Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

435 reviews

stavroula_c's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Drug abuse

bxnnny's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• 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

i've previously read donna tartt's the secret history, which i overall liked but also felt like it wasn't quite it for me. the goldfinch was an improvement in my opinion and i do think i was more attached to the story and its characters this time. it's a very poignant book about grief and the what if's of life. the butterfly effect, fate, karma, and what could have been versus what is. as someone who has never had to deal with any real grief regarding death, i often struggled to understand theo and the things he did and didn't do. for example, i struggled to understand why he didn't have much of anything that belonged to his mother after her death and

why he never even put up a fight to prevent his father from selling/giving away all of her belongings and the things they shared together while holding on so tightly to the painting that ultimately just caused him more grief and trouble.

but as the book went on, i came to understand that the painting was an allegory for the grief he felt for his mother and that if he lost it or gave it away or sold it or whatever - if he didn't have it anymore, this thing so closely related to the day of her death, to the events that caused her death, to this massive loss and life-altering day, then he would forget her. then he wouldn't have her. if he didn't have that grief to hold onto, he would forget her, and thus lose her entirely, forever. he held onto that painting and held onto that grief as the last way he could hold onto his mother. the last thing tying him to that day and what happened to her. but in the end, the grief and the memories were all still there, regardless of the painting, and regardless of anything else. very well done. i do wish we could have learned more about pippa and what all she was going through/up to and i do there was more about what happened to everyone in the end, but i understand why it was left to be more unknown and ambiguous. also good god, i wish donna tartt would make shorter chapters! but i'm glad she at least introduced the roman numerals within the chapters to break it up a little bit.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, and Death of parent

some very minor internalized homophobia.

haileyeh's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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

1.75

Theo is the most unlikeable protagonist I have ever read about.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Vomit and Car accident

lgwhite's review against another edition

dark reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

ravenmount's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Alcohol

The plot begins with a terrorist attack, and may be rough for some readers.

moz_art's review against another edition

emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

3.75

Gorgeous prose, with some banger twists, but overall slow and bulky for my liking. I enjoyed the beginning, the middle was a whole lot of nothing, the ending was all over the place and confusing. Too many plotlines but doesn’t fully focus on any of them for long enough for me to care. Finishing the book felt like a relief. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction and Alcoholism

evspeat's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Death of parent

myclutteredbookshelf's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I was first introduced to Donna Tartt in my second year of university, when I discovered how popular she was in the online bookish community. People would tell me how complex her characters were, how thought-provoking her prose was, and I was immediately intrigued but too intimidated by the length of her novels to rush into reading them. I finally worked up the courage in January 2022 to read her debut novel, The Secret History, which follows a group of classics students who get caught in a web of secrets and murder. After so many years of hearing the internet butter up Tartt's writing, to my disappointment, I ended up hating the novel. The chapters were excruciating long with no page breaks, half of the main characters felt underdeveloped, and the plot contained several cliches you would expect from a first time author trying to make their debut as edgy as possible (e.g., two of the classics students are a brother and sister twin duo; three guesses as to what Tartt decided their big secret would be).

A part of me hoped this was just due to Tartt being a less experienced writer at the time of the book's release. So, I decided to give her a second chance and read her third published novel, The Goldfinch. And my god, were the improvements noticeable.

Read the full review at My Cluttered Bookshelf. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent

novellearts's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Still amazing on the 3rd read through, of course. And I love Boris with everything I have. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

classicalhell's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Death of parent, and Abandonment

Moderate: Alcoholism, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Vomit