Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

The Little Friend by Donna Tartt

19 reviews

lynix's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

I usually love Donna Tart but except for the last two chapters this book bored me half to death. 
I was hoping for a somewhat conclusive ending but so many questions were left unanswered, like who killed Robin, who gave that girl the gloves and what they were doing with the snakes in the first place. also all of the characters annoyed me more and more throughout the book, though I guess that's somewhat the point. 
sorry but this one wasn't my cup of tea at all.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Vomit, Racism, Addiction, Drug use, Racial slurs, and Murder

_rowan_'s review

dark mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Gun violence, Murder, Violence, Vomit, Alcohol, Racial slurs, Racism, Animal death, Blood, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Grief, Car accident, Gore, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Body horror, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Animal cruelty, and Child death

cosmopsis's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Drug abuse, Violence, Addiction, Animal death, Medical content, Gun violence, Classism, Vomit, and Murder

Moderate: Bullying, Car accident, Ableism, and Racism

Minor: Cancer

nicolaparty's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Grief, Animal death, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, Racial slurs, Child death, Car accident, Classism, Death, Stalking, Ableism, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction and Racism

Minor: Blood, Religious bigotry, Self harm, and Alcohol

beanqueen_'s review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Drags on, there is a lot of unnecessary slurs. Love how descriptive the writing was, and the story was interesting but I wasn't super captivated or invested in the characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, and Death

Moderate: Racial slurs, Ableism, and Animal death

jelliestars's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

1.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, Racism, Ableism, Child death, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Classism, Racial slurs, Addiction, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Death, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Car accident, Fatphobia, Gore, Hate crime, Medical content, Vomit, Alcohol, Murder, Abandonment, Infidelity, Misogyny, and Xenophobia

Minor: Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Slavery, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, War, Fire/Fire injury, Bullying, Body shaming, Excrement, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Antisemitism, Cultural appropriation, Eating disorder, Confinement, Cancer, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, and Trafficking

kari_t's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

I can't say loudly enough how much I love Donna Tartt's superior writing ability. Truly next level and unlike literally any author I have ever read. But, unfortunately, the problems I had with this book outweighted the enjoyment.

First: The constant flow of disturbing events and misery. Just a parade of depression: animal abuse, animal death, animal neglect, child abuse, child death, child neglect, racism, drug abuse, meth dealers, white supremacy...and on and on. It just didn't matter to me anymore how well Tartt could write. I just got SO sick and tired of all the awful everything of EVERYONE's life in this small town. 

Second: Not a thriller. After reading (and loving) The Goldfinch and The Secret History by Tartt, I was particularly excited to pick up The Little Friend, seeing it slotted as "Mystery/Thriller" and "Psychological Thriller". It is neither. The blurb proclaims things like "...Harriet...sets out to unmask (her brother's) killer" and "Filled with hairpin turns of plot...". Meh. While true Harriet tries for a time to determine the killer, as a pre-teem might do, she decides quickly who to blame. Then it's all about how she'll try to get revenge or justice. Most of the book is just atmospheric description (albeit brilliantly written) but there is not much going on from page to page. There are scenes of action and suspense at some times, but overall, no...this is not a mystery/thriller. 

And so, I'm being generous with 3-stars because of Tartt's writing. But the deeply dreary and subject matter and violence on every...single...page, and the ambling, pointless arc of the plot was a 1-star.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Racism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Grief, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, Racial slurs, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Incest

johnclough's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious slow-paced

• 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Racism, Violence, Addiction, Animal death, Drug use, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, and Drug abuse

_jchinasa's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Murder, Violence, Gun violence, Drug abuse, Addiction, and Blood

Moderate: Racism, Self harm, Animal death, and Child death

Minor: Vomit

another_dahlia's review against another edition

dark emotional tense

• Strong character development? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Child death, Racism, Death, Classism, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Murder, Addiction, Cancer, Sexism, Drug abuse, and Drug use