Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

389 reviews

jakirby's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Car accident, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Violence, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Grief, Self harm, Death, Incest, Mental illness, and Drug abuse

amberg25's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Death, Sexual harassment, Violence, Xenophobia, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Drug use, Grief, Incest, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Cannibalism, Domestic abuse, Fatphobia, Rape, and Injury/Injury detail

ilsabelle's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Classism, Violence, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Murder, Mental illness, Addiction, and Gun violence

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Xenophobia, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Incest, Toxic relationship, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, and Homophobia

miriam_mal's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I originally put 4 stars but changed to 3. While the plot held my interest everyone was so despicable and their decisions so morally bankrupt that it did actually detract from my enjoyment. These people need jobs and responsibility beyond drinking, drugs, and experimenting with bacchanals lol. I understand the narrative POV doesn’t show any of it in too forgiving of a light but then the main character/narrator is no better than them at all. Bunch of irritating idiots really. It was suspenseful tho

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Suicide attempt, Drug abuse, and Drug use

Minor: Incest, Animal death, and Rape

mcosmic's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Murder, and Addiction

Moderate: Incest, Blood, Death, Gore, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Drug abuse, Self harm, and Sexism

saint_eleanor's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

This is definitely worth the hype. The characters are so intense and the writing is so so good. You really start to feel for all of them and like be angry at them etc. You also start to see like how far people are willing to go to impress eachother/ maintain their social standing and financial status. A really good look at humanity and banality and violence and all that jazz. My only qualm is the

ending, bc what the heck like I just wanted more closure or something. Like yes it was really crazy but it wasn't crazy enough for the book to be setting up for that for so long yk.

And also I loved the scary ass magical realism undertones (the "deer" they kept seeing that they thought was Dionysus.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest

Moderate: Animal death, Sexual harassment, and Death

stxrlightreaderxx's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Death, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use, Suicide, Incest, Alcoholism, and Animal death

Minor: Homophobia and Toxic relationship

grace_b_3's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Gun violence, Drug use, Violence, Murder, Death, and Alcohol

Moderate: Incest, Animal death, Sexual content, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Homophobia and Panic attacks/disorders

mskingbean69's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Islamophobia, Body horror, Gaslighting, Bullying, Car accident, Cursing, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Sexism, Sexual content, Biphobia, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Murder, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Animal death, Classism, Fatphobia, Rape, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Racial slurs, Violence, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

mary_do_12's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

giving this book anything below 5 stars would be criminal.

the way donna tartt grazes the surface of emotions, never quite submerging in, yet letting the reader feel them fully, is truly mesmerizing, just as the way she creates characters and tells a story.

and yet i have some things that threw me off in this book.
i think this story is meant to kind of make you question your morals a little, which is why it features things that made me— uneasy. i always have a hard time distinguishing whether an author is simply writing about a certain topic, or if they are romanticizing it.
i mean murder— that‘s one thing. in fact, a common thing in literature.

however, incest??! uhm, idk. made me queasy. made me a little uncomfy. or well, you could say outright disgusted. the thing is, i really liked the twins, UNTIL I FOUND OUT THEY FUCKED ON A REGULAR BASIS??! like WHAT. are you guys okay? do you— do you need help?

and then richard casually mentioned getting the overwhelming urge to rape camilla while she’s just standing in his room? honey, i—? what? i liked you as well…

also — you gotta give this to the author — i was SHOOKETH. henry?? my poor baby boy?? AND THEN FRANCIS?? in the EPILOGUE? WHEN I THOUGHT THE DAMAGE WAS OVER??

i think i need help after reading about this, because i still feel the urge to throw up, and this is funny because you are reading this in a five star review. 

truly a piece that leaves you thinking for days. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Blood, Suicide, Racism, Death, Racial slurs, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal death, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Drug use, Alcohol, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Homophobia, Incest, and Murder

Minor: Rape, Car accident, and Domestic abuse