Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

1034 reviews

saaturnslover's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

SO GOOOOD ARGHHHH

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, Suicide, and Death

Moderate: Addiction, Incest, Alcoholism, Homophobia, and Alcohol

Minor: Classism, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

nclovelock's review against another edition

dark hopeful mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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, Racial slurs, Murder, Suicide, Drug use, Alcohol, Addiction, Blood, Gaslighting, Grief, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Vomit

secre's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

5.0

I can't believe it's taken me this long to read this novel. It's been on my list for years and I finally settled down to read it and found one of my all time favourite novels, I think. Few novels have the daring to tell you exactly what is going to happen in the first two pages of the novel, and yet that is what Tartt does here, opening the novel with the murder and then skipping back in time to march you through to the inevitable conclusion. She also does it with a spectacularly unlikable cast of characters; every single one of them is at best morally grey and at worst a genuinely bad person. Yet despite this, her writing drew me in completely. It's a story about friendships, betrayals, guilt and a need to belong. It's beautifully written and captivating to fall into.

This is one of those books that just captivates you. Tartt excels at bringing the small university in Vermont to life and she excels at her characterisations, with every single one of the characters being vividly imagined, even at their most distasteful. She knits this group of arrogant young academics together as the plot draws on inexorably to Bunny's death. There's no whodunnit here. We know that from the start. What there is however is a wonderful portrayal of the relationships, the clashes, the self destruction and of course the descent into murder, all interwoven with an intellectual flair and a focus on the academics.

All in all, this was very much a book that I adored. I savoured it, reading it relatively slowly and enjoying being immersed in the group's insular little world. It's a book I will undoubtedly come back to again, and has convinced me to give The Goldfinch another try. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Murder

Moderate: Suicide

jakirby's review

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

bookzplz's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.5

“i’m just having a bit of trouble with my passport.”

i technically started this book in the winter of 2022 and for various reasons, put it down

shortly after bunny’s death

. i think it was a little overhyped and i wasn’t sure what to expect so i decided to leave it there. i’m glad i picked it back up. 

this book does an excellent job of showing the blinders people in academia frequently have on and how the isolation under the guise of supremacy can be detrimental. nobody was ever happy. they studied the classics because it was the thing to do, the only one who concluded their studies was richard because he financially had to and, of course,

was alive to do so

. for most of them, classics was something to study because they could and less so because they were actually interested in the subject. the book also expertly showed the favorite pastime of affluent white people, ignoring things they don’t want to deal with or “sweeping it under the rug”. these people, richard excluded, have no actual experience with dealing with their problems.

when bunny is essentially threatening to go forward with what he suspects about them, they never talk to him about it, they give into his extortion and when that gets too tiring they decide to murder him.

it’s less a secret history of what happened and more so outing the secret ways that the wealthy go about ignoring their problems and finding ways of not dealing with them.

i guarantee you i will read this book again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Death, Antisemitism, Grief, Homophobia, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Alcoholism, Addiction, Murder, Incest, Violence, Alcohol, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Misogyny, Gun violence, and Body horror

ilsabelle's review

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

joslyn_cole's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Incest, Murder, Mental illness, Self harm, Drug abuse, Addiction, Violence, Gun violence, Death, and Alcoholism

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