Reviews tagging 'Islamophobia'

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

115 reviews

beckyg1016's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

2.0

The book description seems, to me, incredibly misleading. "Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor" - you mean the one who barely shows up at all, has minimal lines, and doesn't seem to influence anyone but Henry.  Henry is the driving force of this story and all of its actors. "...discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries." - You mean that one time? While that event is the catalyst for all others, it is not the point of the story - these characters don't "find a new way of thinking and living" - they spend a semester trying to avoid getting caught for a crime they are only somewhat remorseful about and then move on with their lives in much the same way as all of their "humdrum" classmates. 
Additionally, as noted in the Content Warnings section, Bunny is a difficult character to read. I get that you aren't supposed to like him, he is typical for the time, etc. but I was uncomfortable nearly every time he opened his mouth and that, at least, puts you on the side of the other characters. I surely did not miss him once he was gone.
To be fair, Tartt has a lovely writing voice. If she didn't, this would absolutely be my first DNF of the year. The story was captivating for maybe 250/550 pages - the rest was just a push to finish so I could move on to the next book in my TBR pile.
Every book has its reader - and I've seen plenty of people giving this book high ratings - so maybe that reader is you, and you will love it. I hope so. It certainly wasn't for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Murder, Gore, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Islamophobia, Alcoholism, Suicide, Homophobia, and Self harm

Moderate: Drug use, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Stalking, Sexism, Classism, Racism, Animal cruelty, Incest, Toxic friendship, Religious bigotry, and Homophobia

esther_d's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Suicide, Death, Drug use, Incest, and Murder

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Racial slurs, Islamophobia, Antisemitism, and Homophobia

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Rape, and Xenophobia

globgr's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Alcoholism

Moderate: Suicide, Homophobia, Incest, Drug use, and Racial slurs

Minor: Islamophobia

barbiedreamlibrary's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.5

Hmmm what can I say about this book…It’s quite slow moving, I contemplated DNF-ing it up several times until the last 70 pages but in the end I guess I’m glad I stuck around and finished it. I can’t say I would recommend it though. I think this will be like my Requiem For A Dream but in dark academia form, an absolute knife to the brain anytime I’ll think about it going forward. 

This is a story told from the viewpoint of the most milquetoast NPC of a narrator to ever narrate named Richard. 🙄  It’s about a student that transfers from California (his home state) to an elite liberal arts college in Vermont. He becomes enamored with and befriends a group of students that are also studying Ancient Greek. Anyways, what I was anticipating was a robust plot with an occasional bacchanal but I would often take breaks from this book because there’s only so much drinking, drugging and smoking one can do and it was boring and worrisome for the characters and the reading became such a drudge. To sum up this book, you’re essentially privy to 550+ pages of the moral decay of this friend group which includes: murder, incest, suicide, alcoholism, drunk driving, drugs, homophobia, Islamophobia, racism, etc. While I was reading this I was expecting this to be an unreliable narrator twist but sadly Richard remained devoid of any personality through the end. 

The only redeemable main character in the story for me was annoying af Bunny, not even Richard found murdering people to be enough of an objectionable offense to stop hanging out with these people. The writing was descriptive and at times really nice but the plot and character building was too anemic to thoroughly enjoy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Murder, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Alcoholism, Drug use, Incest, Racism, Islamophobia, and Suicide

carodunn's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective 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

4.75

very nihilistic in a satisfying way

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Murder, Toxic friendship, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Cursing, Drug abuse, Homophobia, and Death

Moderate: Racial slurs, Gun violence, Incest, Religious bigotry, Antisemitism, Dysphoria, Mental illness, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Islamophobia, Medical trauma, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Sexual violence and Suicidal thoughts

marleysclassics's review

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

If you want to read this for the plot - don‘t. If you want to read it because of the characters … I would recommend this either. At least not, if you want to like them.
Because, though it might seem strange, in my opinion one of the best parts of this book was the developments of the characters in terms of likability. I liked all of them as I didn‘t know them at all and with every page I read I began to detest every one of them a little more. While I wouldn‘t call every single person of in this book a bad person, some certainly are. And I was so here for it, because it felt like hating them more meant understanding them more.

If you want to read this book because of the vibes - definitely. They‘re there, yet I wouldn‘t expect too much of the academia and a little more of the dark aspect. Not to say that academia isn‘t a reoccurring theme, because it is, but there really aren‘t that many lessons or anything. It‘s more about the whole setting, and the motives of the characters yet in a more abstract way.

I also loved the writing, because it is beautiful and meaningful and often SO pretentious - and it knows it is and it‘s okay because it romanticises and critiques its own style and contents at the same time. (I actually think that‘s the essence of the whole dark academia genre.) I flew through the pages, and especially the first part of the novel was SO addictive. You know what‘s going to happen from page one and still you become more interested with every page. And sometimes you can‘t even tell what draws you too the pages, yet there is something. Unfortunately, this lacked a bit in the second half. Especially towards the end, there were some parts which really grabbed me, but there were also long passages which I wasn‘t interested in. At some point, this narrative just turns into a fever dream/nightmare/sequence of drug abuse, and partly this became a tiring. But also not entirely.

I‘m not sure what to think about the ending. I think it‘s quite a realistic one (even though realistic might not 100% mean explainable), especially what is explained in the epilogue. Yet I‘m not really content with it, I would have hoped for something better for them, which is weird because I don‘t like them. But you can‘t just read 600 pages about those people and not foster a certain affection (I don‘t think that‘s the right word) for those horrible human beings. But yes, especially for Francis I just wished for something better. Mmh … But I don‘t think that‘s the book‘s fault.

In the end, I‘m pretty sure I‘ll have to read this again. 

P.S.: I never answered the question „Are the flaws of the main character(s) a main focus of the book?“ more confidently. 
And now I‘ll put this book in my shelf right next to The Picture of Dorian Gray 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Mental illness

Moderate: Gun violence, Hate crime, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicide

Minor: Antisemitism, Blood, Car accident, Gun violence, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Animal death, Homophobia, Islamophobia, and Racism

hbocking's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Islamophobia, Murder, Suicide, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Self harm, Incest, and Animal cruelty

pbeeandj's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Drug use, Suicide attempt, Murder, Classism, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Suicide, Islamophobia, Homophobia, and Grief

Moderate: Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Antisemitism, Vomit, Rape, Animal cruelty, Misogyny, and Sexism

colittle's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad 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

4.75

Richard failing to remember certain key details near the end of the story when he’s recalled everything else in vivid detail seems more like a cop-out than an intentional literary decision. Other than that, 5 stars. The seminal dark academia novel and an often satirical examination of class, elitism, and aestheticism. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Classism, Gaslighting, Murder, Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, and Suicide

Moderate: Addiction, Blood, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Body shaming, Homophobia, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexism, Islamophobia, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Racial slurs, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Outing, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, and Incest

telemesmerism's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

1.75

Just not really worth reading. an awfully long book to read about characters who suck and arent interesting and a very mediocre plot

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, Murder, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Alcohol, Gun violence, Alcoholism, Drug use, and Islamophobia

Moderate: Xenophobia, Racial slurs, Animal death, Antisemitism, Medical content, Incest, Racism, Car accident, and Sexism