Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

ההיסטוריה הסודית by Donna Tartt

483 reviews

dark emotional mysterious 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

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Really loved the first third, but kind of begins to fall apart into annoying choices and also
incest??? no thanks

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dark tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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challenging dark sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

genuinely the best book i've ever read??
no because i think about this book constantly 

"Does such a thing as 'the fatal flaw', that showy dark crack running down the middle of a life, exist outside literature? I used to think it didn't. Now I think it does. And I think that mine is this: a morbid longing for the picturesque at all costs.
A moi. L'histoire d'une de mes folies."
(p. 5)

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark informative mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

A satire book about privileged people.
A critique of elitism.

I think some people forget this are the main points of The Secret History.

Donna Tartt captured me. From beautiful writing to complex characters, I was engrossed. I rarely annotate my books (I only highlight important quotes and tab the pages), but I can't help but write my thoughts as I was reading this. I didn't dare finish this immediately since I wanted to fully immerse myself in the story.

At first I thought the pacing will throw me off... but the pacing made sense. I understand why Donna decided to write it this way - we're reading Richard's thoughts, which are scattered. He thought he needed to point out unnecessary details. We were in the mind of an unreliable narrator, which makes things more interesting, since we were forced to immerse ourselves in his thoughts.

The ending caught me off guard... but it made the most sense for the story. 

If you expect to fall on love with the characters, this is not for you. They are unlikable characters for a reason (you don't know how many times I said "these pretentious kids" out loud while reading). I have a soft spot for Francis, though. 

I get now why they say this is the mother/blueprint of dark academia. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

My deep hatred of
Bunny
knows no bounds. I knew it would be good but no one told me it would be Like This

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense 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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark mysterious reflective sad tense 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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Donna Tartt wrote a book so satirical that it stopped being satire and became the face of Dark Academia and I think that's pretty neat.

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