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A review by tasto777
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
i listened to this as the unabridged audio book which made it easy to feel immersed. Tartt did a good job voicing her characters and especially the voice she gave Bunny and his family was interesting.
the book itself took a while to get started but it builds a nice atmosphere of dark secrets and high academics. i totally get why people love this book for its dark academia aesthetic. but for me it was a tiny bit too slow especially since the characters aren't that interesting or lovable themselves but rather quite flat. after some time it just gets boring hearing about them getting drunk again.
what made me appreciate the book despite those flaws is a review i had read after i finished it. it said that the book isn't about the characters or even the plot itself but tries to mimic the structure of a greek tragedy where once the plot started it comes inevitable and every step after the starting points follows from the ones before. this really fascinated me since my thoughts during most of this were that they wouldn't have had all those problems if they just went to the police. i know this is addressed in the book but what they did after the first death is just so much worse. they truly are caught in this spiral of trageday and are just all miserable in the end.
talking of the ending it felt rushed too. the book takes so damn much time for everything but the ending especially after julian got the letter was just so fast and sloppy. it felt like Tartt reached a point where she just wanted to finsih and had no patience for her writing anymore.
well i don't have much more to say. i like the vibes of this book but the characters are just rich spoiled brats and need to ground themselves in the real world to realize what happens around them.
would i recommend this book?
i guess. i don't know anybody who i might recommend it to right now but i think people folowing the dark academia trend already know this book. language majors might also enjoy this look on high education and classics. but in its core the book is just a mediocre murder story with mostly flat characters and an unsatisfying ending.
the book itself took a while to get started but it builds a nice atmosphere of dark secrets and high academics. i totally get why people love this book for its dark academia aesthetic. but for me it was a tiny bit too slow especially since the characters aren't that interesting or lovable themselves but rather quite flat. after some time it just gets boring hearing about them getting drunk again.
what made me appreciate the book despite those flaws is a review i had read after i finished it. it said that the book isn't about the characters or even the plot itself but tries to mimic the structure of a greek tragedy
talking of the ending it felt rushed too. the book takes so damn much time for everything but the ending especially after
well i don't have much more to say. i like the vibes of this book but the characters are just rich spoiled brats and need to ground themselves in the real world to realize what happens around them.
would i recommend this book?
i guess. i don't know anybody who i might recommend it to right now but i think people folowing the dark academia trend already know this book. language majors might also enjoy this look on high education and classics. but in its core the book is just a mediocre murder story with mostly flat characters and an unsatisfying ending.