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benotafraid's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
edit to lower rating: a second reread just left me feeling like a lot of the build-up was hollow. the ending really let's the whole book down.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Classism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Death, Racial slurs, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Murder
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Incest, Self harm, and Sexism
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Homophobia, and Domestic abuse
nickel_'s review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Incest, Murder, Sexual harassment, Terminal illness, Violence, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Chronic illness, Blood, Classism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Alcohol and Panic attacks/disorders
becreadsbooks_'s review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Alcohol, Cursing, Drug abuse, Dysphoria, Infidelity, Medical content, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Incest, Medical trauma, Murder, Self harm, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Violence, Blood, Child death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Car accident, Classism, and Death
zoehakim's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Moderate: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Bullying, Car accident, Classism, Cursing, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Panic attacks/disorders, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Antisemitism, Confinement, Dysphoria, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Animal death, Grief, Murder, Outing, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual violence, Vomit, Body shaming, Suicide, Violence, Ableism, Blood, Child death, Gaslighting, Gore, Islamophobia, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Alcohol, Body horror, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Xenophobia
funmilayo's review against another edition
- 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
To make the reader care so deeply about characters so rotten and unlikeable is quite an impressive thing. None of the characters are good but all of them are incredibly real. Donna Tartt's writing is unbelievably vivid and beautifully haunting. I have never read anything quite like this novel and I doubt that I shall ever read anything like it again. The story starts out somewhat slow but it is more than worth it to get through those first few pages. I don't really know what else to say about this book so I'll just add some of my favourite Quotes.
“Forgive me, for all the things I did but mostly for the ones that I did not.”
“There are such things as ghosts. People everywhere have always known that. And we believe in them every bit as much as Homer did. Only now, we call them by different names. Memory. The unconscious.”
“Why does that obstinate little voice in our heads torment us so? Could it be because it reminds us that we are alive, of our mortality, of our individual souls – which, after all, we are too afraid to surrender but yet make us feel more miserable than any other thing? It is a terrible thing to learn as a child that one is a being separate from the world, that no one and no thing hurts along with one’s burned tongues and skinned knees, that one’s aches and pains are all one’s own. Even more terrible, as we grow older, to learn that no person, no matter how beloved, can ever truly understand us. Our own selves make us most unhappy, and that’s why we’re so anxious to lose them, don’t you think?”
"some things are too terrible to grasp at once. other things – naked, sputtering, indelible in their horror – are too terrible to really ever grasp at all. it is only later, in solitude, in memory, that the realization dawns: when the ashes are cold; when the mourners have departed; when one looks around and finds oneself – quite to one's surprise – in an entirely different world."
Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Violence
Moderate: Antisemitism, Bullying, Cancer, Classism, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Xenophobia