A review by pranjali
The Secret History by Donna Tartt

challenging dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

i don’t know if i can give an accurate rating because i started this book seven months ago and then took a five month break in the middle but ! i have so many thoughts about it. it’s almost heartbreaking in the end, but i don’t know how else i could have expected it to go. it was so pretentious but as someone who has studied ancient greek i loved it, the book is full of other references to niche but cultured authors and niche moments in history that i’d never heard of but i kind of loved the pretentiousness of it all and the writing in general was so gorgeous (the emphasis on weather, the way you could feel richard’s love for camilla through the descriptions, etc). never felt so tense reading as i did during the letterhead scene, i physically had to step away from the book. so glad i finally finished it!