Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

1751 reviews

weswislar's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicide, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Incest, Homophobia, and Drug use

breadkingbread's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.0

Okay, so, how do i even start? Obviously it is very compelling and i thought the characters were interesting, and other than a few hiccups (some weird lines, the whole, uhm, (spoilers), siblings thing) also very *human*. I enjoyed reading about their "shenanigans". Also, at the same time, i definitely hear people when they say that (paraphrasing from memory here) it is a book *pretending* to be very smart and academic by using big words, but it's not holding up when you actually start to look into it. I did get that, too. Despite that i get what she was going for and she does to it pretty well, mostly, despite some smaller gripes i had with it while reading.

Also a smaller spoiler but the whole "Isram" thing feels incredibly out of place. Like this book references real life cultures and bigotry so many times but she felt the need to create a whole new place which is obviously just there as a stand-in for like any "Arab" country? Just feels like it was made specifically so that these short parts of the book had a sort of fictionalized cloak on them while leaving everything else largely realistic (in terms of cultures) for reasons unknown to me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Murder, and Grief

Minor: Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Violence, Antisemitism, Classism, Islamophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, and Suicide

catievalentino's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Drug use, Death, Incest, Cursing, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Classism, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Animal death

Minor: Emotional abuse, Chronic illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug abuse, Vomit, Car accident, Child death, Gun violence, Medical content, Violence, and Blood

abbeyhatton1's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Murder, Alcoholism, and Suicide

Moderate: Death and Drug abuse

Minor: Incest

lia_paige's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Domestic abuse, Rape, Suicide, Drug abuse, Incest, and Alcoholism

valeriedittrich's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

4.5

she totally named the twins camilla and charles on purpose 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Classism

Moderate: Incest and Homophobia

jordan21's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

4.5

A very slow burn with a cast of complex, unlikeable characters. The “first book” was addicting, tense and dark while the second felt disorganized and unsatisfying. And even still, I finished 500 pages in a week which is a rarity for my reading style. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Murder, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Incest and Self harm

leiaamy's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Gore, Addiction, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Drug use, Cursing, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Incest, Murder, Violence, and Classism

faenth's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Sexism, and Homophobia

midnightrain_'s review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Murder, Classism, Homophobia, and Mental illness