Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

321 reviews

pastelbread's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Murder, Alcoholism, Addiction, and Suicide

Moderate: Homophobia, Self harm, and Incest

Minor: Cancer, Physical abuse, and Rape

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

gothmiku's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Alcoholism, Murder, Classism, Incest, Misogyny, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Physical abuse, Drug abuse, Suicide, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Car accident, Grief, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Antisemitism, Vomit, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Stalking, Outing, and Self harm

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

kaydin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Toxic friendship, Drug abuse, Incest, Suicide, Self harm, Drug use, Gun violence, Grief, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, and Addiction

Moderate: Violence, Physical abuse, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Rape

kokos19's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

1.0

A book about shitty people being shitty, not taking accountability for their actions nor learning anything. I know it’s a ‘’satire’’ but no, it was a pain to get through.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Toxic friendship, and Drug use

Moderate: Antisemitism, Medical content, Incest, Bullying, and Homophobia

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

hex_agon's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicide, Alcoholism, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Incest and Homophobia

Minor: Rape and Physical abuse

micareads123's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.5

Modelled after a Greek tragedy, with its flawed and lost protagonist and cast of equally flawed and lost secondary characters, a murder and the subsequent unravelling of life as they know it, this book is a tragedy in the purest form of the word. 

If you go into this book expecting a murder mystery, you will be disappointed. This book is long, and we find out how the murder happens halfway through. For the remainder, Tartt takes us on a deep dive into the individual fatal flaws of all characters involved and slowly picks away at all of the strings holding their lives together. 

This book is an excellent study on perspective and how easily it can be distorted and on the deceptive nature of appearances. It takes a close look at humanity, and how far we can stretch the meaning of the word. 

Do check content warnings for this one, as it takes many dark turns! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Alcoholism, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, Drug use, Physical abuse, and Fatphobia

seshat's review against another edition

mysterious reflective relaxing medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Suicide attempt and Physical abuse

starryfruits's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

these bozos had to the be absolute fucking wierdos on campus due to juliens little social experimenting, i couldnt enjoy anything bc everyone made me too mad and i couldnt flow with what was happeneing bc richard was kept out of the loop in an exausting way
Despite the rating im giving it these characters haunt me and i have an infinite amount of questions and i like the book, just not reading it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Suicide, and Drug use

Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Homophobia, and Murder

Minor: Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Incest, Physical abuse, and Suicide attempt