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A review by lizzie_5678
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.5
“I am nothing in my soul if not obsessive.”
I had really high expectations going into this book, as a lot of people have hyped it up to me. Many of these expectations were definitely met, as Tartt’s writing is impeccable; her ability to set a scene and describe characters in such a way that you feel you know them intimately is very impressive.
{spoilers kinda}
I personally just felt like there was something extra missing from this book. I don’t know what, but I wanted an extra twist in the epilogue, something to really shock me. This may be an unfair ask, as the book was excellent, but I think that in revealing that they all killed Bunny in the prologue took away an element of mystery which would perhaps have made me enjoy the book that much more. I know this was Tartt’s intention, that we know what happened from the start, but it just didn’t wholly work for me.
Despite this, I still thoroughly enjoyed the book and would definitely read another one of her books in a heartbeat.
“my own fatal tendency to try to make interesting people good.”
I had really high expectations going into this book, as a lot of people have hyped it up to me. Many of these expectations were definitely met, as Tartt’s writing is impeccable; her ability to set a scene and describe characters in such a way that you feel you know them intimately is very impressive.
{spoilers kinda}
I personally just felt like there was something extra missing from this book. I don’t know what, but I wanted an extra twist in the epilogue, something to really shock me. This may be an unfair ask, as the book was excellent, but I think that in revealing that they all killed Bunny in the prologue took away an element of mystery which would perhaps have made me enjoy the book that much more. I know this was Tartt’s intention, that we know what happened from the start, but it just didn’t wholly work for me.
Despite this, I still thoroughly enjoyed the book and would definitely read another one of her books in a heartbeat.
“my own fatal tendency to try to make interesting people good.”