Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

1034 reviews

karmascycles's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

2.0

It took me a while to rate this one. But overall it felt like a partial waste of time. The ending was awful and it felt pointless to the rest of the story. The first third of the book had me intrigued, there were so many mysterious things going on, but none of them were resolved. It felt as if the author put details into the book and then promptly forgot about them. Although, I've never read a book where every single character was irredeemable and atrocious, so I think a bonus point should be awarded to the author for that. I think 2 stars works. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia and Death

Moderate: Rape

musical_alex's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Homophobia, Suicide, Violence, Toxic friendship, Racism, Racial slurs, Murder, Misogyny, Mental illness, Gaslighting, Drug use, Cursing, and Alcohol

emie_27's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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

Minor: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Blood, Murder, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Incest, Homophobia, Alcohol, and Toxic friendship

stargirlmyaa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicide, and Death

Moderate: Animal death, Homophobia, Incest, Antisemitism, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Alcohol, and Drug use

cmcrockford's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad fast-paced

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

4.25

Fiendish and brutal, closer to Waugh or Highsmith than many best sellers. Captures the horror of making friends at college then realizing these bastards are around you now allllll the time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Incest, Grief, Gun violence, Alcohol, Vomit, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death, Suicide, Violence, Homophobia, Classism, and Infidelity

nneka23's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.5

I found this story to be underwhelming at some points and intriguing at others. I listened to the audiobook version so maybe I wasn’t paying full attention the whole way through. But I couldn’t help wondering why  Richard made the decisions he made. When things started taking a dark turn, it seemed like there were so many opportunities for him to change course and separate himself from the group he wanted so desperately to be part of. I understand wanting to have a sense of belonging, but I can’t understand sticking around to be associated with such terrible people who committed such vile acts. This story was interesting enough for me to keep listening, simply because I wanted to know how it would all end. That said, there were many sections that seemed to drag on, which diminished some of my interest. The pace picks up within the third act and I noticed that was when I finally started getting into it. Overall, I think this story could have been told in fewer pages. I’d recommend this book if you’re interested in a slow-burn story about how elitism and hyper-intellectualism can have dangerous implications for anyone, but particularly for young people who are still finding their identities. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Murder, Suicide, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death, and Suicide attempt

faeblxde's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

It's been 4 months since I've finished this book and I'm still thinking about it. Incredible.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Murder, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Violence, Sexual content, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Addiction

Minor: Incest

place6o_ffct's review against another edition

Plot got too thin. Eventually it felt like just futzing around following the characters—and without the sense of progression from the plot, I got bored. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Death, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Gaslighting

Minor: Incest

brot's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicide attempt, Death, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, and Suicide

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Grief, Toxic friendship, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Medical content

Minor: Incest and Homophobia

1957s's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• 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

Moderate: Suicide and Death

Minor: Incest