Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

163 reviews

redroseses's review

dark mysterious sad 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

racbuckallew's review

challenging dark reflective 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? Yes

4.5

Agonizing and brilliant. It is significant that the novel is so long—we literally carry the masterful burden for so long, too. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcohol, Death of parent, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Gun violence, Domestic abuse, and Stalking

shopgiri's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

An incredibly smart and rich novel. I want to say it's one of the best things I've ever read. I love novels that keep my mind active and make me remember that I know how to read properly and read into things, and this is exactly that. I felt totally raw (and smarter) by the time I finished this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Addiction, Drug use, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Violence, Alcohol, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Racial slurs

vaguely_pink's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

• 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

I think this one just wasn’t for me. Tartt is undeniably an incredibly gifted writer. Her characters leap off the page. The Goldfinch reads like a memoir and I often found myself wondering how it’s possible that someone could pull such real characters out of their head. The audiobook narrator is also masterful in his performance of each one. But part of why I continued to ask myself this was because their lives, and consequently this book, are just so oppressively bleak. Like, I’m a proud Sad Girl™, but this felt like too much sometimes. 

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

Boris

ex machina and entirely too quick and easy. I don’t know, man. Maybe all the new adult fantasy I’ve been reading lately is finally rotting my brain. 

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Content Warnings

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 crime

kbweis's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• 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

3.5

donna tartt has a terrible case of not being able to shut up itis 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, Alcohol, and Death

annamiaswart's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Addiction, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Genocide, and Death of parent

matthewosborne's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.5

I really loved the middle 2/3 of this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Car accident, and Death of parent

jelliestars's review

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

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

rachel7588's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Infidelity, Drug abuse, Self harm, Mental illness, Grief, Death, Bullying, Gun violence, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Murder, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Alcoholism, and Addiction

jayisreading's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-paced

2.0

I read The Goldfinch over five years ago and didn't particularly love or hate it. I thought it was a compelling Bildungsroman of sorts that was well-written, but I wasn't particularly attached to the characters or the story. I decided to reread this novel to see if my opinion changed (and I was in the mood to pick up a chunky book back when I started this).

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Addiction, and Grief

Moderate: Classism, Racism, Ableism, and Bullying

Minor: Child abuse