Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

17 reviews

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

may_befoundinatheatre's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, and Drug use

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Self harm, Cancer, Homophobia, Blood, Incest, Kidnapping, and Cursing

funmilayo's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective 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

“One likes to think there's something in it, that old platitude amor vincit omnia. But if I've learned one thing in my short sad life, it is that that particular platitude is a lie. Love doesn't conquer everything. And whoever thinks it does is a fool."

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."

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Content Warnings

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

_nessa_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

I loved this book. The first 50 pages were slow and i didn’t think that i would like it, but after that i was completely engrossed in the plot and the characters. Although all the characters are horrible human beings i couldn’t help but feel invested in them. It is quite a long slow-paced book but i loved every second of it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Murder, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Animal death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Racism, and Violence

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, and Rape

tori214's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

Oh.... uh.... alright. 

 

Well then. I don’t really know how to articulate my thoughts on this well, so I’ll do it in the simplest possible terms. 

 

I thought the story was enjoyable and interesting but the characters were extremely unlikable.

I really only liked one (and a half) character(s), but he didn’t even get a happy ending. None of them did really,

and my dislike of this book might also be due to the fact that I’m finishing this the day after Christmas and I’ve simply been in the mood for something upbeat and warm. 

 

The writing style was dense and definitely and acquired taste, but I personally really, really enjoyed it. However, the timeline was a little messy at times. There was this one thing Tartt did an astonishing amount where she would have the characters say “Remember when {this thing} happened?” but it wouldn’t be something that had previously been explained to the reader. The characters would have a conversation about it, AND THEN she would explain the event to the reader, instead of just letting us know when it happened in the first place and calling back to it later. 

 

Not to mention the fact that the last 100 pages or so where very repetitive, but then there was the final couple pages and the epilogue that was sort of a reprieve. 

 

It was alright. There were a few things I really enjoyed but there were too many flaws for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Violence, and Islamophobia

Moderate: Body horror, Chronic illness, Gun violence, Suicide, Islamophobia, and Incest

Minor: Animal death, Body horror, Cancer, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Excrement, Grief, Gore, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, and Violence