Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

1652 reviews

shaleen64's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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

3.75

Donna Tartt’s writing is unmatched, her character building is exceptional, and this is why her novels are as long as they are.

The characters are all vastly different and mostly wholly unlikeable, however I found Richard’s drive to fit in relatable but particularly sad when considering the final scenes, and Francis’s character heartbreaking due to his inability to ever be his true self.

The story is much more than a group of rich college students committing crimes, but the true story is written in between the lines and for this reason I think it would be better on a second read or even more so analysing the book.

The only reason I’ve not rated higher is because of how I rank this book with Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch, but would still recommend it to selected people.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexism, Medical content, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Religious bigotry, and Classism

Minor: Rape and Death of parent

carolina_carvalho's review against another edition

mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Incest, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Murder

abernathy_33's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Suicide, and Murder

Moderate: Drug use, Homophobia, and Incest

Minor: Animal death, Rape, and Suicide attempt

kstolley01's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Incest, Suicide, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Murder

moonagedaydreamer's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective relaxing slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Suicide, Blood, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

vanialynn's review against another edition

dark reflective 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

alastorthewerewolf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Holy f*cking sh*t this book has decided to change my whole life goals

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Homophobia, Incest, and Mental illness

Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Outing, and Classism

helhas3letters's review against another edition

adventurous 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

1.75

Never have I read about a group of people so pretentious yet so vapid, so snobbish yet so thick, so self-involved yet so empty, so exhausting yet so inexcusably BORING.

Not a single one of these characters is likeable (perhaps maybe Georges LaForgue), so I just did not care one bit about what happened to them. And what on earth is with everyone

being utterly obsessed with and casually kissing Camilla?!? This woman is apparently a prop for everyone else to project their desires onto.

An awful lot of male gaze for a book written by a woman.

In terms of the plot, it’s incredibly repetitive and moves frustratingly slowly. Aside from the two or three main events that take place in this story, there is just far too much waiting around, moving back and forth between locations, and nothing happening for my liking. I honestly don’t understand the point of large chunks of this novel, nor certain characters who do not affect the story or world whatsoever.

I thought the ending was pretty bizarre too. Why did it become a

“where are they now”? And why does it include the most random characters?! Including the cat we were introduced to about 20 pages ago?!? To be fair, I cared more about that cat than I did most of the main characters, but still. A strange choice.

Some people love this book but for me, I can’t help but feel it was a massive waste of time. I kept hoping it would get better, but for 600 pages, it never did. I persisted past where it would have been sensible to give up and in the future, I will trust my DNF instincts.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racial slurs, Suicide, Violence, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Death of parent, Outing, and Classism

suerte_encantada's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Physical abuse, Sexism, Grief, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Forced institutionalization

kbxrchill's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Racial slurs, and Suicide

Moderate: Homophobia, Self harm, and Murder