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kimveach'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
3.5
Graphic: Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Outing, Bullying, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Self harm, Alcohol, Sexual content, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Animal cruelty, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Medical content, Child death, Grief, Murder, Blood, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Violence, Vomit, Classism, and Toxic relationship
maevekh'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
5.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Murder, Toxic friendship, Domestic abuse, Incest, Violence, Death, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Sexual assault
hiagovinicius's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Grief, Gaslighting, Alcoholism, Suicide, Incest, Drug use, Death, Toxic friendship, Murder, Emotional abuse, and Gun violence
Moderate: Bullying, Homophobia, Blood, and Sexual content
Minor: Sexism and Panic attacks/disorders
starryfruits'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? Yes
4.0
Despite the rating im giving it these characters haunt me and i have an infinite amount of questions and i like the book, just not reading it
Graphic: Alcohol, Suicide, and Drug use
Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Homophobia, and Murder
Minor: Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, Incest, Physical abuse, and Suicide attempt
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
lacey_wi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Murder, Alcoholism, Classism, Racism, Violence, Gun violence, Death, Sexism, Physical abuse, Addiction, Chronic illness, Sexual content, Vomit, Domestic abuse, Alcohol, Cursing, Self harm, Animal cruelty, Misogyny, Blood, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Incest, Toxic friendship, Medical trauma, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
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
aristarcodisamo's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Addiction, Drug use, Alcoholism, Death, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Incest, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Domestic abuse, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Sexual content, Animal cruelty, Cancer, Homophobia, Misogyny, Cursing, Death of parent, and Eating disorder
biobeetle'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
Graphic: Death, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Incest, Violence, and Mental illness
Minor: Sexual content
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: Incest, Violence, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Death, Murder, Sexual content, Suicide, Alcohol, Blood, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, and Toxic relationship