Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Le Maître des illusions by Donna Tartt

510 reviews

bookishfaye's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• 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

2.0

This book is very comparable to movie Saltburn in the sense that they both tragically fail at representing and continue to perpetuate the issues they are meant to be commentaries of. This very much reads like it was written by a rich white nepo baby & I have so many issues with it. Pretty much every -ism/-obia occurs in here in super unnecessary & gross ways & it got to the point where I was only holding on to be able to say that i’ve read it. The second star is because I’ll give Donna the grace that at times there’s some really good quotes in here, & I found Henry to be a pretty well written character, but quite frankly fuck this book overall. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

lucyford's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book was SO GOOD. I don’t even know how to describe it in a way that truly encapsulates everything good about it. The plot is so well-written, and is really brought to life by the amazing writing style and slight poetic element to it, and all the atmospheres she creates just feel so real. Not to mention the foreshadowing (when you’re reading, you know it’s foreshadowing to something but you don’t know what it’s foreshadowing to, which is just so cool), and the fact that you’re always wondering how the story is possibly going to progress from point A to point B. The characters are all so complicated and interesting, and the themes of the books are very philosophical which makes the book all the more interesting. Overall, 10/10 read, absolutely exceeded my expectations. (ALSO THE ENDING??? CAUGHT ME SO OFF GUARD OMG)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

doormatt's review against another edition

mysterious tense fast-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

4.5

To start off with telling you they murder the guy and then to still have a very tense twist end? Ooof highly recommend 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Gun violence, Incest, Self harm, Suicide, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

Moderate: Homophobia, Antisemitism, and Grief

Minor: Infidelity

dhritidipa7's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

author_aryoung's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Incest, Racial slurs, Self harm, Suicide, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

rachelnoel's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Blood, Antisemitism, and Alcohol

Minor: Gore, Incest, and Car accident

nevaehmaendel's review against another edition

dark emotional informative 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? It's complicated

5.0

I can't stop thinking about it. Read it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

emilyvelle's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

• 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

4.25

The first ~25% was very slow and I was considering giving up, but then Ms. Donna got my attention & I was hooked and engaged! This was such a fascinating story that I want to write an essay about this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Toxic relationship, Antisemitism, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Minor: Incest, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, and Medical content

knmo1's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Incest, Suicide, Blood, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Violence

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

sophiaxscherm's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

There were times I was so entirely hooked but unfortunately also times that bored me. I really didn't like all the police and FBI stuff and couldn't wait till that part of the book was over. Everything before this part had me in such a grip, the way this exclusive group of students is depicted, their relationship to one another and to their teacher Julian and how Richard becomes part of the group and is woven into it is just great. What I think is fascinating about this book is how you not just see how the story unfolds through Richard's eyes but you also get to be a part of how he learns more about his friends and looses his fascination for them. It is unbelievable how much I thought I loved all of those characters in the beginning but realised how flawed all of them were, flawed being an immense underestimation here bc somehow all of them are really terrible people; how the complexity of their group is portrayed and they have no reason to trust anyone of each other though them being so exclusive and separated from most their peers. 

Henry killing himself in the end is so fitting and a good ending, however, I was a bit underhelmed. What I hated most about the end is how Richard still tries to win Camilla over, not just because the way he is being humiliated by Camilla when she tells him that she still loves Henry, but also because I felt like something clicked in Richard when he learned about this disgusting Camilla and Charles stuff and also that she kind of played with Richard all the time, I expected more of him and this really frustrates me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol