Reviews tagging 'Gore'

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

155 reviews

phantomeyer's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

2.5

I kept waiting for this book to impress me. It never delivered. It did a good job of sustaining a vague tension, but it was also sufficiently hazy that the (likely intentional) feeling of unreality meant that I was unmoved by the plot. Plus, I had very little interest in the characters: a bunch of pretentious caricatures the lot of them. If I’m going to be told a murder story in first person, it needs to be a hell of a lot more gripping. And no, I don’t mean fast-paced. I mean more thought-provoking/eerie/evocative…. Basically somehow more interesting and entertaining. I don’t know what it says about me that many reviewers found this book to be “crazy” and really dark, whereas I mostly felt underwhelmed?

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Antisemitism, Suicide attempt, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

hmw102's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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

2.5

The writing itself was good and very poetic at times, but the characters were just so unlikeable and it was soooo hard to get through. I just didn’t love the author’s voice, which I know is supposed to be Richard’s attitude but god I just hated it lol. I did find myself hooked at several different points in the book, but it was not a worthwhile read for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, and Antisemitism

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

mcosmic's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense slow-paced

• 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, and Islamophobia

stxrlightreaderxx's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Drug use, Incest, and Suicide

Minor: Homophobia and Toxic relationship

romy_elizabeth13's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I was initially expecting to read a really meaningful, deep, emotional, relaxing-(ish) novel when I picked up Donna Tart’s The Secret History. It ended up being one of the most dark, shocking, twisted, intense books I’ve ever read and it was incredible, oh my word. After reading all these tearjerking, emotional books about love and loss and life, it was nice to have something that kept me hanging on the edge of my seat, while still being incredibly intellectual and offering many interesting perspectives on life. Just when I thought the plot twists would stop, they kept coming in an ever flowing stream and I loved that. The characters, while incredibly flawed were really well written and their personalities were delved deep into. 100% worth the read but if you are under 14/very mature 13 year old, I wouldn’t recommend reading this book just yet. Overall really incredible - something tiktok was right about.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Suicide, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

Moderate: Incest, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Vomit, and Classism

meic's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

a marvelous read and now Bunny Corcoran is my roman empire, an asshole but I just can’t stop thinking about him 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

koiolee's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

Maybe I'll up the star rating after i mull it all over. But this book was incredibly slow. Wonderful prose and addictive writing. I'm left feeling like I'm a pig trotting through mud. I'm happy, but still going so very slow. I think this book would be wonderful for people interested in classics or Greek for them to cross reference, find lil tidbits, analyze why certain paragraphs were there necessary or even what they're alluding to. Unfortunately that's not me, i did not do that and it was a fine enough read. A bit long, a bit tedious, but not a bad read at all. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

seforaflorian's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Drug use, Gore, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

lucyford's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing tense medium-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

5.0

This book was SO GOOD. I don’t even know how to describe it in a way that truly encapsulates everything good about it. The plot is so well-written, and is really brought to life by the amazing writing style and slight poetic element to it, and all the atmospheres she creates just feel so real. Not to mention the foreshadowing (when you’re reading, you know it’s foreshadowing to something but you don’t know what it’s foreshadowing to, which is just so cool), and the fact that you’re always wondering how the story is possibly going to progress from point A to point B. The characters are all so complicated and interesting, and the themes of the books are very philosophical which makes the book all the more interesting. Overall, 10/10 read, absolutely exceeded my expectations. (ALSO THE ENDING??? CAUGHT ME SO OFF GUARD OMG)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis