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jojo_fiction_'s review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
5.0
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
5/5 Stars
When Richard arrives at Hampden, a college in New England, to continue his education, he is instantly intrigued by a small group of other students. Isolated from the others, these students studied Greek under the eclectic Professor Julian. As Richard joins the group, disregarding the other students at his school and the “normal” way of life, he is brought into the world of aestheticized academia in a way he had never experienced before. Which led him down a path that resulted in more death and tragedy than he could have ever expected.
I went into this book with pretty high expectations. It seems that every time fall comes around the genre of Dark Academia comes with it, and at the forefront of the books that are recommended is The Secret History.
And I was not disappointed! From its beautiful writing style, to its suspense and mystery, to its pretentious characters, every part of this book had me wanting more. I am always a sucker for unreliable narrators and Richard truly delivers that. Half the time he's on drugs or he's ill, or just not privy to information, or he is intentionally making himself seem to be simply an observer. But how uninvolved he really is, is up for debate.
This book pokes fun at those aspects of academia that are prevalent, especially in the liberal arts and classical studies. This sense of personal superiority over one’s peers with nothing backing up that claim. These unlikable characters somehow worm their way into our hearts to the point that we start to have pity on them, only for something to happen that slaps us with the reality of their awfulness. The suspense builds slowly, and the ending is the actualization of all the characters' worst fears. In the end, they are nothing but a group of mediocre students pretending that they were on the same level as the ancient Greeks, and then, like a Greek tragedy, they become the things they hated or feared the most.
There is a comical amount of contradiction within this book between the characters' views of themselves vs how they really are. They talk about comparing themselves to the Greeks, to the philosophers and poets. They talk of rituals and wealth. But they drink champagne out of a teapot and eat maraschino cherries out of the jar. Richard himself says that he has always been drawn to the sublime, beauty, the aesthetic…yet he does coke in a burger king parking lot, and gets drunk at college parties, like many other young adults would in university. Appearing to be smart and wealthy is the goal of these students, but one refuses to do the SAT because it doesn't fit his aesthetic, and none of them are actually concerned when it comes to their grades, they only tried so hard in order to win the praise of their professor, whom in their eyes, is the peak of authority and aesthetic appreciation. All of this showing the difference between their make believe ideas vs the real world.
This book has many amazing themes, like obsession, isolation, social class, beauty, and it is a good critique of the elitist attitude that can occur in academia. While I don't think it perfectly encapsulated all the issues that can be found (only a brief glimpse into the issue of sexism, and no mention of racism in academia), its place as one of the most influential books within the dark academia genre is well deserved, and has paved the way for many more books with more in depth themes and critiques to be made.
A sign of a good book for me is how often I think about it. If you want to read a book that sticks with you, for days or weeks after you finish, this is the book for you. I have not stopped thinking about it or talking to my friends about it since I finished it. Although I will say if you don't like books with long chapters, this might not be the best. I was surprised that this book only contained 8 chapters and is approx 559 pages.
Other books that I have been told are similar in themes and style are If We Were Villains by M.L Rio and Babel by R.F. Kuang, so those are being added to my to-be-read pile immediately. And I'm planning on scouring my local bookstores for any more books by Donna Tartt. With The Secret History being an easy 5 stars for me I'm sure the rest of her books will blow me away as well.
5/5 Stars
When Richard arrives at Hampden, a college in New England, to continue his education, he is instantly intrigued by a small group of other students. Isolated from the others, these students studied Greek under the eclectic Professor Julian. As Richard joins the group, disregarding the other students at his school and the “normal” way of life, he is brought into the world of aestheticized academia in a way he had never experienced before. Which led him down a path that resulted in more death and tragedy than he could have ever expected.
I went into this book with pretty high expectations. It seems that every time fall comes around the genre of Dark Academia comes with it, and at the forefront of the books that are recommended is The Secret History.
