Reviews with content warning for Antisemitism - The Secret History

Reviews tagging 'Antisemitism'

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

301 reviews

gsantino32's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective 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

3.0

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will_meringue's review against another edition

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3.5

For me, this was a book that doesn't match the description it's been given in the cultural mainstream. From all the 'what the actual F*CK' reviews, I was expecting it to lean in more to the bacchanals and cultishness. But it was actually a fairly straightforward thriller. The writing was fantastic, with excellent sense of place and strong character design. However, the prologue I felt was slightly misleading - Richard is strongly implied to be an unreliable narrator and then just...isn't. Francis is also only loosely connected to the central web of characters, and I thought more could be made of him and particularly his relationship with Richard. Overall it was a good read but not one which delivered on its promises - although how many of those promises came from the book, and how many from BookTok, it's hard to parse.

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pbeeandj's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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lagaialettrice's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny reflective tense fast-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

5.0

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just_a_random_dead_thing's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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jupitervivienne's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-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

5.0

My first 5 star read of the year. Just absolutely incredible writing, character study, and storytelling. Makes me want to get familiar with Greek and Classics just so I can understand this book on a deeper level.

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salem0's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective sad 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

4.0

read by and reviewed: 10.02.23
this review may be a bit disjointed, i have so much to say.

really good, i think. i had to look into the book's meaning a bit after i finished it. the story, as i understand, plays out like a greek tragedy- with all the titular characters in the end stuck in the past, with various degrees of badly-dealt-with trauma.

finding out slowly how julian played a hand in the whole fiasco, and the whole group- even henry- were manipulated by this illusion of divinity is pretty interesting. henry's death feels very much like a tragic greek hero's sacrifice, and it really drives home how much of a myth he and the gang were playing into throughout the book- obsessed with ancient greece, trying to seem more elite than they actually were (often to a pretentious extent), trying to be like greek characters to a point where they attempt a bacchanal- not to mention how they become more and more disconnected from reality- till it all crashes down.

richard, the unreliable narrator telling the story of his 'secret history', is the most sympathetic fellow of the group i found, though there is some irritation warranted for his pretentiousness. his idolization of the professor and his friends, and how he slowly comes to realize he may have been wrong about them all this time, was one of the best parts of the story. watching all the characters lose their shit after bunny's death is quite fascinating, and just a bit saddening, though when you remember the terrible things they've done it feels like some dramatic comeuppance. you still end up feeling a little sad for how it's all turned out for them. i found myself hoping that richard, and maybe francis, get better, that he moves on one day from all that's occurred. it's a very tragic, tragic ending, executed perfectly.

last up, in terms of technical stuff- the writing's great, and there are so many beautiful quotes in this book. it really could've been cut down tho, the first half just has so many unnecessary parts. nearly all of the part where richard's fumbling around during the break could have been removed. it would've been nice to see more of camilla too. that's all. overall, good shit.

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