tiemzahra 's review for:

The Secret History by Donna Tartt
4.0
dark mysterious tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: N/A
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
Richard Papen was one of the six students under the supervision of a classics professor. These six misfits was influenced by this professor and adopted a new way of thinking but accidentally go beyond the boundaries of normal morality. 
 
 My opinions regarding this book are highly polarised. I could give reasons why I like this book and at the same time hate it intensely. In the end, this is an intriguing read from the very start, and I opted for the former. 
 
Why I like this book: thrilling, page turner 
 
Why I could hate this book: no one I could say is my favourite, privileged college kids doing doing privileged things, extremities of everyone’s life choices, everyone is pretentious, (although I think it’s one of the main characteristics of dark academia, and Richard turned out to be fair and non-condescending towards others outside of his group), everything about Bunny 
 
This book does not follow whodunit narrative, plot-driven, quite a slow read (I don’t mind this at the slightest), allusions to many classics (these people are elitists). However, they had their fatal flaws that made them unfitting in a normal society. I should hate them, but in the end, they made me so sad (except for Bunny, I have little sympathy over his death). That distinct melancholic feeling I get after finishing this book was so intense, that I believe The Secret History has impacted me despite the many reasons I have to hate it. 
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