Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

54 reviews

carlay's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense 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

I feel like I’ll be thinking about this one for a while and that is a big reason I gave this 4 stars. I can see why The Secret History is labeled a “modern classic,” because the setting for the story is timeless and there is so much to unpack and analyze. Does that mean I liked it? I don’t know, haha. Going in, I was asking for a cozy November read and it delivered in that way. But there was also a tedious, unsettling element too that makes me hesitant to like this book. I cannot quite describe it. And although the prose in this text has a dreamlike, unique quality, I feel like this book could have been, like, 200 pages shorter.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Incest, Misogyny, Racism, Self harm, Antisemitism, Grief, and Car accident

casbee's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Incest, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Medical trauma, Murder, and Alcohol

lilkstew's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Alright. I am feeling many things upon finishing this book. This is the second Donna Tartt book I have read, and I liked it much better than The Goldfinch. I loved the setting, I loved the weird little plot, and I loved all of the Latin smattered throughout the book since it made my five years of Latin courses worth it. I appreciated all of the twists and turns; some of them genuinely had my jaw on the floor. The characters were wonderful; they were all twisted and off-putting, but they were so interesting. I know all of the characters are bad, but Francis and Henry.....I love them. Henry is seriously my favorite kind of character. Ah. Alas. Wow. This sure was something. I really do love the scathing critique of classics and academia in general. That was great.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Antisemitism, and Religious bigotry

icannotweave's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicide, Blood, Islamophobia, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Rape, Car accident, and Death of parent