Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Dio di Illusioni by Donna Tartt

525 reviews

connnnn's review against another edition

dark funny reflective 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

2.5

4.5 stars with better editing 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Incest, Mental illness, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Classism

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Xenophobia

cynthia_wlms's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Suicide attempt, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Blood, and Grief

Minor: Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Car accident, and Death of parent

georgialee01's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Gun violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Blood

brennerson's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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

5.0

This book is actually haunting me, and it’s all I can think about. I loved learning about these characters from the POV of Richard (but I desperately need Camilla’s POV) because I also felt like I was trying to make it in the group as an outsider. Trying to figure out the subtle glances or dialogue between characters reminded me of meeting a group of very close people for the first time and not fully understanding their relationships but still being mesmerized by them.

But if you want loveable, sweet characters, and a reliable narrator, this is not the book! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Incest

Minor: Rape

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I loved The Goldfinch and was expecting to love this one too, but instead, I’m unclear why this book was such a big deal. The whole time, I keep wondering if this book inspired Shonda Rhimes into How to Get Away with Murder, and like that TV show, I hated the premise of the plot and still watched every episode and read every page, and in the end, all I am left is to wonder why I did.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

paulina_laukova's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Gore, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Physical abuse

Minor: Rape

briab680's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing and Death

Moderate: Drug use, Incest, Suicide, Blood, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal death

singalana's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

This book was different from what I expected. I hope I would have taken my time with it and read it more slowly and thoughtfully, but alas, it was from the library, and I was pressed to return it.

From the blurb, I expected this book to be different: I expected the professor to play a more significant part and the group of students to be almost like a secret society of sorts (hence the name). I expected more action, crimes, and violence, but that was not the case. I’d characterise The Secret History as a slow-burn psychological thriller. It’s Donna Tartt’s debut novel, but you’d never guess it from the writing.

Our main character, Richard, comes from a humble background and tries to get away from his family. He gets into college in Vermont, where he gets a place in a small group studying under a classics professor. Slowly, he gets to know the other students better and better and becomes entangled in something that changes his life forever. 

The characters have distinct personalities, and the author describes them in a way that makes them easy to picture. The writing flows quite nicely, and I found it pleasant to read. The events flow at a slow, almost dreamlike pace, and I, as a reader, find myself in the main character’s head, almost like a passenger, watching the events unfold.

Plotwise, I don’t have much to critique. I suppose my main gripe about this book is that it’s rather long. But perhaps if I had read it at a more leisurely pace, then the dreamlike quality of the events would have clashed so much with my “need for speed”. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Car accident, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

thebookfae's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Violence, Toxic friendship, and Classism

Moderate: Incest, Blood, and Alcohol

Minor: Gun violence, Misogyny, Grief, and Outing

sabripolin's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Blood, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Chronic illness, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Incest, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail