Scan barcode
charmarie's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Violence, Murder, and Alcohol
andromedapls's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
It was in that's an Esoteric read. It's a story about a group of white kids. I'm getting away with murder. Can tell that from the summary. And?
It's filled with this beautiful language that at times it could be hard to follow or hard to keep going because of the tangents. She, you could take, but when she grabbed your attention again. It made clear as to wht it became so popular of a novel. A classic in dark academia.
It's filled with this beautiful language that at times it could be hard to follow or hard to keep going because of the tangents. She, you could take, but when she grabbed your attention again. It made clear as to wht it became so popular of a novel. A classic in dark academia.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Violence, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Alcoholism and Alcohol
raychel's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
5.0
How can you sum this book up? I cannot. It was so good. I laughed out loud. I nearly burst into tears. I screamed. Fate, or the illusion of it, is a main theme in this book. One event, one person, can change us forever.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Suicide attempt, and Murder
marsm0th's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Donna Tartt’s debut novel takes you on a journey, that’s for sure. Tartt has an incredible way of presenting you with characters that you can’t help but be infuriated by and infatuated with. They suck, in plain terms— but in a way that doesn’t allow you to tear away from their stories. Fascinatingly complex, the characters and their motives reveal themselves layer by layer, leaving the full picture obscured. In addition, Tartt displays a complex understanding of ancient literature, and leaves references that I, for one, quite enjoyed being in on. As the plot thickens, Donna Tartt does an incredible job of bleeding the tension onto the reader. I couldn’t look away, and I didn’t want to.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Murder
Moderate: Homophobia, Violence, Xenophobia, Vomit, and Antisemitism
Minor: Rape
eleasofia's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
very unlike anything i've read before and i loved it. the pace was quite slow, the chapters unusually long, and some descriptions of surroundings really verbose, but i was completely captivated after the first chapter/ first 10% of the book. the sometimes long-winded descriptions really were not boring at all but let me imagine everything just more vividly, and the details of rather mundane situations made everything more real and established the relationships between of all characters really well.
i usually prefer third-person pov, but this first person pov was so well written, i often even forgot about it. i loved richard as a narrator. it really felt like a friend telling you a long story - drifting off topic occasionally, going into detail for things that might not matter much to anybody but him. even though he is relatively detached as a narrator, it was very clear how he saw and felt about his friends, which made me love the other main characters - at least until it got complicated, by the ending i had mixed feelings, but i suppose that is exactly what it was supposed to be like. either way, all of them are really well fleshed-out unique characters, so even if you don't like them, you can be intrigued with them. who i liked best fluctuated throughout the story, but i think in the end it's richard and francis for me.
the story itself was very compelling. there were some things i figured out before they happened, but generally i was surprised by the major plot points (at least the ones that hadn't been purposely been given away in the beginning). it felt eerily realistic, exciting, fascinating, but at the same time really relatively mundane, bleak, "normal", like this could have happened to anybody.
i'm glad i didn't read the content warnings before reading the book because they definitely contain spoilers, at least in the sense that some things wouldn't be as surprising anymore. some scenes were disturbing, even relatively graphic, but i enjoyed being caught off-guard.
i'm very much looking forward to re-reading the story. i feel like it's one of those books that will be amazing on the second read when you can pick up on little details and foreshadowing that you missed on the first read.
i usually prefer third-person pov, but this first person pov was so well written, i often even forgot about it. i loved richard as a narrator. it really felt like a friend telling you a long story - drifting off topic occasionally, going into detail for things that might not matter much to anybody but him. even though he is relatively detached as a narrator, it was very clear how he saw and felt about his friends, which made me love the other main characters - at least until it got complicated, by the ending i had mixed feelings, but i suppose that is exactly what it was supposed to be like. either way, all of them are really well fleshed-out unique characters, so even if you don't like them, you can be intrigued with them. who i liked best fluctuated throughout the story, but i think in the end it's richard and francis for me.
the story itself was very compelling. there were some things i figured out before they happened, but generally i was surprised by the major plot points (at least the ones that hadn't been purposely been given away in the beginning). it felt eerily realistic, exciting, fascinating, but at the same time really relatively mundane, bleak, "normal", like this could have happened to anybody.
i'm glad i didn't read the content warnings before reading the book because they definitely contain spoilers, at least in the sense that some things wouldn't be as surprising anymore. some scenes were disturbing, even relatively graphic, but i enjoyed being caught off-guard.
