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martieb's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Homophobia, Incest, Violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Murder, and Mental illness
frankahilde's review against another edition
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
This is one of the most challenging books I’ve ever read. (Especially since English is my second language) But I’m so glad I finally did it! Even though nothing much really happened when it gets down to it, I was so immersed in the story and really enjoyed reading, even though it was challenging for me. I really like how you go from liking, to hating, to loving, to disliking the characters, because that’s essentially what the book is about (for me at least). It’s almost infuriating how the characters think they know it all because they are smart and educated but actually make the worst decisions possible throughout the whole book. It’s written very beautifully though and I think I’ll think about it for a while!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism and Death
Moderate: Violence, Homophobia, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Incest, and Murder
bruts_bane's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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? Yes
4.0
This is the first time in a long time where I’ve had so many emotions when reading a book. I’m going to write everything in spoilers. Every character has sides to them you can’t even begin to imagine. They’re all very bad people, really. I found it so interesting how the first half of the book is pretty much solely justifying Bunny’s death. Going over how annoying and problematic he was. Then the second half is the complete opposite. Talking about how bad the other five are, and how comparatively, Bunny wasn’t that bad after all. It’s not that Bunny wasn’t a bad person. It’s that everyone knew he was bad, because he never hid it. But the other characters hide their faults and are so secretive. When Bunny was outspoken with his foul comments and such. It makes him seem like the bad guy, which he wasn’t very good at all, but he wasn’t bad enough to have been murdered. The book had such horrible language throughout it which was awful to read. From awful awful language on racism to homophobia and sexism. Honestly the racism was completely unnecessary, I struggle to see why Donna Tart added it at all. I find it hard to decide if I really like the book. I couldn’t put it down, but I also just began to hate characters. And being inside Richard’s mind sucked. I’m rating it 4 stars because of the actual storyline and writing itself, which had me HOOKED let me say! It’s amazing how much I loved the characters in the start, and how much I hate them now. Especially Charles. Awful man. And RICHARD UGH that one line genuinely might have traumatised me a bit. I kept hoping for Bunny to come back to life. And I still sort of love Henry a bit. I KNOW I know. He’s bad, but I liked his character. I found it so interesting how completely obsessed he was with Julian and learning and improving himself that he killed others and his own self in the end. ALSO I wish so bad we could learn what they did in that ritual when they killed the first man. There are a few plot holes like that, that I wish we knew. I never even understood why Bunny ended up going to the woods in the first place when he was murdered, if he was at a party not long before. Also I wonder why Richard is even writing this book? It seems like he had a purpose throughout when he talks directly to the reader, but it isn’t explained in the end. The way the brush off murder in the book is so bad, that’s the first sign to how evil they all are. Beware of the trigger warnings. It’s a heavy heavy book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Violence, Alcoholism, Incest, Murder, and Homophobia
louise2000's review against another edition
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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Murder, Gun violence, and Violence
Moderate: Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Suicide
Minor: Incest
schwambibambi's review against another edition
dark
reflective
tense
slow-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Violence, Gun violence, Murder, Drug use, Antisemitism, Death, Drug abuse, Incest, Homophobia, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Misogyny, and Addiction
rworrall78's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
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
3.75
I've come to the conclusion that long books aren't for me. This was supremely well written, deep in ways I can't fully appreciate. There were times when I loved it, I enjoyed the big philosophical thoughts even though I'm not well-educated enough to have understood them all. Some of the descriptions were absolutely incredible, particularly the description of Hampton on the day Bunny's body was found. The characters were meant to be unlikable I understand that. Yet that meant that as the drama unfolded at various points in the book, after much slow unfolding, I simply did not care what happened to anyone apart from the cat. Also because I didn't like the characters a lot of the drama between the protagonists left me cold and irritated. my favourite bit probably was the epilogue because it sped up to a pace I enjoy.
The almost slower than real time telling of some of the scenes did get me appreciating the style occasionally, it opened up a new part of reading that I've never really had access to. But then at the times it was just frustratingly slow.
I'm glad I read it but I didn't love it.
The almost slower than real time telling of some of the scenes did get me appreciating the style occasionally, it opened up a new part of reading that I've never really had access to. But then at the times it was just frustratingly slow.
I'm glad I read it but I didn't love it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest, Murder, Violence, Drug abuse, and Alcoholism
flora_readssome's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
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? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Violence, Suicide, Death, and Murder
kaymaxwell's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
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? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Incest
theeo's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I mostly enjoyed this! I found the plot to be a thrilling slow burn, and disliking the majority of the characters was strangely fun. The writing style is also really wonderful. The characters sometimes sound overly-formal, which at first is a little jarring, but it works because it adds to the weirdly entertaining unpleasantness of their personalities.
I disliked that some descriptions and details felt unnecessary - the author sometimes goes on tangents that don’t offer much substance or relevance to the plot, and almost feel like filler to an already rich story. This is more of a person gripe, but I also didn’t love how long the chapters were. I don’t like to stop mid-chapter (especially when I’m enjoying it) so I ended up sleeping too late on several occasions while reading this…
I did really enjoy this book overall! I may even reread one day, as it’s quite dense and I read it reasonably fast.
I disliked that some descriptions and details felt unnecessary - the author sometimes goes on tangents that don’t offer much substance or relevance to the plot, and almost feel like filler to an already rich story. This is more of a person gripe, but I also didn’t love how long the chapters were. I don’t like to stop mid-chapter (especially when I’m enjoying it) so I ended up sleeping too late on several occasions while reading this…
I did really enjoy this book overall! I may even reread one day, as it’s quite dense and I read it reasonably fast.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Suicide, Antisemitism, Suicide attempt, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Gun violence, Homophobia, and Incest
Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, and Classism
Minor: Rape
grace_b_3's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Gun violence, Drug use, Violence, Murder, Death, and Alcohol
Moderate: Incest, Animal death, Sexual content, and Animal cruelty
Minor: Homophobia and Panic attacks/disorders