Reviews with content warning for Outing - The Secret History

Reviews tagging 'Outing'

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

44 reviews

hamarhemmo's review against another edition

challenging dark funny reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

A very messed up book, definitely read the trigger warnings first. Great satire of the dark academia genre while still respecting it. Sometimes a bit hard to read because of foreign languages and odd metaphors and references.
A fair amount of LGBTQ characters (all of whom are awful but that's unrelevant). Probably my favorite book ever.

Content Warnings

b0ygenius's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional inspiring mysterious tense medium-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

spoilers ahead

the past four days i just spent reading this book cannot be described as anything else but a trance. this book's effect on me was nothing short of hypnotic. obsession doesn't seem like a strong enough word to describe the death grip this book held me in. i do not think i have ever been as wholly absorbed into a book in my life. normally i struggle a bit with focusing while reading but this book had my complete, undivided attention. i could not think of anything else in the moments i was not reading it. i had two separate dreams about this book. i have never read a book anywhere near this long so fast in my fucking life. i could continue to go on and on and on about how i fell facefirst into the world of hampden and never want to leave but, now, onto an actual review of the contents of this book:

donna tartt is an absolutely brilliant writer. this book is a masterpiece and it does not shock me in the slightest the obsession and cult following this book has amassed. her writing creates this undescribable atmosphere that makes the world of hampden college feel both like something straight out of an epic myth and incredibly real. i became so incredibly attached to these characters. i really do not think we as readers are supposed to root for them the way that i did for most of the book but man. these people are, for the most part, absolutely awful but tartt has crafted them in the most meticulously perfect way that makes you willing to look past all these faults. from the very beginning i was completely enthralled with henry in particular, although i had a feeling he would end up being the worst of them all (and alas i was right) i still was obsessed with him, not necessarily from a place of sympathy or relating to him or liking him but because he was just so goddamn fascinating. everything about him, from his strange mannerisms and aesthetic and his intelligence and the cold, strategic, and calculated way with which he planned all of the terrible things that happen made me just obsess over him. definitely one of my favorite literary characters ever; again, not really because i supported his actions but because he is one of the most well-written, charismatic, obsessively intriguing characters i have ever come across.

i really adored richard. normally the narrator/protagonist of any book ends up getting on my nerves quite a bit and is rarely among my favorite characters but i was incredibly fond of richard. he is intelligent and perceptive and sympathetic but above all, he is painfully human, which is somewhat of a breath of fresh air in a story full of quite eccentric and mysterious figures.

i also really loved francis. he's pretentious and snobbish and quite dramatic but so immensely likeable and had a truly good heart and i felt quite bad for him. i loved his relationship with richard especially in the aftermath of bunny's death; i think they really understood each other and what they were feeling the most and found comfort in each other while everyone else around them was slowly descending into madness. he deserved better.

i can't really think of anything substantive to say about camilla. i didn't love her, i didn't hate her; she had her moments, i guess. towards the end she really started to get on my nerves, though.

charles, for the first three-quarters of this book, was also quite neutral. nothing he said or did really left much of an impression on me for the majority of the book but his downfall kinda made me feel bad for him. the incest stuff tho.......... ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew ew

i really truly hate bunny but i can somewhat understand why he acted the way he did after finding out about the murder. still, i really did not feel bad for him in the slightest. he was just cruel and the homophobia he spewed at francis and the misogyny at camilla was truly revolting and that bit towards the beginning where bunny invites richard to dinner and makes all those terrible homophobic comments really killed any ability for me to find any sympathy for him. but i feel like that is one of the brilliant beauties of tartt's writing: she makes us feel so entwined with the group that we began to feel the same way as they do towards bunny.

julian was interesting but his character didn't feel anywhere near as fleshed out to me as any of the other main characters. his relationship with all of them, particularly henry, felt undeveloped

Content Warnings

zoehakim's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging 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? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

readinghavoc's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

I really enjoyed this book – it was dense at times and intimidatingly long, but the pay-off is well worth it. Kept me on the edge of my seat and continuously shocked me. The first hundred pages dragged and I almost put it down, but I'm so glad I didn't. The last 100 pages alone more than make up for it. The characters were hard for me to connect to because they were so pretentious but as you progress through the book it becomes clear that that serves its own purposes in the story. Super bizarre story, would recommend it to someone looking for a really thoroughly laid out thriller who doesn't mind making the investment for a big thrill. Interested to read some of Tartt's other work (after some easier, quicker reads lol).

Content Warnings

buchstabenmaedchen's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional 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

4.5

Content Warnings

juliettea's review against another edition

Go to review page

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.

Content Warnings

tiemzahra's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

Richard Papen was one of the six students under the supervision of a classics professor. These six misfits was influenced by this professor and adopted a new way of thinking but accidentally go beyond the boundaries of normal morality.

My opinions regarding this book are highly polarised. I could give reasons why I like this book and at the same time hate it intensely. In the end, this is an intriguing read from the very start, and I opted for the former.

Why I like this book: thrilling, page turner

Why I could hate this book: no one I could say is my favourite, privileged college kids doing doing privileged things, extremities of everyone’s life choices, everyone is pretentious, (although I think it’s one of the main characteristics of dark academia, and Richard turned out to be fair and non-condescending towards others outside of his group), everything about Bunny

This book does not follow whodunit narrative, plot-driven, quite a slow read (I don’t mind this at the slightest), allusions to many classics (these people are elitists). However, they had their fatal flaws that made them unfitting in a normal society. I should hate them, but in the end, they made me so sad (except for Bunny, I have little sympathy over his death). That distinct melancholic feeling I get after finishing this book was so intense, that I believe The Secret History has impacted me despite the many reasons I have to hate it.

Content Warnings