.
5. At least one review said “they all deserved what they got” and now I’m wondering what that reviewer meant. Only one of them actually died as a consequence of his actions. And that was by choice. AND romanticized as well. Not this sad death they made it out to be. I would’ve loved if this book punished the characters more, actually.
6. Oh, and that brief mention of wanting to r*pe Camilla. wtf was that? I know it was meant to illustrate how far gone Richard was to this weird power high. But I really wish the author didn’t include that part. To me, even though it was mentioned briefly, it was disturbing.
7. Did Henry really manipulate Richard into getting involved? Or was that another example of unreliable narration?

I guess I’m still glad I read it? Idk man.

Oh, and I’m not sure why all these reviews mention being deceived at the end. Either I missed something or I had something clocked the whole time. I’m just not sure what that is. Lol

Another thought: was “Bunny” by Mona Awad inspired by this? Brb gonna Google it.

Content Warnings

abigailhaagen's review against another edition

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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)

Content Warnings

111rachel555's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Love this book. Very cross that I have finished it. Somehow Donna Tartt manages to reveal the biggest plot point in the Prologue and still keep you on the edge of your seat for 600 pages. This is an excellent work of character study- I usually struggle to relate to or invest with characters, but I felt like all the main characters were so fleshed out and real. Midway through the book I felt like I really knew all of them and was attached to them despite all their flaws.
Also, highly recommend the audiobook (uploaded for free on youtube).

Content Warnings

haerumii's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective slow-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

1.75

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buzzybuzzybeefudge's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-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

3.0

I wanted to hate this book, but I couldn't. It was too gripping and it was really fun to listen to on audiobook. Some of the prose was genuinely gorgeous. I am allowed to gag at the ending though because I personally loathe "this is what happened to all the characters" endings.

Content Warnings

_david_'s review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense 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

3.5

I somewhat enjoyed the book.

I liked the niche approach of student choice: the outgoing introverted dark academia type of students of classic languages. This is a group which I can recognise in fellow students from my high school days, who coincidentally also studied classic languages.

The plot is interesting to me. It's a very believable story of a group of people who make very bad choices which seem the easiest to them in the moment, but which have long lasting consequences.

One thing I wish the story improved is character depth. The main character and Henry are interesting. Bunny is interesting but not very rounded. But Charles, Camilla and Francis are underdeveloped eventhough they were part of the main cast of characters. The main character's crush on Camilla also made my eyes roll. It was very over the top and often distracted from whatever she was doing. Her appearance got mentioned waaaaay too often. I'd rather have known more about her personality.

Somewhere around the halfway point the story becomes very slow. You might have to push through long paragraphs about seemingly unimportant details. There shouldn't have been much more of it or I would've dropped the book. Speaking of Tartt's writing style: either do not mind having to look up words or be accepting of only understanding the general gist of a word/foreign sentence and moving on.

The ending was very satisfying to me. The effect of the events in the story are different per character. I found this very interesting to read about. Something clicked when the main character described that the main cast is a group of naturally insecure people who have been taught to feel superior instead. This explains a lot of the behaviour shown.

Content Warnings

lorenag5's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.5

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