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A review by norea999
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Donna Tartt's writing is soon lyrical and for a lack of a better word perfect. She makes you feel what she imagined through the most graphic imagery.
And of course the book gives major dark academia vibes, as it's a comment on elitism and classism and how far from reality these people are.
BUT the second half of the book took forever to finish because there isn't any real plot, like the first half also has some "just vibes" passages but there it serves to introduce the reader into the lives of the characters. But in the second half it's basically a lot of drinking and drugs and of course this has a deeper meaning but that didn't make it any easier to read.
And all the name dropping of grand philosophers and poets and what not, which I get again serves the point of showing the elitism, but was nontheless annoying because it just made me feel dumb for looking every other word up. This also extends to the general language, but I think mostly non-native speakers (C1) like myself would struggle with that.
And of course the book gives major dark academia vibes, as it's a comment on elitism and classism and how far from reality these people are.
BUT the second half of the book took forever to finish because there isn't any real plot, like the first half also has some "just vibes" passages but there it serves to introduce the reader into the lives of the characters. But in the second half it's basically a lot of drinking and drugs and of course this has a deeper meaning but that didn't make it any easier to read.
And all the name dropping of grand philosophers and poets and what not, which I get again serves the point of showing the elitism, but was nontheless annoying because it just made me feel dumb for looking every other word up. This also extends to the general language, but I think mostly non-native speakers (C1) like myself would struggle with that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Homophobia, Misogyny, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, and Murder