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A review by shivani_n
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
before i get to the actual review part there are just a few quotes that i HAVE to include here because i simply cannot stop thinking about them.
“Forgive me, for all the things I did but mostly for the ones that I did not.”
"The dead appear to us in dreams, because that's the only way they can make us see them; what we see is only a projection, beamed from a great distance, light shining at us from a great star..."
“There are such things as ghosts. People everywhere have always known that. And we believe in them every bit as much as Homer did. Only now, we call them by different names. Memory. The unconscious.”
“Does such a thing as 'the fatal flaw,' that showy dark crack running down the middle of a life, exist outside literature? I used to think it didn't. Now I think it does. And I think that mine is this: a morbid longing for the picturesque at all costs.”
REVIEW:
my jaw is on the floor and i have never meant that in such a literal sense as i do right now. it was fascinating this book lowkey changed my life and i've never read anything like it. i've said that a lot of times but every time i MEAN IT. it was so captivating, enrapturing, BEWITCHING EVEN OMG. the entire story just kind of took my breath away, and every time you think it can't possible get crazier IT. DOES.
all of the characters were so interesting and complex in their own ways. i hate all of them but at the same time i feel sympathy for them. i think francis is my favourite. though you can't really talk about it with giving spoilers so that's all i'll say. even though richard is a super unreliable narrator, i still loved the story the way he told it and every page kept me on the edge of my seat tbh. also, the writing is BEAUTIFUL; donna tart's prose is unmatched. there were so many quotes i highlighted and i had so much fun annotating it.
i love this book so much and i'll probably thinking about it for the next month.
“Forgive me, for all the things I did but mostly for the ones that I did not.”
"The dead appear to us in dreams, because that's the only way they can make us see them; what we see is only a projection, beamed from a great distance, light shining at us from a great star..."
“There are such things as ghosts. People everywhere have always known that. And we believe in them every bit as much as Homer did. Only now, we call them by different names. Memory. The unconscious.”
“Does such a thing as 'the fatal flaw,' that showy dark crack running down the middle of a life, exist outside literature? I used to think it didn't. Now I think it does. And I think that mine is this: a morbid longing for the picturesque at all costs.”
REVIEW:
my jaw is on the floor and i have never meant that in such a literal sense as i do right now. it was fascinating this book lowkey changed my life and i've never read anything like it. i've said that a lot of times but every time i MEAN IT. it was so captivating, enrapturing, BEWITCHING EVEN OMG. the entire story just kind of took my breath away, and every time you think it can't possible get crazier IT. DOES.
all of the characters were so interesting and complex in their own ways. i hate all of them but at the same time i feel sympathy for them. i think francis is my favourite. though you can't really talk about it with giving spoilers so that's all i'll say. even though richard is a super unreliable narrator, i still loved the story the way he told it and every page kept me on the edge of my seat tbh. also, the writing is BEAUTIFUL; donna tart's prose is unmatched. there were so many quotes i highlighted and i had so much fun annotating it.
i love this book so much and i'll probably thinking about it for the next month.