Reviews tagging 'Medical trauma'

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

51 reviews

minnie_xx's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Dark like Daphne DuMaurier’s Rebecca.

Really good and well written.

A book that includes the second half of a mystery novel, getting away with the murder.

I really enjoyed this, I think my fondness for it will grow as time goes on. A really fascinating read with complex characters and lots of twists and turns. 100% recommend to lovers of the dark academia aesthetic and classics lovers. Lots of Greek references but you don’t need to be an expert to love this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Violence, Addiction, Blood, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Incest, Toxic friendship, Grief, Medical trauma, Murder, and Self harm

Minor: Car accident and Classism

nyree's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Drug use, Death, Alcoholism, Murder, Grief, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Racism, Mental illness, Incest, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Medical trauma, Homophobia, Sexual violence, Classism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Misogyny, Drug use, and Child death

juliettea's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

3.0

Pretty pretentious and problematic with hardly any redeemable characters although a beautifully written enveloping story. I wouldn’t say I’m in either camp of Bible or abhor but I’m glad I read it. It’s an original story but weirdly felt as if it were written by a man. As Richard’s the narrator, Tartt might’ve done this purposefully so, perhaps I’ll read Goldfinch and see if it translates over. Also, could this have really occurred in the 90s? Of course it’s a more conservative circle, but still seems so dated.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Alcohol, Addiction, Classism, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Drug use, Biphobia, Blood, Violence, Sexism, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Xenophobia, Gun violence, Toxic friendship, Self harm, Misogyny, Grief, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Murder, Homophobia, and Incest

Minor: Abandonment, Sexual content, Racism, Racial slurs, Vomit, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Islamophobia, Ableism, Religious bigotry, Medical content, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Outing, Gore, Violence, and Gaslighting

_dasbrot's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol

Moderate: Classism, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Murder, Racial slurs, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Xenophobia

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Antisemitism, Cursing, Eating disorder, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Suicide attempt

rinchapter'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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Death, Mental illness, Sexism, Suicide, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Animal death, Incest, Medical trauma, Classism, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Racism, Suicide attempt, and Domestic abuse

unoriginalinspiration's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense 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? Yes

3.5

Why does that obstinate little voice in our heads torment us so?' he said, looking round the table. '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? But isn't it also pain that often makes us most aware of self? It is a terrible thing to learn as a child that one is a being separate from all 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?

Trigger Warnings: Murder, Alcoholism, Suicide, Death, Drug use, Incest, Homophobia, Greif, Mental Illness

Review:
I read this book partially because I wanted to experience Dark Academia and partially because I saw Conan Grey posting it on his story a lot. Donna Tartt's writing was philosophical, beautiful(At times) and dry. I don't know how she pulled that off. I have to admit, this book would've been so much more better if it had been short. The plot was engaging, and the characters were so fascinating, They were so immoral, carefree and super messed up, yet I found myself liking them a lot. I don't know what that says about me though *insert awkward smile*
There were a lot of dry spells in between the parts I actually found interesting. Maintaining my interest in those pages was a little difficult, But I'm glad I got through it! Because, this story is was really intriguing to me. With the little side bonus of loving the Dark Academia vibe. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Incest, Homophobia, Grief, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, and Mental illness

kenzie26's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Biphobia, Blood, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Incest, Islamophobia, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence

carlay's review against another edition

challenging 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

4.0

I feel like I’ll be thinking about this one for a while and that is a big reason I gave this 4 stars. I can see why The Secret History is labeled a “modern classic,” because the setting for the story is timeless and there is so much to unpack and analyze. Does that mean I liked it? I don’t know, haha. Going in, I was asking for a cozy November read and it delivered in that way. But there was also a tedious, unsettling element too that makes me hesitant to like this book. I cannot quite describe it. And although the prose in this text has a dreamlike, unique quality, I feel like this book could have been, like, 200 pages shorter.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Violence

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Antisemitism, Car accident, Grief, Incest, Misogyny, Self harm, and Racism

casbee's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Death, Cursing, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Incest, Medical trauma, Murder, Sexual content, and Suicide

lilkstew's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-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

4.0

Alright. I am feeling many things upon finishing this book. This is the second Donna Tartt book I have read, and I liked it much better than The Goldfinch. I loved the setting, I loved the weird little plot, and I loved all of the Latin smattered throughout the book since it made my five years of Latin courses worth it. I appreciated all of the twists and turns; some of them genuinely had my jaw on the floor. The characters were wonderful; they were all twisted and off-putting, but they were so interesting. I know all of the characters are bad, but Francis and Henry.....I love them. Henry is seriously my favorite kind of character. Ah. Alas. Wow. This sure was something. I really do love the scathing critique of classics and academia in general. That was great.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Self harm, Violence, Death, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Sexism, Suicide, Homophobia, Incest, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Antisemitism, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, and Religious bigotry