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tinyfishbigheart's review against another edition
2.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Ableism, Racial slurs, and Xenophobia
jelliestars's review against another edition
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
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
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Addiction, and Grief
Moderate: Classism, Racism, Ableism, and Bullying
Minor: Child abuse
madelonpaige's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Ableism, Racial slurs, Death of parent, Drug abuse, and Drug use
bloodredscar832's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
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
3.75
~ 3.75 - 4.00 ~
In the end, I don’t quite know how to describe my experience reading this book and my thoughts afterwords. I enjoyed the book well enough, but I especially liked the writing style - I really need to look into more of Donna Tartt’s works, her writing style is so descriptive and flowy and beautiful; I really like it. The characters were all interesting in their own ways (I particularly liked Hobie, Boris, and the Barbour’s, Mrs. Barbour specifically) and I enjoyed all of Theo’s interactions with each character. I think that this is definitely a story that needed to be told, and one that will stick with readers for a long time - whether good or bad.
For negatives, I believe that the book was much too long. My version had 771 pages, and it was an absolute pain to get through. I thought it was pretty impressive that the author was able to have subplots in the middle and keep the book interesting. As I realized later, the way she wrote the middle and the subplots she included actually made the middle of the book read as being rather plain and I had to drag myself through by sitting down and forcing myself to read. I felt that the last 200 or 300 pages were disconnected from the book - like I was reading a completely separate book. It was especially hard to get through that section for some reason, probably because I didn’t care much for the situation or many of the random side characters. It seemed that I was just getting a bunch of names thrown at me and I didn’t really bother trying to remember who was who. Plus, the last 50 pages were strange compared to the rest of the book and didn’t really add anything, although I did enjoy the writing and the philosophical speech, however, it didn’t really fit with the work in my opinion. Almost like Donna Tartt was getting tired of writing and just threw something on there at the end - the ending to me, simply, felt unsatisfying and the book felt incomplete.
All-in-all, definitely a book I’m glad I read (I mean, the writing style alone was just incredible for me, mwah)! The book drew me in with the interesting plot line and kept me hooked with these side characters that were far more interesting than Theo. I don’t necessarily know if it’s a book I would read again, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The words and characters that I’ve read in this book over the past two months have definitely left a lasting impression, and I think that you should (at-least) give the book a shot!
In the end, I don’t quite know how to describe my experience reading this book and my thoughts afterwords. I enjoyed the book well enough, but I especially liked the writing style - I really need to look into more of Donna Tartt’s works, her writing style is so descriptive and flowy and beautiful; I really like it. The characters were all interesting in their own ways (I particularly liked Hobie, Boris, and the Barbour’s, Mrs. Barbour specifically) and I enjoyed all of Theo’s interactions with each character. I think that this is definitely a story that needed to be told, and one that will stick with readers for a long time - whether good or bad.
For negatives, I believe that the book was much too long. My version had 771 pages, and it was an absolute pain to get through. I thought it was pretty impressive that the author was able to have subplots in the middle and keep the book interesting. As I realized later, the way she wrote the middle and the subplots she included actually made the middle of the book read as being rather plain and I had to drag myself through by sitting down and forcing myself to read. I felt that the last 200 or 300 pages were disconnected from the book - like I was reading a completely separate book. It was especially hard to get through that section for some reason, probably because I didn’t care much for the situation or many of the random side characters. It seemed that I was just getting a bunch of names thrown at me and I didn’t really bother trying to remember who was who. Plus, the last 50 pages were strange compared to the rest of the book and didn’t really add anything, although I did enjoy the writing and the philosophical speech, however, it didn’t really fit with the work in my opinion. Almost like Donna Tartt was getting tired of writing and just threw something on there at the end - the ending to me, simply, felt unsatisfying and the book felt incomplete.
All-in-all, definitely a book I’m glad I read (I mean, the writing style alone was just incredible for me, mwah)! The book drew me in with the interesting plot line and kept me hooked with these side characters that were far more interesting than Theo. I don’t necessarily know if it’s a book I would read again, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The words and characters that I’ve read in this book over the past two months have definitely left a lasting impression, and I think that you should (at-least) give the book a shot!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Drug use, Grief, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Violence, Death, Gun violence, Death of parent, Murder, and Cursing
Minor: Racism, Suicide attempt, Ableism, and Racial slurs
danuu's review against another edition
dark
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
If there were an option for negative stars id give it -5 out of 5. I’m surprised no one talks about all the casual racism in this book. Not a single review I've seen mentions the fact that the writer uses slurs casually throughout the book most of which are the main characters inner dialogue. not to mention several characters are referred to as nothing more then their race. The “Dickensian” style of writing is what everyone praises yet the descriptions last pages for no reason at all while barely describing anything at all. they are long and overly done just to be long. it would be different if the descriptions were actually well written and long but they are just long. None of this book was well written. the plot is slow and almost nonexistent, the characters are either terrible people or stereotypes with no personality and the only form of “development” came through time jumps. one second hes having life problems and in dispair and the next is a time jump and is considered “developed”. Not to mention the book is supposedly based on this painting yet the painting is barely in the book. even his worry about the painting barely makes an appearance. i could go on for pages and pages about whats wrong with this book but by then it’d be as long as the goldfinch and honestly probably more fun to read. The time ive spend reading this i would have rather spent kicking rusty nails with my bare feet. i hope the only people who have to read this are violent inmates and Donna Tartt herself because i truly don't think even she’s read this. I really want to know DOES SHE HAVE AN EDITOR ??
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, and Hate crime
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