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tovahs's review against another edition
dark
funny
slow-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Gun violence, Bullying, Blood, Vomit, Child abuse, Racial slurs, Mental illness, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent
valentina_legge's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
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
2.5
Well-written, interesting story, I had no issues with the length.
It would have been a 5 star if not for the racism and xenophobia in the characters' depictions. The only Korean character "smells of garlic", all Eastern Europeans are drunk mobsters and every Latino doorman is a stereotype. Oh, and the n* word is just casually dropped a couple of times, with no further comment.
Too blatant to ignore. A real shame for an otherwise excellent novel.
It would have been a 5 star if not for the racism and xenophobia in the characters' depictions. The only Korean character "smells of garlic", all Eastern Europeans are drunk mobsters and every Latino doorman is a stereotype. Oh, and the n* word is just casually dropped a couple of times, with no further comment.
Too blatant to ignore. A real shame for an otherwise excellent novel.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racial slurs and Xenophobia
kristinisntokay's review against another edition
emotional
sad
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness, Racism, Racial slurs, Alcohol, Child abuse, Death of parent, Drug use, Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, and Bullying
whimsicalish's review against another edition
dark
sad
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
1.0
I have read long, slow books with a focus on characters but this didn't work for me. The further I read, the less I liked the protagonist. It's ok to have morally gray or struggling characters but Theo was unlikable.
I liked following Theo through different periods in his life. The writing is strong and generally easy to follow, until the author goes through paragraphs of heavily descriptive atmosphere by name dropping places or brands I'm not familiar with. Not to even start on the casual racism. No, it doesn't "call out" racism. The author just wanted to write slurs.
Some content would have been fine to leave less. The long chapters describing his Vegas days are repetitive and boring that added very little to the story or experience.
Perhaps what bothered me the most was toward the end.
The only reason Theo changes his personal and professional behavior was because Hobie found out his deceit. Theo is finally called out on his constant lies, inappropriate ownership towards Pippa, and criminal activity that put Hobie's business in possible legal trouble. But he had to get called out. He didn't change because it was the right thing to do.
Theo's garbage but everything works out in his favor! He's even rewarded. Same with Boris. Then the characters have the audacity to say what they did was okay because sometimes bad things can make good things happen. Really? That's the lesson?
Finally the book continues to spend the last chapter spelling out the symbolism of the painting, The Goldfinch, towards the story. So effing pretentious.
I'm glad to be finished. I will not pick up another book by Tartt.
I liked following Theo through different periods in his life. The writing is strong and generally easy to follow, until the author goes through paragraphs of heavily descriptive atmosphere by name dropping places or brands I'm not familiar with. Not to even start on the casual racism. No, it doesn't "call out" racism. The author just wanted to write slurs.
Some content would have been fine to leave less. The long chapters describing his Vegas days are repetitive and boring that added very little to the story or experience.
Perhaps what bothered me the most was toward the end.
Theo's garbage but everything works out in his favor! He's even rewarded. Same with Boris. Then the characters have the audacity to say what they did was okay because sometimes bad things can make good things happen. Really? That's the lesson?
Finally the book continues to spend the last chapter spelling out the symbolism of the painting, The Goldfinch, towards the story. So effing pretentious.
I'm glad to be finished. I will not pick up another book by Tartt.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Drug use, Alcoholism, Grief, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Racism, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Suicide attempt
kordonea_'s review against another edition
honestly it was incredibly jarring just reading it- i found it dull and boring and though the pace was similar to TSH, it seemed to drag a lot more. i think the thing that made me just give up completely was the amount of racial slurs, just used for fun.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racial slurs
the slurs weren’t used against people, rather just said as a word.123urmom's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I only know about it’s existence because of the movie. There were some good parts but it was slow and sad.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Mass/school shootings, Addiction, Death of parent, Child abuse, Mental illness, Drug abuse, and Medical trauma
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, and Car accident
capucapulet's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug use, Grief, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death of parent, Racial slurs, Gun violence, Homophobia, and Suicidal thoughts
laurahartfield's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
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
Graphic: Drug use and Drug abuse
Minor: Racial slurs
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