Reviews tagging 'Car accident'

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

131 reviews

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

---

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

catrhl's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

2.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Alcohol, Death, Suicide, Alcoholism, Drug use, and Murder

Moderate: Misogyny, Racism, Incest, Car accident, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Animal cruelty, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Eating disorder, Animal death, Racial slurs, and Homophobia

thefigtree's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, Addiction, Murder, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Incest, Car accident, Rape, and Self harm

Minor: Blood, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, and Classism

tomoonarmy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, and Alcohol

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Alcoholism, Violence, Addiction, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal death, Death, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Medical trauma, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Blood, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Alcoholism, Abandonment, Car accident, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Body horror, Eating disorder, and Cursing

angstifies's review against another edition

dark 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

5.0

enjoyed this way more than i expected! 

this book is very dark and twisted, and the characters are so complex it was always so hard to understand everything they did or said.

and i personally love when a book makes me THINK, and develop theories on why the characters in the story are acting the way that they are and stuff like that, i literally could not stop writing my thoughts on the margins of the book. loved it.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Suicide, and Murder

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Racism, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Incest, Racial slurs, and Addiction

Minor: Cancer, Car accident, Classism, Xenophobia, Ableism, Cursing, Murder, Rape, Animal death, Antisemitism, Blood, Grief, Physical abuse, Self harm, and Violence

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.

---

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

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

---

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

julesmae'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? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Donna Tartt's prose was almost certainly my favorite part of this read - so vivid in detail it's haunting how real it feels. While I did enjoy the plot, the cascading mess of lies and morality and intellectualism, I didn't find myself as enraptured as I had expected to be. I think this is, in part, due to the fact that none of the characters are particularly likable - which is both an example of how brilliantly complex a writer Tartt is and somewhat of a barrier to being completely invested in the outcome. Overall though, I still enjoyed it - I don't find many books anymore that I really revel in the slow pace of, but this one I did.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Violence, Alcoholism, Misogyny, and Murder

Moderate: Homophobia, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Sexual violence, Car accident, Animal cruelty, and Incest

elisabeth_with_an_ess's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

My first impulse when I started reading this book was to tell all the characters to drink some water and take a nap. That impulse strengthened all the way to the final page. Never have I been so irritated by a cast of characters, and also so compelled to see what they would do next. 

The Secret History is a story about murder, but the who and what are revealed right from the start. What remains is a fascinating, twisted exploration of the why and how. The writing is brilliant, at times making me feel as if I myself had committed the crime.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Suicide, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Incest, Alcoholism, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Classism, and Bullying

Minor: Child abuse, Eating disorder, Car accident, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Forced institutionalization

judehp's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad slow-paced

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

5.0

I found the narrative a bit robotic towards the end 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Grief, Suicide, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Animal cruelty, Car accident, Chronic illness, Incest, Vomit, Death, Sexual assault, Addiction, Drug abuse, Racism, Self harm, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship