Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

620 reviews

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

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

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

Minor: Homophobia and Incest

saaturnslover's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

4.5

SO GOOOOD ARGHHHH

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Suicide, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Incest, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Classism

rayaufebay's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

bookzplz's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.5

“i’m just having a bit of trouble with my passport.”

i technically started this book in the winter of 2022 and for various reasons, put it down

shortly after bunny’s death

. i think it was a little overhyped and i wasn’t sure what to expect so i decided to leave it there. i’m glad i picked it back up. 

this book does an excellent job of showing the blinders people in academia frequently have on and how the isolation under the guise of supremacy can be detrimental. nobody was ever happy. they studied the classics because it was the thing to do, the only one who concluded their studies was richard because he financially had to and, of course,

was alive to do so

. for most of them, classics was something to study because they could and less so because they were actually interested in the subject. the book also expertly showed the favorite pastime of affluent white people, ignoring things they don’t want to deal with or “sweeping it under the rug”. these people, richard excluded, have no actual experience with dealing with their problems.

when bunny is essentially threatening to go forward with what he suspects about them, they never talk to him about it, they give into his extortion and when that gets too tiring they decide to murder him.

it’s less a secret history of what happened and more so outing the secret ways that the wealthy go about ignoring their problems and finding ways of not dealing with them.

i guarantee you i will read this book again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Antisemitism, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Incest, Violence, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Body horror, Gun violence, and Misogyny

ilsabelle's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

joslyn_cole's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

emimcmanis's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Moderate: Sexual content

angela_iseli's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Incest, Suicide, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Minor: Racism and Antisemitism

louise2000's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Incest