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grcompain's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Gun violence, Death of parent, Infidelity, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Classism, Alcoholism, Addiction, Vomit, Violence, Suicide attempt, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Death, Child death, Blood, and Alcohol
kellyz's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Violence, Addiction, Mental illness, Classism, and Toxic relationship
haileyeh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Alcoholism, Death, Alcohol, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Addiction, and Death of parent
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Child abuse
Minor: Car accident and Vomit
redroseses's review
- 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
Graphic: Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Blood, Abandonment, Violence, Grief, Drug use, Addiction, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Murder, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Racial slurs and Animal cruelty
vaguely_pink's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
There were also numerous times where I felt like we were gearing up for an ending only to check the audiobook and realize that somehow I still had 13 hours left. As I got to the end, I started to have my usual audiobook thoughts of “maybe I’d like this more if I read with my eyes,” especially with the discussions about the importance of art to the human experience. But I’m not sure I would’ve had the endurance for this book in print. And when it does finally end, it feels very
Graphic: Child abuse, Addiction, Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, and Violence
Moderate: Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Infidelity, Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Animal cruelty, Deportation, Forced institutionalization, Sexual content, Racial slurs, Homophobia, Murder, Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Medical content, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Vomit, and Sexual violence
Terrorism, bombing, organized crimejelliestars's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Drug abuse, Grief, Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Addiction, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Cursing, Animal cruelty, Pedophilia, Xenophobia, Physical abuse, Homophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Infidelity, Murder, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Racism, Toxic friendship, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness
Minor: Animal death, Classism, Deportation, Torture, Ableism, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Car accident, Cultural appropriation, Islamophobia, Antisemitism, Body shaming, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Sexual content, and Transphobia
jayisreading's review against another edition
2.0
My opinion certainly changed, but it was for the worse. This book did not age well by any means with all its racism, ableism, and classism. Tartt certainly writes with eloquence, but her writing is steeped with issues that left me cringing and frustrated. Something that caught my attention was the near absence of nonwhite characters in New York City, of all places, unless they were "the help." I'm not sure how I didn't catch this years ago, considering how glaring these details were.
I also found it even harder to sympathize with the protagonist, Theo, during this reread. The messiness of grief was well presented—even if it was a bit extreme with the addiction and alcoholism—but I was really unhappy with how Tartt went about Theo's relationships in such a dismissive way. He was so wrapped up in his own world that it negatively affected how he treated the people around him. Pippa is objectified in a Manic Pixie Dream Girl kind of way, while Kitsy was treated terribly. The queer experience that Theo had with Boris also went completely unaddressed, which makes me wonder why Tartt bothered adding this detail other than to shock the reader.
A disappointing reread, to say the least.
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Addiction, and Grief
Moderate: Classism, Racism, Ableism, and Bullying
Minor: Child abuse
booksandboba's review against another edition
- 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
When I first read it, I loved it, loved the writing style and character development (it was my first or one of my first encounters with writing like this), really related to descriptions of anxiety and depression, considered it my favorite book. Read it a second time and started forming doubts, particularly with noticing issues of classism and racism. Read it a third time, this time annotating heavily for themes present throughout the book (question of fate vs free will, good vs bad and moral responsibility, depression and grief vs hope, art and its beauty and importance, friendship and love, impermanence vs permanence, time, life and death) and enjoyed doing that, but in doing so realized that the book really could have been edited better. I found the ending to be sloppy and not satisfying. And the way that blatant racism is used in the book (equating East Asian and especially Chinese culture and objects with cheapness) is just appalling.
And apparently it took 10 years or more to write this book, which either means that those choices were deliberate and well-thought out, choosing to only have people of color represented in minor roles mostly as working class serving the white upper class, choosing to use racist notions to make character points, or she somehow in all that time failed to consider these choices — why she might be making them, what they mean, what sort of impact they would have — despite the clear time and attention to detail given to making this book.
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Blood, Death of parent, Mental illness, Murder, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Gun violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Car accident, Classism, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, and Homophobia
Minor: Pregnancy
tuesdaydg's review against another edition
2.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Abandonment, Grief, Addiction, Drug use, Alcoholism, Vomit, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Classism, Suicidal thoughts, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Car accident
bugcollector's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
אבל אני לא בטוחה שזה שווה את עובי הכרך, שכלל עד הסוף המדובר רק רגשות חרדה, מועקה ודחק.
אני גם לא בטוחה אם באמת אהבתי אותו, או שהדרך הארוכה שעברנו ביחד הפעילה עליי מניפולציות.
אפשר להשוות את קריאת הספר לצפייה בסרט אימה כשאתה קטן, מכסה את העיניים אבל עדיין מציץ מבעד לאצבעות כדי לראות.
מומלץ למזוכיסטים, אוהבי אמנות, דמויות קשות לחיבוב, ותיאור יתר.
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Classism, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Murder, Violence, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Drug use, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Stalking, and Toxic relationship