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giulidrago's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Dio di Illusioni è crudele, freddo, tragico, misterioso, infelice, marcio, ingannevole e delirante.
Dio di Illusioni contiene la febbre, la noia, il senso di colpa, il desiderio di essere qualcosa di più, la morte, la letteratura e l'aspirazione al proibito.
Dio di Illusioni ti devasta e ti rovina, sbriciola con un sorriso ogni parvenza benevola, ti incanta e ti pugnala nel giro della stessa frase.
Dio di Illusioni è il sangue che imbratta il marmo delle statue.
Dio di Illusioni è doloroso da leggere.
Dio di Illusioni è un capolavoro che non potrò mai rimuovere dai libri che mi hanno segnato la vita.
Graphic: Homophobia, Alcoholism, Drug use, Incest, Murder, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Rape, Animal cruelty, and Blood
maybedani's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Murder, Suicide attempt, Drug abuse, and Incest
Minor: Suicide and Rape
pmejia's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Animal death, Racial slurs, Incest, Drug use, Alcoholism, Death, Murder, and Suicide
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Alcohol, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual content, Addiction, Racism, Blood, Car accident, Religious bigotry, Classism, Domestic abuse, and Infidelity
Minor: Rape and Suicide attempt
ifweweresorrows's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
Moderate: Rape, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Alcoholism, Homophobia, and Addiction
Minor: Incest, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol
noamireadsgraphicsmurfnovels's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Classism, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Blood, Incest, Mental illness, Homophobia, Murder, Self harm, Rape, Sexual violence, Car accident, Animal death, Bullying, Drug use, Animal cruelty, Death, and Physical abuse
aritacb's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
3.75/5
Short version to spare those who don’t want to read my sleep deprived rambling (writing this at 3 a.m. on my night shift lol): modern Greek tragedy, elite college kids, and Dostoyevsky’s Crime and Punishment vibes. Big themes were the privilege of wealth, moral depravity, and academic elitism.
This isn’t quite what I anticipated. I’m honestly kind of conflicted and will be looking into other people’s thoughts of this novel. Though I enjoyed the overall story, I felt myself wanting more out of it and the ending had me feeling more like this. My impression was that it was meant to be satirical and I felt it wasn’t clearly evident that it was (at least not typical humorous satire)- especially considering the fact that there are overwhelming amount of people who take this book way too seriously and completely ignore the extreme exaggeration.
Readers commonly put these characters that are written to be unlikable, and that are not “morally gray” but as they later discover are utterly depraved, on a pedestal and romanticize them. At the beginning, the narrator describes the group as almost ethereal and academically transcendental but as the plot progresses, you start to see their true colors and the plot dives further into their character flaws. I did however enjoy the transition into their descent and the difference in how they were perceived between the two books - not the characters themselves (definitely not the narrator who annoyed me) but the juxtaposition of their initial and final impressions.
What I also liked about the novel, was Tartt’s beautiful imagery and the story telling. I loved the academic verbiage even though it got annoying when used outside of the campus setting - which I know was intentional so that the characters would be seen as pretentious. I probably most enjoyed the dark academia aesthetic of the first half of the book the most (tangent - which is why I for sure need to read Babel by RF Kuang which is partly inspired by this novel.)
There were parts in the book that were problematic and although they made sense for the plot, they weren’t really necessary. Also, there were some scenes that I felt didn’t add to the overall plot that could have been omitted. Finally, I felt like Camilla’s character wasn’t as developed as the others, maybe because she was the avoidant manic pixie dream girl type but I wanted a bit more of a backstory for her - especially since the narrator was so obsessed with her. These reasons and the fact that the novel wasn’t I expected are why I gave this rating I did.
This book is fantastic for fall but I don’t think it would be everyone’s cup of tea, so I wouldn’t recommend it to everyone. It’s not an easy going read, especially with the plethora of classical academic references and the countless moral dilemmas (this is the main issue) in the book. I’d recommend looking up the trigger warnings.
12/9 edit:
Changing my rating because her writing keeps popping up in my head. It’s truly excellent.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Murder, Violence, and Drug use
Moderate: Physical abuse and Racial slurs
Minor: Sexual content, Incest, and Rape
emisbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
no other book exists anymore.
Graphic: Suicide, Alcoholism, Violence, Blood, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Drug use, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Murder, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Classism, Religious bigotry, Homophobia, Incest, and Mental illness
Minor: Rape and Sexual violence
emjbarnes's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Classism, Murder, and Suicide
Moderate: Racism, Homophobia, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Incest and Rape
jcoates's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
More than the plot itself, I was drawn to the characters themselves. It was only after
Tartt’s prose is very lyrical which made it easy to enjoy despite the slow pacing of the story. Some descriptions or word choices made me pause, though. Their use IMO are no longer politically correct so coming across them made me wonder what year the novel was written.
Overall, it’s a favorite dark academia novel for me.
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Drug use, Toxic friendship, and Death
Moderate: Murder, Violence, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Homophobia, Sexual assault, Antisemitism, Rape, and Incest
raypaws's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Death, Drug use, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Suicide, Murder, and Drug abuse
Moderate: Racism, Addiction, Animal death, Incest, Racial slurs, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Gun violence, Toxic friendship, and Sexism
Minor: Domestic abuse, Self harm, and Rape