And I was not disappointed! From its beautiful writing style, to its suspense and mystery, to its pretentious characters, every part of this book had me wanting more. I am always a sucker for unreliable narrators and Richard truly delivers that. Half the time he's on drugs or he's ill, or just not privy to information, or he is intentionally making himself seem to be simply an observer. But how uninvolved he really is, is up for debate.
This book pokes fun at those aspects of academia that are prevalent, especially in the liberal arts and classical studies. This sense of personal superiority over one’s peers with nothing backing up that claim. These unlikable characters somehow worm their way into our hearts to the point that we start to have pity on them, only for something to happen that slaps us with the reality of their awfulness. The suspense builds slowly, and the ending is the actualization of all the characters' worst fears. In the end, they are nothing but a group of mediocre students pretending that they were on the same level as the ancient Greeks, and then, like a Greek tragedy, they become the things they hated or feared the most.
There is a comical amount of contradiction within this book between the characters' views of themselves vs how they really are. They talk about comparing themselves to the Greeks, to the philosophers and poets. They talk of rituals and wealth. But they drink champagne out of a teapot and eat maraschino cherries out of the jar. Richard himself says that he has always been drawn to the sublime, beauty, the aesthetic…yet he does coke in a burger king parking lot, and gets drunk at college parties, like many other young adults would in university. Appearing to be smart and wealthy is the goal of these students, but one refuses to do the SAT because it doesn't fit his aesthetic, and none of them are actually concerned when it comes to their grades, they only tried so hard in order to win the praise of their professor, whom in their eyes, is the peak of authority and aesthetic appreciation. All of this showing the difference between their make believe ideas vs the real world.
This book has many amazing themes, like obsession, isolation, social class, beauty, and it is a good critique of the elitist attitude that can occur in academia. While I don't think it perfectly encapsulated all the issues that can be found (only a brief glimpse into the issue of sexism, and no mention of racism in academia), its place as one of the most influential books within the dark academia genre is well deserved, and has paved the way for many more books with more in depth themes and critiques to be made.
A sign of a good book for me is how often I think about it. If you want to read a book that sticks with you, for days or weeks after you finish, this is the book for you. I have not stopped thinking about it or talking to my friends about it since I finished it. Although I will say if you don't like books with long chapters, this might not be the best. I was surprised that this book only contained 8 chapters and is approx 559 pages.
Other books that I have been told are similar in themes and style are If We Were Villains by M.L Rio and Babel by R.F. Kuang, so those are being added to my to-be-read pile immediately. And I'm planning on scouring my local bookstores for any more books by Donna Tartt. With The Secret History being an easy 5 stars for me I'm sure the rest of her books will blow me away as well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Murder, Violence, Suicide, Alcoholism, and Homophobia
Moderate: Sexual assault, Misogyny, Incest, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Grief
bellbirdie's review against another edition
dark
funny
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Xenophobia, and Racism
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Classism, Murder, and Incest
maevekh's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Murder, Toxic friendship, Domestic abuse, Incest, Violence, Death, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Sexual assault
holyaya's review against another edition
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Suicide, Murder, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Incest, Homophobia, and Gaslighting
Minor: Animal death, Eating disorder, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Self harm, Misogyny, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, and Mental illness
embent08's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-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
5.0
Was a delightful read just took me almost a year because I fell into the most awful reading slump and didn't touch a book for 7.5 months
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault
yzer2468's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Alcohol, Drug use, Blood, Addiction, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Alcoholism, Death, Classism, Drug abuse, Antisemitism, Gaslighting, Grief, Incest, Toxic friendship, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Bullying, Gun violence, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Mental illness, Violence, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Sexism
frog4earth's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
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
4.0
100% worth my time, and will be more than worth a re-read (likely also necessary tbh) sometime in the future. I liked the moral greyness of the characters, and the development of them questioning their own character, motivations, etc. throughout the book. The atmosphere and setting was amazing but I’m also just very granola so Hampden sounds heavenly to me 😅 I love Tartt’s writing style and I feel that she writes with a lot of symbolism and overlaying motifs — all of which I tried my best to tab throughout my reading of this novel! The plot was interesting, but I very much wished they delved deeper into the Bacchanal in the forest. I know the point is for it to be this mysterious, divine Dionysian experience that they remember little-to-nothing about (and keep Richard VERY in the dark about), but that was probably one of the most interesting points in the plot line for me. Why did they all agree to do it? What did they do to get to that point? What did it feel like? Etc.
