Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

149 reviews

hannaelisab's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

donna tartt has a way of making you care about unmoral, unlikeable characters just to reveal an even darker secret a few pages later. obviously, her writing style is gorgeously aesthetic — the quote ,,beauty is terror...whatever we call beautiful, we quiver before it.'' will forever be ingrained in my brain. on the other hand, i found that the secret history had some pacing problems. the first part of the book (which are about 250 pages, maybe more!) were so slow plot-wise that i had real difficulty coming back to continue reading. the second  part of the book definitely picked up the pace though, and while the novel could've been 200 pages shorter, the murderous plots & fascinatingly terrible characters truly sucked me in! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Incest, Xenophobia, and Suicide attempt

stelladafloresta's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship

Minor: Homophobia, Misogyny, Xenophobia, and Classism

gretag's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Car accident, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Vomit and Medical content

robi_locksley's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

1.5

I found this book to be incredibly overwritten. Tartt would use five analogies in a row to describe the exact same thing. There were multiple uses of pure filler with paragraphs devoted to something that did not serve to advance plot, character, atmosphere, or anything else other than the word count.

Unfortunately, this book is also packed full of bigotry. There is racism, homophobia, and misogyny all over the place. And it isn't simply down to the characters being jerks. An actual line from the text, during Richard's first class with Julian: "He poured the tea as solemnly as a mandarin." The only times that bigotry is ever challenged by the narrative is when the bigotry is cartoonishly overt and hostile. 

The following is not a spoiler, and serves as an example of the bigotry in this book and the filler. 

There is a full page dedicated to discussing a fictional Middle Eastern country which is named Isram. ISRAM. This fictional Middle Eastern country, with only one letter changed from the dominant religion of the Middle East, is described as a terrorist state and is said to have a jihad against the main character's Greek/Classics professor. 

This is all pure filler, too. There's absolutely no reason for it to be there. But there it is. Isram. 

There is no convincing me that Tartt isn't a horribly bigoted person after reading that. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Murder, and Toxic friendship

nialiversuch's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Domestic abuse

autumngk's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative mysterious 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

4.0

this book is fucking insane

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Incest, Xenophobia, Grief, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, and Suicide attempt

mxshvili's review against another edition

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

0.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Incest, Xenophobia, and Murder

gwen__'s review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

4.0

Undeniably a brilliant and outstanding novel. Tartt manages to give a vast impression of each character whilst those descriptions do not stick out at all; they blend neatly into the story. Her writing is enchanting and compelling, and it is what I so adore about this book. The plot itself did not appeal to me as much, but regardless of that, I enjoyed The secret history tremendously. That being said, it took me a while to get through it. This is no light read at all, but I would definetly consider it worth the while.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Drug use, Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, Xenophobia, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

Moderate: Homophobia, Incest, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Car accident, and Classism

geilie's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Drug use, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Chronic illness, Homophobia, Incest, Grief, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Eating disorder, Sexism, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Car accident, and Suicide attempt

victoriak1197's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

This book was very different than I thought it would be. It was a lot slower, with the murder mystery it was always advertised to me going very different than it typically would. A lot of this book is just theme and character exploration, as well as just vibes (mixed with foreshadowing). This book is not just a vibe, it is a state of mind. I was completely absorbed into this book, captivated by the romantic and gothic imagery and prose.

My only criticism for this book is that i wish that Camilla and Francis got a happier ending. I mean, Francis, although marrying someone boring who he won't love, is rich. it's just kinda unfair that Charles got a happier ending than Camilla. I also feel like Camilla could've married Francis, just so Francis didn't have to marry the blonde woman. I know that she didn't marry Richard because she loves Henry (although maybe it was because she just didn't like Richard enough, remember that Richard does describe her as an actress and is harsh to her after he finds out the Charles abused her), but she could've married Francis because it would be different.

But I get that unhappy endings are part of this book.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism and Drug use

Minor: Homophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide, Xenophobia, Blood, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Classism