Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

ההיסטוריה הסודית by Donna Tartt

483 reviews

laner's review against another edition

4.25

dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt

virtuosocl's review against another edition

4.75

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Suicide, Violence, Murder, Alcohol

Moderate: Drug abuse

Minor: Homophobia, Sexual content

miriamj2000's review against another edition

3.0

dark funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Blood, Grief, Murder, Alcohol

addyson_raelynn's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Wow. I started this book in November of 2021 and finished it in February of 2022. I have never spent this long on one book before, but I just knew that this one was worth it, and it absolutely was. It’s a crazy ride from beginning to end. It’s a dark academia mystery, with stunning use of language. It’s written phenomenally. This is one of my most heavily annotated books. It truthfully was a hard read for me, but I loved it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Alcohol

Moderate: Drug use, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Toxic friendship

Minor: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape

juliettea's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous dark hopeful 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

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Pretty pretentious and problematic with hardly any redeemable characters although a beautifully written enveloping story. I wouldn’t say I’m in either camp of Bible or abhor but I’m glad I read it. It’s an original story but weirdly felt as if it were written by a man. As Richard’s the narrator, Tartt might’ve done this purposefully so, perhaps I’ll read Goldfinch and see if it translates over. Also, could this have really occurred in the 90s? Of course it’s a more conservative circle, but still seems so dated.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Alcohol, Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Biphobia, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Ableism, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Violence, Vomit, Islamophobia, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Outing, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment

yearofthesnk's review against another edition

4.75

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders

deerstalkerbooks's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional mysterious 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

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Yearly re-read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death

Moderate: Addiction, Homophobia, Toxic friendship

Minor: Bullying, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Suicide, Suicide attempt

kaylee1957's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous dark tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Really enjoyed the low dark academia vibes. Lovely character building and character dynamic. Some moments in the book required you to suspend your disbelief in order for the book to work. The ending felt like there was too much wrap up and closure

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

duni's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional reflective 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

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my heart and soul belong to this book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Antisemitism

tiemzahra's review against another edition

4.0

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: N/A

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Richard Papen was one of the six students under the supervision of a classics professor. These six misfits was influenced by this professor and adopted a new way of thinking but accidentally go beyond the boundaries of normal morality. 

 

 My opinions regarding this book are highly polarised. I could give reasons why I like this book and at the same time hate it intensely. In the end, this is an intriguing read from the very start, and I opted for the former. 

 

Why I like this book: thrilling, page turner 

 

Why I could hate this book: no one I could say is my favourite, privileged college kids doing doing privileged things, extremities of everyone’s life choices, everyone is pretentious, (although I think it’s one of the main characteristics of dark academia, and Richard turned out to be fair and non-condescending towards others outside of his group), everything about Bunny 

 

This book does not follow whodunit narrative, plot-driven, quite a slow read (I don’t mind this at the slightest), allusions to many classics (these people are elitists). However, they had their fatal flaws that made them unfitting in a normal society. I should hate them, but in the end, they made me so sad (except for Bunny, I have little sympathy over his death). That distinct melancholic feeling I get after finishing this book was so intense, that I believe The Secret History has impacted me despite the many reasons I have to hate it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Mental illness, Suicide, Blood, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Classism

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Abandonment

Minor: Animal death, Misogyny, Sexism, Outing, Dysphoria