Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Le Maître des illusions by Donna Tartt

338 reviews

maurice_greenware's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Genocide, Homophobia, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Murder, and Alcohol

cephalopodbot's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying and Homophobia

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Antisemitism, and Murder

dennyiii's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

elsie12's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.25

Regarded as a classic in the “dark academia” subculture, this book did not disappoint. The book centres around our protagonist, Richard, and his classmates all of whom study Classics at Hampden College in rural Vermont.

When a Dionysian ritual goes wrong (or perhaps too right?) Richard’s classmates are left with bloody hands. In a bid to bury their misdeeds, Henry, constructs a plan, which unbeknownst to Richard, he is set to play a key part in.

As with any classic “dark academia” read, the characters are painted different shades of morally grey. Richard admits to the reader at the beginning that his fatal flaw is longing for the picturesque. His idolisation of his classmates and deep rooted desire to be loved and accepted by them means he is willing to turn a blind eye as his classmates’ actions become increasingly morally reprehensible. The illusion eventually shatters and he begins to see his classmates for what they truly are, and while as the reader I grew to loathe the majority of them, Richard still remains, for the most part, devoted. Disliking the characters does not detract from this story, Tartt writes in a way where you are not expected to love them. In fact, I dare say at times she pushes you to see how much she can get you to dislike them. As a result, the book at points takes sadistic and perverted turns, as Tartt shows you just how detrimental Richard’s fatal flaw is and what he is prepared to overlook!

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Classism

briochebun's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• 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

4 out of 5 ☆’s.

“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.

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Content Warnings

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

doriandelioncourt's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

theodoredecker's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism and Suicide

Minor: Homophobia and Physical abuse

zuppakappa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious sad 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

3.75

It took me two months to finish, no idea if im gonna read it again i was too nervous reading the entire book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, and Murder

dancingwithourhandstied's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense fast-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

4.0

I really liked this. All the characters are very interesting and would be for analysis. It was really good, I really liked it. I think it’ll stay with me and I’ll be rereading it in some form soon.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Incest, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Car accident

Minor: Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent

nadia_luq's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

2.75

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Content Warnings

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