Reviews with content warning for Antisemitism - The Secret History

Reviews tagging 'Antisemitism'

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

301 reviews

sarasreading's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad 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

4.0

From the very beginning of this book it's easy to see why it's the dark academia that launched 1,000 books. It's absolutely quintessential. Even when not much is happening, the prose and the atmosphere are just a 10/10. The characters aren't that great, and the plot can be slow, but I rarely found myself bored, and it's not a short novel.

The execution of this book takes it from a 3 star read to a solid 4 for me. It could have been boring and kind of insufferable, but it just had a knack of drawing me deeper and deeper in.

I read If We Were Villains last year, and I think because I read it first, because it deals with Shakespeare, and because I felt a more emotional connection to some of the characters, it wins out for me over this one. To me, The Secret History walked so If We Were Villains could run.

Definitely recommend it for any dark academia fans, but also read the content warnings. There are so, so many.

Content Warnings

kokos19's review against another edition

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dark 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? It's complicated

1.0

A book about shitty people being shitty, not taking accountability for their actions nor learning anything. I know it’s a ‘’satire’’ but no, it was a pain to get through.

Content Warnings

sparrow_1's review against another edition

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funny mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

esther_d's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense 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

4.0

Content Warnings

hazyskyys's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? No

3.5

i feel as though there isn’t a lot to say about this book, but i also feel that i have to put my thoughts somewhere after i’ve finished it.

one of the things i loved the most about this book is the commentary it made about human nature; how people have the tendency to romanticize others and only acknowledge their best traits, even if that’s not who they are. the narration through richard was one of the best ways to display this. he so deeply wanted to fit in, become someone else, become exactly like the members of julian’s class that he forced himself (probably unknowingly) to think of the best parts of them. it makes it almost impossible for the reader to not fall for these characters, as they are painted in an ideal manner that makes us overlook the terrible things they are really doing.

i think it’s interesting how everyone seems surprised every time someone does something immoral, especially when richard was shocked that henry was throwing him under the bus during the entire investigation and keeping secrets from him. richard perceived a version of henry that was far from his deceitful and cunning manner, and it caused him to think henry was a better person than he was.

i also liked how the group rationalized the bad decisions they were making, and excusing their murders as if they were almost no big deal. we did occasionally see richard get upset and realize the gravity of what they had done, but nobody else seemed upset about it on the surface. they seem more upset about the stress of the aftermath than the fact that they killed their peer (and a rando), and i think this said a lot about class distinction and morals in general.

all of this being said, i do think overall, the book was a bit of a drag. i find it a bit foolish to put the major plot point of the murder smack in the middle of the story, because after that it pretty much fell off and turned into a mish mosh of basically irrelevant side stories (wow henry needs pain meds oh no.. oh my god they are drinking again)

i think because of this, many of the characters ended up losing development they could have had. henry and bunny were the most complex and well developed characters in the whole book, and the rest served as stereotypes in my opinion. francis was just gay, camilla was a love interest (for like everyone), and charles was a drunk. i feel that this could be because of the way richard perceived them, returning to my original point, but their dialogue didn’t do much for me either, so i feel inclined to say it’s not that.

also there were a lot of unnecessary plot points?? like the n word scene and the twin incest plotline… and when richard had that thought… very confusing..

i’m a sucker for dark academia, so i did enjoy this book and the world it set up, but i think it was a bit of a flop. i would recommend though if you’re willing to read 500+ pages.

Content Warnings

edwardian_girl_next_door's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional 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

2.0

Content Warnings

quixoticlibrarian's review against another edition

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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

Often reminded me a lot of the Great Gatsby but doesn’t quite match the insights of Gatsby in the same way. I’m glad I read it but I have no need to read it again.

Content Warnings