i'm very much looking forward to re-reading the story. i feel like it's one of those books that will be amazing on the second read when you can pick up on little details and foreshadowing that you missed on the first read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Suicide, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail
carol16's review against another edition
dark
emotional
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? Yes
3.25
Really disturbing book that made me deeply depressed - not entirely sure why this is on the list of dark academia books because it just doesn't give much academia vibes. I think I am more of a light academia girlie. I did however think it was well written and gives much to chew on - which is why it is rated 3 stars.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Murder
Moderate: Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Homophobia, Racial slurs, Islamophobia, and Religious bigotry
manderleylilacs's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-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
4.0
I'm really glad I read this, it was down as a bucket list read for a long time. a I'm honestly shocked that so much of the dark academia aesthetic was tied to this novel, since it's shown throughout the book that the students taking Greek are pretentious, self-absorbed pricks; and it seems like everyone else in the university is incompetent or drunk/high constantly. The valley girls who the Greek students look down on seem to be the only semi-decent people here. That isn't a critique at all since that looks to be the point, but I don't know how that part of the fandom was able to emerge, I was gripped towards the end of the book wondering what would happen to the group, not that I was particularly wishing for a happy ending for any of them. I might have been more ~enamoured~ with the characters or aesthetic is I had read this as a teenager.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Islamophobia, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism
Moderate: Gore, Incest, Physical abuse, and Abandonment
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Religious bigotry
I'm really glad I read this, it was down as a bucket list read for a long time. a I'm honestly shocked that so much of the dark academia aesthetic was tied to this novel, since it's shown throughout the book that the students taking Greek are pretentious, self-absorbed pricks; and it seems like everyone else in the university is incompetent or drunk/high constantly. The valley girls who the Greek students look down on seem to be the only semi-decent people here. That isn't a critique at all since that looks to be the point, but I don't know how that part of the fandom was able to emerge, I was gripped towards the end of the book wondering what would happen to the group, not that I was particularly wishing for a happy ending for any of them. I might have been more ~enamoured~ with the characters or aesthetic is I had read this as a teenager.sycamore_tree's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Incest, and Murder
Moderate: Homophobia, Mental illness, and Violence
Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, and Gaslighting
carefulfearanddeaddevotion's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
2.75
This book has been on my TBR for a decade, and sadly, it disappointed.
The only thing that saved this book from being a 1 star read is the writing. The scenes are well-paced, the conversations natural, the descriptions--both of location and feeling--are extremely vivid. Unlike The Goldfinch, I was able to finish this book. Like The Goldfinch, I found the characters bland and insufferable. I really just could not empathize or even sympathize with any of them. When Bunny was alive, he was bigoted and not very likeable. Once he died, I did feel bad for him, but only because I am not a psychopath and I think murdering a friend because they found out you murdered someone else is bad, actually.
I did find myself actively enjoying the book afterJulian finds out that Henry (and the whole friend group, really) killed Bunny . Richard is finally able to see how he built up Julian and the whole group to be these perfect, aspirational people, when really they're not perfect, not at all. I could feel his panic, and his disgust, and this is when he started to feel more real, and therefore more enjoyable.
Not really that important overall, but was I actually meant to believe that he's in love with Camilla?? I'd sooner believe that he's in love with Cloke. He definitely had much more believable chemistry with all the boys in the group (or even Judy) than he did with Camilla. Just like Meredith and Oliver(?) in If We Were Villains I don't buy it, I really don't. Stop with the forced heterosexuality, stop shoving that shit down my throat. /lh
ALSO we find out that, actually, Bunny was right and Camilla and Charles ARE fucking. ewewewewewewwwwww.
The only thing that saved this book from being a 1 star read is the writing. The scenes are well-paced, the conversations natural, the descriptions--both of location and feeling--are extremely vivid. Unlike The Goldfinch, I was able to finish this book. Like The Goldfinch, I found the characters bland and insufferable. I really just could not empathize or even sympathize with any of them. When Bunny was alive, he was bigoted and not very likeable. Once he died, I did feel bad for him, but only because I am not a psychopath and I think murdering a friend because they found out you murdered someone else is bad, actually.
I did find myself actively enjoying the book after
Not really that important overall, but was I actually meant to believe that he's in love with Camilla?? I'd sooner believe that he's in love with Cloke. He definitely had much more believable chemistry with all the boys in the group (or even Judy) than he did with Camilla. Just like Meredith and Oliver(?) in If We Were Villains I don't buy it, I really don't. Stop with the forced heterosexuality, stop shoving that shit down my throat. /lh
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
corkadillo's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
5.0
My flatmate and my best friend revealed one day that this was their favourite book. One of many spooky shared tastes, having not known one another at all before I introduced them. My flatmate lent me his copy and I devoured it in little over a day, awakening naturally at 3am, and reaching straight for it.
The writing is exquisite. The characters have depth and mystery. The plot unfolds deliciously from the very first line. I can't wait to read it again.
The writing is exquisite. The characters have depth and mystery. The plot unfolds deliciously from the very first line. I can't wait to read it again.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Suicide, Violence, and Murder