Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

Gizli Tarih by Donna Tartt

72 reviews

star_oats's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I keep thinking about this book even after almost a month since I’ve read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

tuti_citeste123's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

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

3.0

If you're interested in the classics... just read the classics. not this pretentious book which turned out to be incredibly predictable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Incest, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

kelseyr713's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

2.0

I appreciated this on a technical level, but there is so little happening (in terms of plot) from page to page and it’s just not what I’m looking for in the contemporary books I read. I love this level of detail in science fiction or fantasy or speculative novels, but I don’t think it’s necessary here.

It definitely made the English Literature major part of my brain light up again though. I was thinking about essay topics as I read (the amount of character analysis alone…)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

wormgirl's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug use, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Sexism, and Grief

Minor: Animal death, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Antisemitism, Sexual harassment, and Classism

angejasmine's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective medium-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

4.25

honestly this is one of the few books i’ve read that actually lived up to its hype. i loved all of the moments where i thought “hmm that’s kinda weird” and it turned out to actually be something that was batshit crazy. i would love to re-read this and notice all the things that lead up to the main moments in the story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

nicoleanthony's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

mirivii's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I seldom engage in 300+ pages books, as I tend to be stuck with them even if I am not enjoying it –  just for the sake of finishing the story. So deciding to start The Secret History was a leap of hope.

I don't know what Donna Tartt laced these pages with ... probably cocaine? I could not put this book down. Had me reading at night, which has not happened since I was a teenager 🥴

The plot was beautifully built and her way of writing it's so captivating. Her views on how to build suspense are refreshing, and the fact that this is a 1992 novel speaks for itself.

Much like the main character Richard, the first half of the book is set up on adoring this clique of literary and elitist students. You want to (want to) be them, with them, as erudite as them. As their flaws come to light they are viewed as whimsical and exciting, just to add to the mystic aura that they project.

What I really liked: the disenchantment of Richard in the second part of the book – the way the spell was broken and just like an addict that stopped being elated by their presence, he sees the mess all around and within them. The god-adjacent portrait of the chosen humans; the analogies to classical myths; how Bunny flew too close to the sun and his fall.

What I wish we saw more of: The twins' psychology – they were both lambs until one of them turned wolf almost inexplicably. What really happened during the bacchanal and what is up with Julian.

For what concerns the bacchanal, I could even live without knowing what went down. As Richard says in the book, when he reads biographies of serial killers, they tend to fixate on the most mundane things instead of the villainous acts and desires. It could be kind of the same here – I admit that the whole bacchanal ordeal was far more fascinating to me than the murder.

Something that I cannot get over is Julian Morrow, described as this wise whisperer that fascinates the smarts and eludes the mundanes. And yet we see that he is merely a human too. How could Henry be so violently attached to such a haughty person? He could have surely seen beyond Julian's most superficial attitude and his pride. Is Julian supposed to be seen as the Christians' almighty God? Above everything, interested in nothing, incapable (or unwilling) of aid.

Anyway, glad that I stumbled upon the BBC's Donna Tartt interview as hearing her speak was what made be grab the book from my to-be-read shelf. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Racial slurs, Racism, and Blood

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Car accident, and Death of parent

nat_pinche's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

 The writing is entincingly unreliable and the characters are intricate and complex.
 At each time you read it you end up catching new details and nuances about the events that happend.
 During the reading, the purpuse of the critic against the Academia itself is almost lost as you and the narrator become enchanted with the surroundings of the university, and the eccentric greek club (which the history centers).

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Islamophobia, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

May cause addicition. You will think about it for a long time. Good luck.

zoe_werdy's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-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

5.0

A haunting book, you know right from the start the central tragedy but how it comes about and what happens after isn't what you expect. A complicated cast of characters, distinctly unlikeable but also alluring. Interesting to read and really interesting to delve into the subculture that has sprung up around this book. I will be thinking about this book for a long time. Its so long, but already I kind of want to read it again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Suicide, Blood, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

austenite93's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Suicide, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Sexual harassment