Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

135 reviews

cviii's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Drug use, Addiction, Alcoholism, Classism, Alcohol, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Toxic friendship, Incest, Mental illness, Murder, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Homophobia, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Medical content, and Misogyny

Minor: Rape, Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, Stalking, Islamophobia, Kidnapping, and Religious bigotry

cjdangerfield's review against another edition

dark emotional lighthearted reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Racism, Religious bigotry, Murder, and Mental illness

Moderate: Incest

Minor: Sexual assault

freyaboobac's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

3.5

It is wonderfully ironic that this book has become a staple of dark academia when it is itself a critique of the culture and aesthetic of dark academia. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexism, Religious bigotry, Alcoholism, Drug use, Death, Classism, Incest, Xenophobia, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Racism, Homophobia, and Grief

shutupaboutbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

5.0

This book was not perfect, it dragged in certain parts and rushed in others but I still gave it 5 stars. And that is because of how beautifully Donna Tartt develops the characters. You know that they are all horrible people and yet you find yourself loving them anyway. We watch them make horrible decisions and yet their reasoning seems almost reasonable. I loved the way the prologue was actually set in between book 1 and book 2. Overall, this book was genius and I highly recommend it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Murder, Alcoholism, Classism, and Drug use

Moderate: Sexism, Toxic friendship, Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Incest, and Misogyny

Minor: Rape

taleofabibliophile's review against another edition

dark 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Alcoholism, Addiction, Animal death, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Incest, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Misogyny, Racism, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Bullying, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Suicide, and Confinement

Moderate: Medical content and Eating disorder

Minor: Death of parent, Sexual content, Ableism, Vomit, Antisemitism, Infidelity, Car accident, and Cancer

frankielovestofu's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Murder, Drug use, Toxic friendship, and Death

Moderate: Sexual violence, Blood, Self harm, Body horror, Incest, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, and Violence

Minor: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Gun violence, Misogyny, Rape, Animal death, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Could do without the incest and racial slurs. Arguably, the racial slurs can be “justified” because they’re each only spoken once or twice by specific characters, and author either corrects behaviour of characters through another character or implies it’s not her thoughts. It’s clearly just to show how bigoted the characters saying it are, but still. The incest is left ambiguous at the end, whether it’s a long-term SA situation or consensual relationship turned sour at end. Either way, definitely could of been written without with very minor impact on plot and/or book. I.e. could still write controlling character without sexual subplot. Sorry not sorry. In addition, haven’t seen anyone mention it. There’s an extremely triggering (quick) mention of rape on page 484. Just skip the paragraph. It has NO effect on plot, it’s just unecessary and vulgar.

essentially the protagonist is speaking to the female character, and in mid-conversation (since book is his inner monologue) internally shares his sudden urge to strangle and rape his friend, then says the thought disappears as quickly as it came. conversation continues, never mentioned again. the worst part, is that the female character is in the midst of sharing her physical and sexual abuse from her brother when our protagonist thinks this

uhh_sydney's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

2.25

People hyped up this book so much as a dark academia necessity when all they did was chainsmoke, drink too much, and kill people. Richard is the most boring protagonist I’ve ever read. He’s just a vessel for other characters to tell him and by extension the reader what the plot line is. He has hardly any personality if his own. This book doesn’t show, it tells. I want to watch things fall apart before me, not have some other character ramble to Richard for three and a half pages. Also, why is everyone obsessed with Camilla?

Why does Richard love her besides she’s pretty I guess? Why does she get involved with Henry? Why does HER OWN TWIN BROTHER GET ROMANTICALLY INVOLVED WITH HER????? Still don’t understand the exact motives behind murdering Bunny either.

Felt a little uneasy about the portrayal of Francis’ homosexuality, but I can’t put my finger on it. Not necessarily a critique of the elite institution, which is what the book has the potential to be. Definitely more focused on the aesthetic. It had its bright moments, but overall I was dissapointed by this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Death, Drug use, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Violence, Murder, Self harm, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Physical abuse, Cursing, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Car accident, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content

Minor: Classism, Rape, Religious bigotry, and Infidelity

excepto's review against another edition

challenging dark inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.0

It is nice to read a novel for a change. 
It is fascinating to read that and it raises the weird urge of suddenly wanting to study classics, go round a bunch of charity shops, changing the entirety of your wardrobe, and picking up a bunch of old philosophy books and also homer. This is especially enticing when in the first half of the book. At the same time you know how the story is going to end from the very beginning, in a bold move Tart decides to lay out her ending on the very first page.
It is interesting to look at the depiction of a 80s(?) American college campus and seeing the various groups and subcultures that function there. By Richard's classification I'm afraid I'm firmly placed in the hippy camp, hacky-sacking on the grass bare-foot.
At the same time the elitism of the protagonists is quite startling, just taking out cash out of their pockets on a whim. We get an interesting view of that from Richard's side who is not from money, but yet somehow manages to get on with their crowd. At places we have Henry voicing quite 'worrying' statements about how only the greats should have a say about the world, I'm not entirely sure what the book is trying to make me think of that as even Richard himself does not react to this very strongly.
I also notice how easily lying comes to Richard and it just seems odd to me, but maybe I just give a lot of consideration to truth.
The ending is quite heavy and depressing, I somehow hoped for something better, but should have known what was coming.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Murder, Drug use, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Classism, Death, Drug abuse, Suicide, Addiction, Gun violence, Misogyny, Blood, Homophobia, Incest, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Minor: Domestic abuse, Medical content, and Religious bigotry

jelliestars's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Death, Drug abuse, Islamophobia, Racism, Suicide attempt, Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, Addiction, Alcohol, Drug use, Toxic friendship, Alcoholism, Blood, Homophobia, Murder, Suicide, Violence, and Xenophobia

Moderate: Sexism, Animal death, Cursing, Gun violence, Hate crime, Incest, Medical content, Misogyny, Animal cruelty, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Antisemitism, and Car accident

Minor: Eating disorder, Excrement, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Forced institutionalization, and Kidnapping

lcyarnall1's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Animal death, Medical trauma, Homophobia, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Cursing, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Antisemitism, Incest, and Mental illness