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111rachel555's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Love this book. Very cross that I have finished it. Somehow Donna Tartt manages to reveal the biggest plot point in the Prologue and still keep you on the edge of your seat for 600 pages. This is an excellent work of character study- I usually struggle to relate to or invest with characters, but I felt like all the main characters were so fleshed out and real. Midway through the book I felt like I really knew all of them and was attached to them despite all their flaws.
Also, highly recommend the audiobook (uploaded for free on youtube).
Also, highly recommend the audiobook (uploaded for free on youtube).
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Medical content, and Death of parent
dorisko's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? It's complicated
2.0
IT’S FINALLY OVER.
Overrated, too long, boring and stiff. So many times I almost put that book down. It was kinda fun until halfway whenthey killed Bunny. After that everything went downhill. NOT ONE of the characters was likeable. They weren’t even morally grey, they were just boring pompous assholes. The book doesn’t know what it wants to be. It’s not a murder mystery, it’s not found family, it’s certainly not dark academia because these idiots never study, and even if they do they have nothing interesting to say about their field of studies. Also to make the most boring and bland character the narrator was certainly a choice.
Seriously why did I keep reading, I should have DNF this book halfway.
Overrated, too long, boring and stiff. So many times I almost put that book down. It was kinda fun until halfway when
Seriously why did I keep reading, I should have DNF this book halfway.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Vomit, and Murder
Moderate: Homophobia and Incest
_hazelal3ister's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Incest, and Alcohol
violet_viper's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-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
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Violence, Murder, and Classism
Moderate: Addiction, Homophobia, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Incest and Xenophobia
unnamed_melon's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Writing style was immaculate, characters very well developed :)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism and Incest
Moderate: Homophobia, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
haerumii's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
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
1.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Murder, and Alcohol
Minor: Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
mirandale's review against another edition
challenging
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
3.75
A very slow, very intense book that I had to finish just to see how it ended. It just keeps getting darker and darker but I somehow couldn’t look away.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexism, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Murder
Moderate: Incest
schneehutte's review against another edition
dark
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? It's complicated
4.5
After letting the book sit on my bookshelf for almost one year and a half, I've finally come to read it. And boy, I don't regret a thing!
The writing style from Donna Tartt was a surprise for good. Although it makes sense that a book about Classics students would have a particular style of writing itself - "literary" writing, so to speak - it wasn't tiring or repetitive to read. I appreciated the author's attention to detail and visuals in this book, and you can see each character's mannerisms through the writing. I am not sure if it was intentional, but I loved the parallels to Dostoevsky's work. I would describe "The Secret History" as a modern retelling - with sparkles of dark academia tropes - of "Crime and Punishment", which sounds like the exact thing I would enjoy. Therefore I am not surprised to rate this book so high on my list.
I suppose I can understand the disappointment of the people who expected a murder mystery out of this book - so I am here to tell you now: it really isn't. The murder is revealed in the prologue, and it becomes quite clear who has done it as the pages go by. Besides, I believe it was the author's intention to portray all the characters in the group as being to some extent responsible for the murder, as it is their shared guilt that haunts them and leads them to their downfall (Crime and Punishment vibes!).
The characters aren't lovable, nor they are meant to be. I kept in mind that this whole story was told from the perspective of the main character Richard, who acted for the most part almost like a bystander in many events of the book. Therefore I would assume that his vision of many characters such as Camilla, Henry, Julian, and many more, is completely romanticized and inaccurate. But I believe that only comes to show how unlikable in "real life" Richard truly is, and how he fits with the rest of the group by being just as arrogant as everyone else - despite coming from humbler origins. However, the scene where he wants to hurt - even rape - Camilla surprised me how low he was. I am not sure it fits entirely his character and I must confess, I had to read that passage a couple of times...
I thought the pacing hurt the overall progression a little. Despite liking slow-paced books, some passages were daunting to read and it was difficult to keep up with the motivation. But when it ramps up, then it ramps up - and you have no idea where the book is going, which adds more and more to the mysterious aspect that surrounds the characters around Richard (especially Henry). Almost all the characters - even not-so-important ones such as Judy - had strong personalities and I liked reading about them.
