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A review by cryptofauna
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
um? idk how to feel.
a bit overly literary and pretentious but i kind of feel like that was the point. meandering and dense as hell but also somehow very interesting and captivating. slow for a while at the beginning, and then alternates between very tense and thrilling and then back to slow for a while and then back.
the characters were interesting and i was definitely drawn into the world for most of it but it was also just. really long?
idk i feel like i struggle with more pretentious works because i feel like they don’t keep my attention as well, but i did read 90% of this in one day which is why i’m so conflicted. it clearly held my attention, and at some points i was excited to keep reading for sure but for a majority of it i was kind of continuing out of vague interest and also maybe because of sunk cost
some weird choices likeTHE INCEST???? also felt like henry killing himself felt kind of random and out of the blue?? again may be intentional for it to feel weird i just don’t love it as the ending but idk what i would have preferred
it was good i guess but generally not for me is what i’m taking from this. i felt like i didn’t fully get it (??) and while i really liked some parts of it i came out feeling kind of ambivalent about spending like 6 hours on this book.
a bit overly literary and pretentious but i kind of feel like that was the point. meandering and dense as hell but also somehow very interesting and captivating. slow for a while at the beginning, and then alternates between very tense and thrilling and then back to slow for a while and then back.
the characters were interesting and i was definitely drawn into the world for most of it but it was also just. really long?
idk i feel like i struggle with more pretentious works because i feel like they don’t keep my attention as well, but i did read 90% of this in one day which is why i’m so conflicted. it clearly held my attention, and at some points i was excited to keep reading for sure but for a majority of it i was kind of continuing out of vague interest and also maybe because of sunk cost
some weird choices like
it was good i guess but generally not for me is what i’m taking from this. i felt like i didn’t fully get it (??) and while i really liked some parts of it i came out feeling kind of ambivalent about spending like 6 hours on this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Islamophobia, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, and Death of parent