Reviews

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

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sophmxc's review against another edition

4.25

Such great vibes for the book. I think the story just went on a little too long in the second half. Loved Tartt’s writing style and characterisation as well. I’m definitely going to pick up more of her books.

cbxtherine's review against another edition

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5.0

a morbid longing for the picturesque at all costs is the most real thing I’ve ever read

cindytheskull's review against another edition

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1.0

The book starts well, develops awkwardly and ends predictably . It was fun to read it first, but the more the plot unfolded, the more the writing got pointless and the stories told by the main character became increasingly meaningless. You could summarise the whole story in one sentence, but you have to get to at least half of the book to realise that.

Disappointing.

meggeorge's review against another edition

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5.0

So, this is my first review ever on this site, but I have a lot of feelings about this book, which I only managed to order into a coherent argument now, over a month after I finished it.

Here we go!

There's something about this book...

The way it incorporates magic realism...

The way it makes you wonder whether the tragic events of the story are the result of human immorality or a whim of the gods...

It swallows you up from the first sentence- which is incredibly bold, might I add, revealing the 'main plot point' from the get-go. I put that in quotation marks because, to me, the murder is not the main plot point. It certainly helped to keep me interested, but mostly I wanted to know more about the characters and I wanted to remain inside that beautiful little bubble of vintage elitism and aestheticism, just because it doesn't really exist in the real world, or at least I haven't come across it.

On that note, a lot of people have said that they dislike how pretentious and snobby this book's narration is. I totally agree that it is both of those things, but taking into account that the characters are a group of cocky rich kids studying the classics.... It's kind of to be expected, no?

Also, in my opinion it just adds to the atmosphere of scholarly depravity.

And in the end, there's this delicious note of tragic irony. These kids actually killed one of their own in order to keep their friend group intact, and in the process, absolutely destroyed it.

It's the perfect read if you're in the mood for something dark in the most apathetic way. It builds up a holier-than-thou attitude and gives you an in. Say what you want about supercilious narration and romanticism, but for me, this book is the definition of immersion.

5/5 stars

savciuc's review against another edition

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5.0

I am at loss of words. I've finished it three days ago and I still can't find the right words to describe what I read. Tartt is an absolute genius in maneuvering words. I equally hated as I loved each character, and I can say that I found myself in many of them.
“For a moment, as his arm touched mine, he was a creature of flesh and blood, but the next he was a hallucination again, a figment of the imagination stalking down the hallway as heedless of me as ghosts, in their shadowy”
(my favorite quote from this book, it has been wandering thru my mind since the moment i first read it, i wish there was someone to view me just the same way Richard views Francis.♡)