Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Jumalat juhlivat öisin by Donna Tartt

137 reviews

taylorc19's review against another edition

dark reflective 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

1.5

I think I should start with the few things I liked about this book, just to begin on a happy note. Donna Tartt is evidently a ridiculously gifted writer. Her descriptions of Vermont in the fall at the beginning of the novel are superb. She created a cast of rich characters with relatively distinct personalities. 
Now, for what I didn't like so much: 

1. This book dragged. It took me two months to finish it, and I'm someone who usually can finish a book within a few days of opening it. I couldn't push myself to finish more than a chapter at a time. I found my eyelids growing heavy and my yawns becoming more frequent as I tried to slog my way through the dense yet uninteresting plot. This story could have been written in 300 pages. I gained absolutely nothing from the monotonous chapters of the character who died's funeral or from the search party for them. I found myself skimming through the last 40% of this book, and I wouldn't say I missed much. 
2. Maybe I'm not made for character-heavy, low-plot books. But that brings me to my next grievance: how can you write a character-driven book and make every single character utterly vile? The only character who I found myself somewhat sympathizing with by the end was Judy, the neighbor of Richard who gossiped too much and frequently did drugs such as cocaine and meth. Could we really not give any more positive personality traits to the core six students or Julian? Camila and Charles (the twins) appear to be kind and relatively receptive towards Richard when he first joins the group, however, they spiral into a violent alcoholic (Charles) and a manipulative liar (Camila). Bunny goes from jovial and bubbly to a person who blackmails their friends and is so insecure he is driven to a mental breakdown. And, my God, don't get me started on Richard. He is possibly the most uninteresting person I have ever had the displeasure of reading about. He seems to live such a pitiful existence where all he wants is acceptance from others. With character-driven books, I feel like I have to actually care about the characters. I wish nothing but the worst for basically every single person in this book. These characters were snobby, elitist, reprehensible, borderline sociopathic criminals yet I'm still supposed to believe Richard's favorable descriptions of them?
3. Why are we adding random bouts of incest into this book???? I don't understand what that added to any of the characters nor why it was important to the plot??? It felt included merely for the shock factor.
4. I think this book would have benefited from switching narrators during the second half. After the murder (and I use that term rather loosely) occurs, Richard should not have been the narrator. He doesn't know what's going on at all, he isn't involved in any of the police proceedings, and he spends the last 300 pages of the book rambling in a drunken stupor about-wait for it-NOTHING! I wish we had switched narrators to Henry or even Charles. People who were actually being questioned and were actually plotting on how to get away with the murder. Henry is framed to be this psychopathic mastermind. However, we don't actually get any explanation of his thoughts after the murder, who he planned to pin it on, or how he explained virtually anything to the police. I understand it's not a police-proceedings book, but I mean, come on, give us some explanation as to how they got away with this instead of just throwaway comments at the end by a paranoid Charles. Giving us Henry's point of view would have also explained the ending more since that came out of nowhere.
5. Why did we throw in that line about Richard having the urge to rape Camila????????????? And why did we never touch on that again??????????? 

It's strange, I read "If We Were Villians" a few years ago, and many people compare that book to "The Secret History." Critics of IWWV claim that the plot is ripped off from TSH and that TSH is worlds better. I disagree. I enjoyed IWWV far, far more than The Secret History. 
This book was dense, boring, and had no real point. Having superfluous, flowery language and rambling about Greek studies does not make for a good book! I almost DNF'd it hundreds of times while reading, but I needed to be able to say I gave it a fair shot. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone unless you enjoy reading about miserable creatures who think they're God's gift to the world. Someone please tell me what I'm missing that is so magical and life-changing about this book.
Good riddance, Hampden. I won't miss you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Classism, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Antisemitism, Death, Homophobia, Medical content, Mental illness, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Murder, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Violence, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Incest, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, and Toxic friendship

naomi_salters's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Car accident, Chronic illness, Drug use, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Cursing, Drug abuse, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Grief, Incest, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Medical content, Self harm, Sexism, Addiction, Death, Body shaming, Hate crime, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Bullying, Homophobia, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Animal death, and Violence

arthedgehog's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Incest, Gaslighting, Drug use, Drug abuse, Addiction, Grief, Gore, Gun violence, Blood, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Death, and Classism

Moderate: Cursing, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Xenophobia, Gore, Death, Alcohol, Incest, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Racism, Toxic friendship, Forced institutionalization, Classism, Gun violence, Animal death, Islamophobia, Homophobia, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Murder, Infidelity, Antisemitism, Drug use, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Racial slurs, Gun violence, Gore, Drug use, Classism, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Medical content, Islamophobia, Cursing, Sexual assault, Rape, Abandonment, Car accident, Suicide, Sexism, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug abuse, Biphobia, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Religious bigotry, Eating disorder, Deportation, Racism, Homophobia, Antisemitism, Misogyny, and Incest

phantomeyer's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

2.5

I kept waiting for this book to impress me. It never delivered. It did a good job of sustaining a vague tension, but it was also sufficiently hazy that the (likely intentional) feeling of unreality meant that I was unmoved by the plot. Plus, I had very little interest in the characters: a bunch of pretentious caricatures the lot of them. If I’m going to be told a murder story in first person, it needs to be a hell of a lot more gripping. And no, I don’t mean fast-paced. I mean more thought-provoking/eerie/evocative…. Basically somehow more interesting and entertaining. I don’t know what it says about me that many reviewers found this book to be “crazy” and really dark, whereas I mostly felt underwhelmed?

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Classism, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Homophobia, Murder, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Antisemitism, Sexual assault, Blood, Cultural appropriation, Gore, Incest, Death, Drug use, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, and Suicide attempt

hmw102's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

2.5

The writing itself was good and very poetic at times, but the characters were just so unlikeable and it was soooo hard to get through. I just didn’t love the author’s voice, which I know is supposed to be Richard’s attitude but god I just hated it lol. I did find myself hooked at several different points in the book, but it was not a worthwhile read for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Death, Self harm, Violence, Alcoholism, Gore, Murder, Gun violence, and Suicide

Moderate: Antisemitism, Misogyny, Sexism, Homophobia, Racial slurs, and Racism

leiaamy's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Gore, Addiction, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Drug use, Cursing, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Incest, Murder, Violence, and Classism

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

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

romy_elizabeth13's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

I was initially expecting to read a really meaningful, deep, emotional, relaxing-(ish) novel when I picked up Donna Tart’s The Secret History. It ended up being one of the most dark, shocking, twisted, intense books I’ve ever read and it was incredible, oh my word. After reading all these tearjerking, emotional books about love and loss and life, it was nice to have something that kept me hanging on the edge of my seat, while still being incredibly intellectual and offering many interesting perspectives on life. Just when I thought the plot twists would stop, they kept coming in an ever flowing stream and I loved that. The characters, while incredibly flawed were really well written and their personalities were delved deep into. 100% worth the read but if you are under 14/very mature 13 year old, I wouldn’t recommend reading this book just yet. Overall really incredible - something tiktok was right about.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Suicide, Alcohol, Gore, Suicide attempt, Blood, Death, and Gun violence

Moderate: Vomit, Incest, Classism, Racial slurs, and Sexual content

meic's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

a marvelous read and now Bunny Corcoran is my roman empire, an asshole but I just can’t stop thinking about him 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Violence, Blood, Alcohol, Bullying, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Classism, Gore, Sexual content, Sexism, Homophobia, Domestic abuse, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Misogyny, Mental illness, Racism, Incest, Gun violence, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Murder, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Death, Xenophobia, Gaslighting, and Addiction