Reviews tagging 'Classism'

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

381 reviews

kshy's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• 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: Murder

Moderate: Blood, Death, Toxic friendship, Panic attacks/disorders, Gaslighting, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Classism, Mental illness, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Drug use, Grief, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, and Dysphoria

sarasreading's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad 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

4.0

From the very beginning of this book it's easy to see why it's the dark academia that launched 1,000 books. It's absolutely quintessential. Even when not much is happening, the prose and the atmosphere are just a 10/10. The characters aren't that great, and the plot can be slow, but I rarely found myself bored, and it's not a short novel. 

The execution of this book takes it from a 3 star read to a solid 4 for me. It could have been boring and kind of insufferable, but it just had a knack of drawing me deeper and deeper in. 

I read If We Were Villains last year, and I think because I read it first, because it deals with Shakespeare, and because I felt a more emotional connection to some of the characters, it wins out for me over this one. To me, The Secret History walked so If We Were Villains could run. 

Definitely recommend it for any dark academia fans, but also read the content warnings. There are so, so many.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Alcoholism, and Classism

Moderate: Drug use, Violence, Antisemitism, Physical abuse, Incest, and Murder

beckyg1016's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

2.0

The book description seems, to me, incredibly misleading. "Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor" - you mean the one who barely shows up at all, has minimal lines, and doesn't seem to influence anyone but Henry.  Henry is the driving force of this story and all of its actors. "...discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries." - You mean that one time? While that event is the catalyst for all others, it is not the point of the story - these characters don't "find a new way of thinking and living" - they spend a semester trying to avoid getting caught for a crime they are only somewhat remorseful about and then move on with their lives in much the same way as all of their "humdrum" classmates. 
Additionally, as noted in the Content Warnings section, Bunny is a difficult character to read. I get that you aren't supposed to like him, he is typical for the time, etc. but I was uncomfortable nearly every time he opened his mouth and that, at least, puts you on the side of the other characters. I surely did not miss him once he was gone.
To be fair, Tartt has a lovely writing voice. If she didn't, this would absolutely be my first DNF of the year. The story was captivating for maybe 250/550 pages - the rest was just a push to finish so I could move on to the next book in my TBR pile.
Every book has its reader - and I've seen plenty of people giving this book high ratings - so maybe that reader is you, and you will love it. I hope so. It certainly wasn't for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Murder, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, Alcoholism, Suicide, Homophobia, and Self harm

Moderate: Drug use, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Stalking, Sexism, Classism, Racism, Animal cruelty, Incest, Toxic friendship, Religious bigotry, and Homophobia

bellbirdie's review against another edition

dark funny 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Xenophobia, and Racism

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Classism, Murder, and Incest

jkull_10's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Violence, Addiction, Murder, Suicide, Classism, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Bullying, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Alcoholism

Minor: Rape and Blood

emcsweeney1's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Classism, Violence, Murder, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Incest and Homophobia

Minor: Domestic abuse and Suicide attempt

jasminn_perez's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

I think I would love to reread this book. I just know its gonna take another pass through for anything to really stick. I have so much appreciation for the character writing and just the writing in general. donna tart is the most genius like actually. I at this point in time don't believe I truly grasped a lot of what was going on in this book. but that might be the point ? idk I might come back to add to this review later bc I literally just finished it. I loved how much of an unreliable narrator Richard was. it truly was his story and his side of it and I know he liiiiied. the main hype for this book was the vibes and TRUST they are there. it did invent dark academia. its dark and mysterious and eerie and I felt so uncomfortable throughout so much of it. the way that Richard was kind of always on the outside of the group until he wasn't translated so so well onto the reader. it really felt like I was there with them but only on the level that he was. because even after they killed bunny it still felt like he was on the outside in a way. idk anyway it was good I will def be rereading and maybe ill grasp it better then.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Murder, Alcohol, Suicide, and Death

Moderate: Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Mental illness

lani__'s review against another edition

dark 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, Murder, Alcohol, Drug use, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Racism, Homophobia, and Classism

Minor: Sexual violence and Racial slurs

haileyeh's review against another edition

mysterious 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? It's complicated

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Alcoholism, Murder, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Drug abuse, Drug use, Toxic friendship, and Death

Moderate: Medical content, Homophobia, Racism, and Racial slurs

Minor: Toxic relationship, Incest, Death of parent, Vomit, Eating disorder, Animal death, Violence, Animal cruelty, and Classism

alemarton's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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

4.5

This book has intrigued me since I was a child, wandering by libraries at every chance I got and it did not fail me. I think this book is fantastic, the characters are flawed but that's how they are supposed to be: shallow, naive, without clear morals. They are following a world (the ancient time) that does not exist anymore and they are living in a sort of parallel world, where the Greek and Latin and their cultures are in the center and no real consequences matter. That is also because most of the characters are extremely rich and, in today's world, they are treated in a totally different way in respect to normal people. We can see how the characters at first were described as legends in the eyes of the protagonist and, going on with reading, we notice how they are deeply flawed. A great example is that of the teacher: he was fairly famous and encountered many celebrities during his life, at first in the book there were descriptions of the professor made by these characters that were totally positive and, in the end, when the real nature of Julian is revealed, there are two descriptions that really incapsulate his character. I loved that the book was very slow paced, however I thought the chapters were sometimes extremely long, even tho I understand the intent of the author. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Addiction, Classism, Incest, Murder, Suicide attempt, Sexism, and Racism

Minor: Rape