Reviews tagging 'Car accident'

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

131 reviews

lifeofchrstnlvly's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

A satire book about privileged people.
A critique of elitism.

I think some people forget this are the main points of The Secret History.

Donna Tartt captured me. From beautiful writing to complex characters, I was engrossed. I rarely annotate my books (I only highlight important quotes and tab the pages), but I can't help but write my thoughts as I was reading this. I didn't dare finish this immediately since I wanted to fully immerse myself in the story.

At first I thought the pacing will throw me off... but the pacing made sense. I understand why Donna decided to write it this way - we're reading Richard's thoughts, which are scattered. He thought he needed to point out unnecessary details. We were in the mind of an unreliable narrator, which makes things more interesting, since we were forced to immerse ourselves in his thoughts.

The ending caught me off guard... but it made the most sense for the story. 

If you expect to fall on love with the characters, this is not for you. They are unlikable characters for a reason (you don't know how many times I said "these pretentious kids" out loud while reading). I have a soft spot for Francis, though. 

I get now why they say this is the mother/blueprint of dark academia. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Death, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Car accident, Cursing, Gun violence, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Mental illness, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

esme_may'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

4.0

My deep hatred of

Bunny

knows no bounds. I knew it would be good but no one told me it would be Like This

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Toxic friendship, and Gun violence

Moderate: Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Vomit, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Physical abuse, Ableism, Incest, Mental illness, Antisemitism, Car accident, Bullying, Cursing, Infidelity, and Blood

Minor: Cancer, Kidnapping, Outing, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual assault

siennakt30's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Sexism, Addiction, Bullying, Car accident, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Domestic abuse, Classism, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Self harm, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Drug abuse, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Blood, Cancer, Death, Drug use, Alcoholism, Cursing, Rape, Animal death, and Eating disorder

rory_john14's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cursing, Gore, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Gun violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Domestic abuse, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Religious bigotry, Violence, Blood, Death, Drug use, and Homophobia

Moderate: Grief, Toxic relationship, Hate crime, Classism, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Animal cruelty, and Child abuse

Minor: Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Biphobia, Antisemitism, Cancer, Car accident, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Stalking, Vomit, Child death, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, and Infidelity

raiynnn's review against another edition

dark reflective tense slow-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Murder, Racism, Suicide attempt, Medical content, Drug abuse, Drug use, Islamophobia, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Death, Alcoholism, Classism, Incest, and Racial slurs

Moderate: Homophobia, Misogyny, Gun violence, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Self harm and Car accident

sinaprst's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

I don`t even know what to say about this. I just feel empty after reading this, like I don`t know what to do with my life.
Not in a very long time has a book captivated me the way that this has. I was and still am constantly thinking about it and I literally physically couldn`t put it down.
I can`t even really explain this and I think I will need some more time before I can properly find the words to describe my feelings towards this. I just know already though that this is going to stay with me for the rest of my life and that there will not be a day where I don`t think about this.
I almost feel like pulling a Dorian Gray, buying several copies of this book and binding them in different colours to fit my various moods.
 

I just wished that Richard just came out of the fucking closet already and got together with Francis. The two of them would`ve made so much more sense together than him and Camilla (whatever that was anyways). And no matter how many times he tries to convince me he`s straight, I will not believe him. His actions just speak against him. No straight man talks about his male friends the way he does. And even the way that he talks about Camilla just screams closeted queer man at me. Anyways, Francis deserved better!

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Alcoholism, Cursing, Mental illness, Suicide, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Antisemitism, Drug use, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Homophobia, Incest, and Racism

Minor: Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, and Car accident

gretag's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Bullying, Car accident, Classism, Drug abuse, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Outing, Homophobia, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Medical content and Vomit

idajoh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-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

5.0

I've never once in my life wanted to analyze a book actively and in-debth before I read this book. I feel like I have to re-read to catch all the nuances

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Medical content, Suicide, Drug use, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Drug abuse, Incest, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide attempt, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Classism, Cursing, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Car accident, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Rape, Self harm, and Sexual content

nialiversuch's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Mental illness, Classism, Cursing, Drug use, Gun violence, Incest, Vomit, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Blood, Bullying, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexism, Violence, Addiction, Alcohol, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Xenophobia

Minor: Domestic abuse

gwen__'s review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

4.0

Undeniably a brilliant and outstanding novel. Tartt manages to give a vast impression of each character whilst those descriptions do not stick out at all; they blend neatly into the story. Her writing is enchanting and compelling, and it is what I so adore about this book. The plot itself did not appeal to me as much, but regardless of that, I enjoyed The secret history tremendously. That being said, it took me a while to get through it. This is no light read at all, but I would definetly consider it worth the while.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Addiction, Gun violence, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Violence, and Body horror

Moderate: Homophobia, Incest, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Racial slurs

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Classism, and Car accident