Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

866 reviews

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

olorin85's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad 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: Toxic relationship, Sexism, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Murder, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, and Transphobia

Minor: Islamophobia, Violence, Racial slurs, and Vomit

martieb's review

dark mysterious sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Homophobia, Incest, Violence, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Murder, and Mental illness

tashiface's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Grief, Incest, Racial slurs, Homophobia, Racism, Murder, Death, Drug use, Self harm, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Alcoholism

schwambibambi's review

dark reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Violence, Gun violence, Murder, Drug use, Antisemitism, Death, Drug abuse, Incest, Homophobia, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Misogyny, and Addiction

libellumartinae's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative sad tense 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

3.25

Alright, I just think that this genre of dark academia is just not my cup of tea, as I oftentimes aim for something far more uplifting. Especially in this case, although I did love the obvious criticism of the elitist nature of academia with characters such as Henry and Julian (hated them), I still felt like the writing in itself was so exceedingly classist and boring, to the point that after a streak of constantly reading one book after another, this was probably the one I got stuck on the most throughout this first year. Can't deny the obvious mastermind behind this creation, but I also can't deny that it isn't my thing. Definitely a worthy read with the lyricism of writing and the building of the characters but ugh. Not my cup of tea.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, and Suicide

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