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frog4earth's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexual assault
Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death
jedore's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Love doesn't conquer everything. And whoever thinks it does is a fool.
Another book from the very beginning of my TBR list that I started more than a couple of decades ago.
There was a moment in the beginning where I almost put the book down…during a hyper-intellectual scene that required knowledge of Greek history to fully comprehend. I decided to power through it despite my lack of core knowledge and made it to the end.
While I’m ultimately glad I did, it wasn’t an easy read by any means. First, there is not a single likable character in the entire book. Everyone was some combination of entitled, narcissistic, addictive, cold-hearted, delusional and psychopathic. Second, it’s an incredibly slow read…the story could have been told in half the amount of words. Finally, it’s pitch dark…nothing uplifting or hopeful on these pages. While situations were presented as conundrums, they definitely wouldn’t be for most people.
Yet, somehow, it was a compelling read. I can’t say it never felt like a chore to pick up, but I remained determined to finish it after that initial Greek scene. As I closed the back cover, I definitely felt a sense of accomplishment.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Incest and Sexual assault
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: Death, Drug use, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Suicide, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Murder
Minor: Homophobia, Incest, Rape, Sexual assault, and Antisemitism
elibrownn's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Racism, Suicide, Religious bigotry, and Murder
Moderate: Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts
honipoems's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
racheltrow_'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? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Incest, Racial slurs, Suicide, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual assault
nexus_nilus's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Murder, and Alcohol
Moderate: Incest, Physical abuse, Suicide, and Grief
Minor: Eating disorder, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt
anastashamarie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
⚠️ TWs: this book contains themes of animal death (including death of a dog), murder, incest, sexual assault, substance use, alcoholism, and suicide.
I'm REALLY struggling to understand what the hype is surrounding this book, which is saying something because I'm a fan of dark academia and murder mysteries, both of which I thought this would be, and neither of which it really delivers upon. They go to class less than a dozen times through the story and the only thing generally academic about them is that they like to read and that they're pretentious (she says, sort of tongue in cheek, almost done with her own PhD).
"But it's so atmospheric! I want to live this aesthetic!" I'm sorry but bish, what? They're a bunch of mentally ill drug addicts who can't see past their own narcissism. Did you not read this book? None of this is a pleasant aesthetic. And none of this is what college in New England or the Mid Atlantic region is actually like, if that's the aesthetic you think you like (she says again, acutely away that this might also seem pretentious and conflicted about mentioning her own collegiate experience again for that reason).
Is it atmospheric? Yes, technically. Does any of the atmosphere actually matter for the story? Debatable...and I would argue on the side of "no." There's such minimal character development and I didn't care about anyone or anything until Part 24/28 of the audiobook, when everyone began to really descend into madness in the aftereffects of the murder...and then just abruptly came to the epilogue as soon as I really started to care.
Not to mention that the atmosphere and minimal plot line are buried under mountains and mountains of purple prose. I felt like literally half the book could have been cut, such was its superfluousness. But for the word count of this book, there was very little showing and very much telling. There were points of the story where I literally exclaimed, out loud, "Why is this a retrospective? It would have been much more interesting if it happened on the page!"
Not to mention that the relationships were entirely flat because there was no foundation to them. Which maybe was the point...but if the whole point is that your characters are so unlikable that they don't even like each other, and that it's steeped in layers of pretention to really drive home how pretentious everyone is, and your plot is so shallow that you can't even drown it it -- what even is the point of the book? Is it masterful or is it just people making something out of nothing and everyone just agrees so they can be "in" on it?
The pretentiousness is the biggest problem of this book, and I don't mean in that the characters are pretentious. I get that they're supposed to be, and I get that their own narrow prospective ends up being their downfall (that, at least, this book does well). But where my problem lies is that the book itself reads as entirely pretentious, like the author herself is on some high horse about how she knows all this stuff about classicism and you're either part of the group or not. It's definitely "a modern classic," in the sense that it has a bunch of allegories and symbolism that my AP English teachers would go wild for.
Ugh, anyway. I'm going to stop because I feel like these awful characters are rubbing off on me.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Incest, Sexual assault, Suicide, Murder, and Alcohol
just_a_random_dead_thing'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
4.5
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Incest, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual assault, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, and Classism
Minor: Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Car accident, and Death of parent
sadiaa's review against another edition
4.75
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism