Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

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

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

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

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

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

annaliseg's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Homophobia, Domestic abuse, and Incest

lifepath7's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol

Moderate: Murder and Homophobia

Minor: Rape and Vomit

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

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

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

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

kaylareads06's review against another edition

challenging 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Murder, Alcoholism, Homophobia, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Incest

lemd's review against another edition

dark reflective 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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt and Suicide

Moderate: Incest, Suicidal thoughts, and Murder

Minor: Rape

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

Moderate: Violence and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death