Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

Gizli Tarih by Donna Tartt

72 reviews

emilyplun's review against another edition

dark 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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

boston_fern420's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark 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? Yes

4.0

Oh god, what a book! The Secret History is a dark academia staple, full of classical mythology and blood.  Donna Tart's writing is dark and gripping; especially in her descriptions of the lush Vermont landscape that envelopes the campus. My favorite part was the section about their weekends at Francis' country home. The way the serenity they feel out in the woods contrasts with the darkness that looms overhead is absolutely delicious. 

As much as I enjoyed it, I do have to say it has a quite a long list of flaws. For starters, there is not a likeable to be found. The main character Richard is, to be frank, an idiot.

The chapter where he decides to risk freezing to death instead of taking the rest of the Greek Club's offer of lodging is incredibly irritating and I wanted to throw my book at the wall the entire time I was reading it. I also do not understand how it took him so long to realize he had joined a cult.

The rest of the Greek club is entirely comprised of pretentious, rich fucks. My least favorite was the king of homophobic-but-also-gay himself, Bunny.

although I of course loved the part where he's pushed off a cliff

There is also no character development; in fact I would argue that every single character regresses at least a little bit. 

The pacing is incredibly slow up until

Richard finds out about the murder of the farmer and Bunny is subsequently killed

. After the Big Climatic Event the pacing slows to a halt once again and the plot begins to feel a little lost. Then, out of nowhere, towards the end the plot jumps to a breakneck sprint culminating in a finale that feels very rushed and unsatisfying. It almost fells like Donna Tart knew how she wanted to begin and end this story, but was unsure of what to do in the middle. Oh, and don't even get me started on the afterword (it's dumb as fuck). 

All that said, this is still one of my favorite books. It skates by entirely on vibes and I definitely understand why someone would not like it. However, I still find myself unable to stay mad at it for too long. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Incest

mlovesbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

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

2.0

Thought I'd like it more but it's not for me. Think I won't be picking up The Goldfinch either.

---

Content Warnings

Minor: Animal death, Homophobia, Incest, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, Antisemitism, and Sexual harassment

freddysreads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, and Sexual harassment

this book started so slow & finally paced up after like 400 pages. All very pretentious, characters very unlovable, involves many slurs & is sadly not directly critiquing the bourgeoisie as i would have liked it to do. rich kids basically fuck up & have money & do drugs & drink and read books. wow. not really groundbreaking.

raiynnn's review against another edition

dark reflective 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Incest, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Islamophobia, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Murder, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

Moderate: Gun violence, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Self harm and Car accident

clarathromycin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.0

Donna Tartt’s writing was excellent throughout the book.  The characters were strong and you could feel the anticipation build.  However, I did feel as if she was taking extraordinary liberties with the use of racial and homophobic slurs in the dialogue of her bigoted characters.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Infidelity

dowsa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

a dark academia classic, oh wow. I read this partly for the aesthetic but I was shocked at how interesting this story was - most of the characters were not likeable at all, the main character richard reminded me a bit of Cady from mean girls and nick carraway from the great gatsby, the horrible justifications for their actions followed by the immediate consequences was reminiscent of a greek tragedy (which makes sense). I do think the book is summarized a little incorrectly, since the professor does not play as huge a role as you think but overall it was the perfect dark and twisted book to start the Fall

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Incest

bronzeageholly's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Antisemitism, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

amicamerlo's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Incest, Physical abuse, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

bugcollector's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

3.75

 
the premise of this dark academia manifesto is a clique of classics students influenced by greek lit and their charismatic teacher 'discovering' murder.
however, it was hard for me to find julian enchanting, even through the romanticizing eyes of richard,
and the connection to greek wasn't there beyond surface level.
i wish we got more than one class with him to understand why he influenced them this greatly, and what did the group come about when "meeting Dionysus".
the bit about what george orwell ("king of morals") had to say about Julian's character felt too in your face ("look, julian is actually immorall!) 

also what's the deal with the homophobia
yeah, they killed off bunny so most of the slurs stopped , but then Francis is falling for the straights and merrying a gal '-' 

i did love Henry's character, and how you could see him manipulate and master their daily decisions. but again what's his connection to Julian beyond that? 

There's also a bit about richard, mr nothing in his soul but obsessive, daydreaming about raping camilla which came out of nowhere. 

The book starts with Richard telling us 'the only story he will ever be able to tell.' i guess bexause of that i asummed there would be a reason he's telling it, or that  it would sum up in something he wrote. didn't expect the 2000s disney movie ending montage about what everyone's up to today (and i mean everyone, some characters I even forgot existed)

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Incest, Rape, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Addiction, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Medical trauma, and Sexual harassment