Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Le Maître des illusions by Donna Tartt

408 reviews

moonheavn's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This might just be the best book I've ever read. I'm still kind of processing the last 70 pages but I will try to sum my feelings up.
First of all: The PLOT TWISTS!! I don't think I ever read something that made me stare at the pages in disbelief so many times. 
Secondly: I LOOOOVE the pace in which this is written, I think it includes everything it has to include, it's not too detailed when it doesn’t need to be, and it's also not the kind of book which glances over everything and suddenly focuses on things that aren't relevant to the story. 
Finding such a long book with this rapid pace is the best thing ever, I was afraid I was going to get bored, but the book is just so well written that it kept me reading and reading every single day.
Third: I'm still kind of disturbed by how much I loved this book, considering one of the main characters is not another thing but a psychopath.
And lastly: This is the most beautifully written thriller I've read. It's amazing. Enchanting. Showstopping.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Suicide, Domestic abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Self harm, Violence, and Homophobia

Minor: Sexual violence and Rape

jkull_10's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Violence, Addiction, Murder, Suicide, Classism, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Bullying, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Alcoholism

Minor: Rape and Blood

kaydin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Toxic friendship, Drug abuse, Incest, Suicide, Self harm, Drug use, Gun violence, Grief, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, and Addiction

Moderate: Violence, Physical abuse, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Rape

holyaya's review against another edition

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Incest, Homophobia, and Gaslighting

Minor: Animal death, Eating disorder, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Self harm, Misogyny, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, and Mental illness

kokos19's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

1.0

A book about shitty people being shitty, not taking accountability for their actions nor learning anything. I know it’s a ‘’satire’’ but no, it was a pain to get through.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Toxic friendship, and Drug use

Moderate: Antisemitism, Medical content, Incest, Bullying, and Homophobia

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Animal cruelty, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

hex_agon's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicide, Alcoholism, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Incest and Homophobia

Minor: Rape and Physical abuse

esther_d's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Suicide, Death, Drug use, Incest, and Murder

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, Islamophobia, Antisemitism, and Homophobia

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Rape, and Xenophobia

embent08's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-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

Was a delightful read just took me almost a year because I fell into the most awful reading slump and didn't touch a book for 7.5 months

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault

hazyskyys's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? No

3.5

i feel as though there isn’t a lot to say about this book, but i also feel that i have to put my thoughts somewhere after i’ve finished it.

one of the things i loved the most about this book is the commentary it made about human nature; how people have the tendency to romanticize others and only acknowledge their best traits, even if that’s not who they are. the narration through richard was one of the best ways to display this. he so deeply wanted to fit in, become someone else, become exactly like the members of julian’s class that he forced himself (probably unknowingly) to think of the best parts of them. it makes it almost impossible for the reader to not fall for these characters, as they are painted in an ideal manner that makes us overlook the terrible things they are really doing. 

i think it’s interesting how everyone seems surprised every time someone does something immoral, especially when richard was shocked that henry was throwing him under the bus during the entire investigation and keeping secrets from him. richard perceived a version of henry that was far from his deceitful and cunning manner, and it caused him to think henry was a better person than he was. 

i also liked how the group rationalized the bad decisions they were making, and excusing their murders as if they were almost no big deal. we did occasionally see richard get upset and realize the gravity of what they had done, but nobody else seemed upset about it on the surface. they seem more upset about the stress of the aftermath than the fact that they killed their peer (and a rando), and i think this said a lot about class distinction and morals in general.

all of this being said, i do think overall, the book was a bit of a drag. i find it a bit foolish to put the major plot point of the murder smack in the middle of the story, because after that it pretty much fell off and turned into a mish mosh of basically irrelevant side stories (wow henry needs pain meds oh no.. oh my god they are drinking again)

i think because of this, many of the characters ended up losing development they could have had. henry and bunny were the most complex and well developed characters in the whole book, and the rest served as stereotypes in my opinion. francis was just gay, camilla was a love interest (for like everyone), and charles was a drunk. i feel that this could be because of the way richard perceived them, returning to my original point, but their dialogue didn’t do much for me either, so i feel inclined to say it’s not that.

also there were a lot of unnecessary plot points?? like the n word scene and the twin incest plotline… and when richard had that thought… very confusing..

i’m a sucker for dark academia, so i did enjoy this book and the world it set up, but i think it was a bit of a flop. i would recommend though if you’re willing to read 500+ pages.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, Incest, Murder, Racial slurs, and Violence

Moderate: Suicide attempt and Gun violence

Minor: Rape and Antisemitism

alemarton'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

4.5

This book has intrigued me since I was a child, wandering by libraries at every chance I got and it did not fail me. I think this book is fantastic, the characters are flawed but that's how they are supposed to be: shallow, naive, without clear morals. They are following a world (the ancient time) that does not exist anymore and they are living in a sort of parallel world, where the Greek and Latin and their cultures are in the center and no real consequences matter. That is also because most of the characters are extremely rich and, in today's world, they are treated in a totally different way in respect to normal people. We can see how the characters at first were described as legends in the eyes of the protagonist and, going on with reading, we notice how they are deeply flawed. A great example is that of the teacher: he was fairly famous and encountered many celebrities during his life, at first in the book there were descriptions of the professor made by these characters that were totally positive and, in the end, when the real nature of Julian is revealed, there are two descriptions that really incapsulate his character. I loved that the book was very slow paced, however I thought the chapters were sometimes extremely long, even tho I understand the intent of the author. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Addiction, Classism, Incest, Murder, Suicide attempt, Sexism, and Racism

Minor: Rape