I definitely see how the fluidity of sexuality within the characters relates back to Greek sexuality (or really, lack thereof; they bedded with whoever they wanted 🤷🏻♀️), I just wish it was explored a littleeee more!!! Also, Camilla and Charles’ sexual relationship unfortunately felt a bit forced/irrelevant to me. I feel as though their incestual relationship in the book was just written for unnervingness and shock value.
I do appreciate, however, the nod to the way some women function in a male-dominated world. The way Camilla dresses herself and composes herself to be more “boyish” seems to be an intentional choice to make herself not stand out in a group of pretentious ass men (Lmao).
I also wish the ending didn’t feel so rushed — I thoroughly enjoyed the slow tension build up in the middle of the plot and it felt a little underwhelming the way it ended so quickly!Overall, I enjoyed this book thoroughly, stayed up the night finishing it! I will absolutely have to give it a re-read at some point to see what I may have missed, so I look forward to that in the future :)
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, and Domestic abuse
Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death
vistacanas's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
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
3.75
Love doesn't conquer everything. And whoever thinks it does is a fool.
Another book from the very beginning of my TBR list that I started more than a couple of decades ago.
There was a moment in the beginning where I almost put the book down…during a hyper-intellectual scene that required knowledge of Greek history to fully comprehend. I decided to power through it despite my lack of core knowledge and made it to the end.
While I’m ultimately glad I did, it wasn’t an easy read by any means. First, there is not a single likable character in the entire book. Everyone was some combination of entitled, narcissistic, addictive, cold-hearted, delusional and psychopathic. Second, it’s an incredibly slow read…the story could have been told in half the amount of words. Finally, it’s pitch dark…nothing uplifting or hopeful on these pages. While situations were presented as conundrums, they definitely wouldn’t be for most people.
Yet, somehow, it was a compelling read. I can’t say it never felt like a chore to pick up, but I remained determined to finish it after that initial Greek scene. As I closed the back cover, I definitely felt a sense of accomplishment.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Emotional abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Addiction, Alcohol, Death, Murder, Toxic friendship, Drug use, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Incest and Sexual assault
jcoates's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
This dark academia story didn’t disappoint, though I expected a cult organization driving Henry and crew into murder (depending on your perspective it might as well be).
More than the plot itself, I was drawn to the characters themselves. It was only afterBunny was murdered, and we meet his family and learn the atmosphere he was raised in, that I felt remorse for losing such a colorful character, despite his shortcomings.
Tartt’s prose is very lyrical which made it easy to enjoy despite the slow pacing of the story. Some descriptions or word choices made me pause, though. Their use IMO are no longer politically correct so coming across them made me wonder what year the novel was written.
Overall, it’s a favorite dark academia novel for me.
More than the plot itself, I was drawn to the characters themselves. It was only after
Tartt’s prose is very lyrical which made it easy to enjoy despite the slow pacing of the story. Some descriptions or word choices made me pause, though. Their use IMO are no longer politically correct so coming across them made me wonder what year the novel was written.
Overall, it’s a favorite dark academia novel for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Drug use, Toxic friendship, and Death
Moderate: Murder, Violence, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Homophobia, Sexual assault, Antisemitism, Rape, and Incest
elibrownn's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Racism, Religious bigotry, Drug use, Alcoholism, Suicide, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Homophobia
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, and Panic attacks/disorders