The ending was somewhat satisfying, but I don't think there is much to add to this. A story this dark and creepy couldn't have a positive ending without sounding strange - so I am glad it decided to take a "middle-ground" route, so to speak. What I would have enjoyed seeing more was the ritual that Henry, Camilla, Francis, and Charles did, which resulted in the death of the first man. I think the exploration of "losing control of yourself" could have been more interesting as just saying "yeah we kinda did that" and having just a monologue about it.
Despite referencing Greek myths and literature, it is not necessary to have much knowledge of them to understand the story, which is good. I'm on break right now, do you think I want to spend my time doing supplementary reading?
The writing style from Donna Tartt was a surprise for good. Although it makes sense that a book about Classics students would have a particular style of writing itself - "literary" writing, so to speak - it wasn't tiring or repetitive to read. I appreciated the author's attention to detail and visuals in this book, and you can see each character's mannerisms through the writing. I am not sure if it was intentional, but I loved the parallels to Dostoevsky's work. I would describe "The Secret History" as a modern retelling - with sparkles of dark academia tropes - of "Crime and Punishment", which sounds like the exact thing I would enjoy. Therefore I am not surprised to rate this book so high on my list.
I suppose I can understand the disappointment of the people who expected a murder mystery out of this book - so I am here to tell you now: it really isn't. The murder is revealed in the prologue, and it becomes quite clear who has done it as the pages go by. Besides, I believe it was the author's intention to portray all the characters in the group as being to some extent responsible for the murder, as it is their shared guilt that haunts them and leads them to their downfall (Crime and Punishment vibes!).
The characters aren't lovable, nor they are meant to be. I kept in mind that this whole story was told from the perspective of the main character Richard, who acted for the most part almost like a bystander in many events of the book. Therefore I would assume that his vision of many characters such as Camilla, Henry, Julian, and many more, is completely romanticized and inaccurate. But I believe that only comes to show how unlikable in "real life" Richard truly is, and how he fits with the rest of the group by being just as arrogant as everyone else - despite coming from humbler origins.
I thought the pacing hurt the overall progression a little. Despite liking slow-paced books, some passages were daunting to read and it was difficult to keep up with the motivation. But when it ramps up, then it ramps up - and you have no idea where the book is going, which adds more and more to the mysterious aspect that surrounds the characters around Richard (especially Henry). Almost all the characters - even not-so-important ones such as Judy - had strong personalities and I liked reading about them.
The ending was somewhat satisfying, but I don't think there is much to add to this. A story this dark and creepy couldn't have a positive ending without sounding strange - so I am glad it decided to take a "middle-ground" route, so to speak.
Despite referencing Greek myths and literature, it is not necessary to have much knowledge of them to understand the story, which is good. I'm on break right now, do you think I want to spend my time doing supplementary reading?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, Self harm, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Incest, and Blood
iitaviinisalo's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
4.5/-4.75/5
I think this book heavily falls off after Bunny dies, but i still liked it. I think it's good that Henry died, Charles maybe would have been better that way too. I'm glad Camilla got away even tho she's not happy. I wish Francis and Richard could be happy and together and not married to random girls.
I think this book heavily falls off after Bunny dies, but i still liked it. I think it's good that Henry died, Charles maybe would have been better that way too. I'm glad Camilla got away even tho she's not happy. I wish Francis and Richard could be happy and together and not married to random girls.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Incest and Physical abuse
Minor: Homophobia and Antisemitism
buzzybuzzybeefudge's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
3.0
I wanted to hate this book, but I couldn't. It was too gripping and it was really fun to listen to on audiobook. Some of the prose was genuinely gorgeous. I am allowed to gag at the ending though because I personally loathe "this is what happened to all the characters" endings.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence and Murder
Moderate: Alcoholism, Incest, and Vomit
Minor: Animal death