bizzyizzybee's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Racial slurs, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gun violence, Cursing, Grief, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit
izzybell's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Drug use, Addiction, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Racial slurs, Sexism, and Violence
vaguely_pink's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
There were also numerous times where I felt like we were gearing up for an ending only to check the audiobook and realize that somehow I still had 13 hours left. As I got to the end, I started to have my usual audiobook thoughts of “maybe I’d like this more if I read with my eyes,” especially with the discussions about the importance of art to the human experience. But I’m not sure I would’ve had the endurance for this book in print. And when it does finally end, it feels very
Spoiler
BorisGraphic: Child abuse, Addiction, Abandonment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, and Violence
Moderate: Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Xenophobia, Infidelity, Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Animal cruelty, Deportation, Forced institutionalization, Sexual content, Racial slurs, Homophobia, Murder, Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Medical content, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Vomit, and Sexual violence
Terrorism, bombing, organized crimejelliestars's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Drug abuse, Grief, Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Addiction, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Cursing, Animal cruelty, Pedophilia, Xenophobia, Physical abuse, Homophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Infidelity, Murder, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Racism, Toxic friendship, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness
Minor: Animal death, Classism, Deportation, Torture, Ableism, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Car accident, Cultural appropriation, Islamophobia, Antisemitism, Body shaming, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Sexual content, and Transphobia
pupaebug's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent
Minor: Violence
freakysappho's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
the first part was. SO. Good. like amazing. following theo through the horrifying whirlwind of a thirteen year old's kid turned upside down; the apathy, the emptiness, the grief.. it was amazing. the city, vegas, back to the city; tartt's character work with hobie and boris especially i loveeeeed <3 basically every part up to when theo turns 26 years old. womp, womp
nice prose; although, perhaps blinded to it, i did notice that tartt used a lot of emdashes-- you know, like so-- and sentences run on, and on, and on like this; many semicolons; I do not recall this little, or perhaps massive and thus emphasized by this book's length, writing quirk in TSH, although i feel-- ha!-- terribly for her editor.
um. okay now the things i didn't like which were a lot. the entire second half of this book was lowkey a chore, moseying and meandering through theo's philosophical pinings. every single time theo pined for pippa was agonizing to read. pippa pippa pippa. Bitch you've seen her three times what's her favorite color. What's her favorite season? if there's one thing donna tartt cannot write it is a romance. like she cannot convince me a main character is in love or even unreasonably obsessed which i guess is what we were supposed to take away from that whole painful agonizing ordeal. this was the case in the secret history too. why i cannot say.
the ending reminded me of an essay i'd write for my art history class i took my freshman year where my professor would start her comments by saying Rory, I think this could use some work.. but it had a "happier" ending than TSH, i guess, so if you're in the market for that.. look here. i guess i just kind of hate "diary-style" endings to books but this book is middlemarch-ian in absolute length (though not in time covered) and i guess it had to end somewhere
yawn. snore.
i honestly don't think the length of this book was an issue but the post-childhood theo parts could have been sawed down Immensely. like there is no growth there and. he was so whiny and pathetic that i could not believe he was like, a successful salesman in any capacity, and i guess that's where i get finicky about the length. and i fuckig love a pathetic human being but he was just boring to read about, so realistic that i can see him sitting across from me in a diner. and it's like. whatever give me back henry from tsh.
but whatever i liked it enough. and i get that theo is not a perfect person but i really just disliked him as a human being . Anyway i could say a lot about this book but i'll end it here. long book gets long thoughts. Overall rating: meh
Graphic: Addiction, Violence, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Racial slurs and Car accident
bingled's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Violence, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, and Death of parent
chelseyanderson's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Suicide attempt
Moderate: Murder and Violence
glasshalffull713's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Violence, Murder, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Death of parent
cangell's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Violence, Drug abuse, and Suicide attempt