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A review by amberacks12
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
dark
mysterious
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
2.75
This book started out very addicting. On its face, it sounded like it was going to be the most boring book ever, and a couple chapters in I thought it actually was going to prove that wrong. Rich and pretentious white kids doing rich and pretentious white kid stuff, which, unfortunately for me, eventually turned out to actually be as boring as it sounds.
I would be lying if I didn’t admit that this book initially sucked me in. Donna Tartt’s writing style is sumptuous and beautiful. I’m convinced she could make the phone book into a beautiful piece of writing. And the tension that permeates the story from page one until about 30% had me addicted. It reminded me of Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier, in that there was tension without necessarily anything happening to explain that tension. It’s a masterful way of writing.
But then all of a sudden there was no mystery anymore. I wish she had ended the story there, about 50% in, to be honest. I almost considered giving up, but I just had to know how such buttoned up college students could become such nasty monsters, and how things could just completely spiral out of control. Once the tension was gone, in its place there were just some spoiled brats with no moral code doing things because they wanted to, with no thought for consequences, and they are just nasty gross individuals and I just didn’t care, about any of them or the direction their lives were going in.
It says a lot that when I started out, I was listening at 1.25x speed and by the middle had it up to 2x. I was so bored, and grossed out.
I am a little concerned for people who rave about this book, not going to lie.
If all dark academia books follow this pattern, I don’t think the genre is for me.
Although now I know the significance of the word bunny to dark academia, so that’s something.
Writing style: 5
Enjoyment: 2.5
Emotional impact: 2
Educational value: 2
=2.8
I would be lying if I didn’t admit that this book initially sucked me in. Donna Tartt’s writing style is sumptuous and beautiful. I’m convinced she could make the phone book into a beautiful piece of writing. And the tension that permeates the story from page one until about 30% had me addicted. It reminded me of Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier, in that there was tension without necessarily anything happening to explain that tension. It’s a masterful way of writing.
But then all of a sudden there was no mystery anymore. I wish she had ended the story there, about 50% in, to be honest. I almost considered giving up, but I just had to know how such buttoned up college students could become such nasty monsters, and how things could just completely spiral out of control. Once the tension was gone, in its place there were just some spoiled brats with no moral code doing things because they wanted to, with no thought for consequences, and they are just nasty gross individuals and I just didn’t care, about any of them or the direction their lives were going in.
It says a lot that when I started out, I was listening at 1.25x speed and by the middle had it up to 2x. I was so bored, and grossed out.
I am a little concerned for people who rave about this book, not going to lie.
If all dark academia books follow this pattern, I don’t think the genre is for me.
Although now I know the significance of the word bunny to dark academia, so that’s something.
Writing style: 5
Enjoyment: 2.5
Emotional impact: 2
Educational value: 2
=2.8
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Incest, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Alcohol
Moderate: Sexual content