A review by bugcollector
The Secret History by Donna Tartt

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

3.75

 
the premise of this dark academia manifesto is a clique of classics students influenced by greek lit and their charismatic teacher 'discovering' murder.
however, it was hard for me to find julian enchanting, even through the romanticizing eyes of richard,
and the connection to greek wasn't there beyond surface level.
i wish we got more than one class with him to understand why he influenced them this greatly, and what did the group come about when "meeting Dionysus".
the bit about what george orwell ("king of morals") had to say about Julian's character felt too in your face ("look, julian is actually immorall!) 

also what's the deal with the homophobia
yeah, they killed off bunny so most of the slurs stopped , but then Francis is falling for the straights and merrying a gal '-' 

i did love Henry's character, and how you could see him manipulate and master their daily decisions. but again what's his connection to Julian beyond that? 

There's also a bit about richard, mr nothing in his soul but obsessive, daydreaming about raping camilla which came out of nowhere. 

The book starts with Richard telling us 'the only story he will ever be able to tell.' i guess bexause of that i asummed there would be a reason he's telling it, or that  it would sum up in something he wrote. didn't expect the 2000s disney movie ending montage about what everyone's up to today (and i mean everyone, some characters I even forgot existed)
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