Reviews tagging 'Car accident'

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

37 reviews

freakysappho's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny reflective medium-paced

• 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

i was all set to be The Goldfinch's biggest fan bc i am a donna tartt megahead and i've been looking forward to this one for a LONGGG time. But. Well. a few notes:

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Violence, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Racial slurs and Car accident

venice_the_vampire's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Murder, Drug abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Death, Car accident, Child abuse, Suicide attempt, and Mental illness

Minor: Abandonment

nils_0's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious relaxing sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Murder, Addiction, Alcohol, Cursing, Violence, Alcoholism, Grief, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Car accident, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Vomit

booksandboba's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

I can’t give a star/numerical rating to this book because I really don’t know how to describe my feelings.

When I first read it, I loved it, loved the writing style and character development (it was my first or one of my first encounters with writing like this), really related to descriptions of anxiety and depression, considered it my favorite book. Read it a second time and started forming doubts, particularly with noticing issues of classism and racism. Read it a third time, this time annotating heavily for themes present throughout the book (question of fate vs free will, good vs bad and moral responsibility, depression and grief vs hope, art and its beauty and importance, friendship and love, impermanence vs permanence, time, life and death) and enjoyed doing that, but in doing so realized that the book really could have been edited better. I found the ending to be sloppy and not satisfying. And the way that blatant racism is used in the book (equating East Asian and especially Chinese culture and objects with cheapness) is just appalling.

And apparently it took 10 years or more to write this book, which either means that those choices were deliberate and well-thought out, choosing to only have people of color represented in minor roles mostly as working class serving the white upper class, choosing to use racist notions to make character points, or she somehow in all that time failed to consider these choices — why she might be making them, what they mean, what sort of impact they would have — despite the clear time and attention to detail given to making this book. 

Spoiler

Maybe you can claim that Theo, as a character, is racist, and that it just adds to the long list of character flaws and why we can’t trust him as a reliable narrator etc., but we already have so many examples so why would this be necessary? The racism does not directly connect to a point that needs to made either for plot or theme as far as I can see, and even if Theo as a character is just racist, that still doesn’t explain why the only people of color we encounter are in working class positions, save maybe the two social workers. (And he can’t even remember the Korean woman’s name, and just has to mention that her breath smells like garlic?)

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Blood, Death of parent, Mental illness, Murder, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Gun violence

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Car accident, Classism, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, and Homophobia

Minor: Pregnancy

rae_kjise's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense slow-paced

• 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Death, Physical abuse, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Drug use, Car accident, Blood, Alcoholism, Abandonment, Gun violence, Murder, Bullying, Suicide attempt, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Addiction

calla_lily's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

• 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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Addiction, Violence, Death, Car accident, Suicidal thoughts, Mass/school shootings, Drug use, Drug abuse, Alcohol, and Death of parent

stevienielson's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Violence, Death, Car accident, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Drug use, Drug abuse, Vomit, Sexism, Death of parent, Cursing, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, and Grief

tuesdaydg's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

2.0

There is no doubt that The Goldfinch is a thoroughly well-crafted novel. Is it incredibly long? Yes. Is it incredibly slow? Yes. Is the protagonist/narrator insufferable and infuriating? Yes. Yet, I can’t really seem to fault the novel for these elements. There is nothing wrong with a long, slow book with morally questionable characters. What I can fault it for, though, is my own personal experience spending time with the story and existing in the protagonist’s head. So, did I enjoy this novel? No, not really. I attribute this to an amalgamation of factors, from my own personal tastes to false expectations to the feelings Theo’s narrative elicited from me as I read (or listened, rather). I think I expected the “stolen artwork” theme to contribute a sense of adventure or even a fun thrill that would linger on each page. Instead, this theme creates a constant sense of dread and overwhelming stress which exudes from the pages. This, in combination with Theo’s

Spoiler

severe addiction to drugs and alcohol

, made my reading experience quite unpleasant. I have to commend the author for her ability to bring out such emotion, but I felt the the constant weight of this combination of elements seemed to become exhausting, so that the trudge through felt daunting rather than exciting.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Abandonment, Grief, Addiction, Drug use, Alcoholism, Vomit, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Classism, Suicidal thoughts, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Car accident

ashleymg99's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Overall, I loved the book. The Goldfinch is a love letter to art, and the profound effect it has on us. My only complaint is that some parts are very slow. However, these slow sections often crescendo into one short line that changes the trajectory of the whole story.

Spoiler

these points mimic the explosion that began our journey, often “dropping a bomb” on the reader - and often marks the death of a significant figure in Theo’s life. His Mother. Welty. His Father. Andy and Mr. Barbour. All these deaths are sudden, accidental, and tragic.

. If you like antiques, art crimes, nihilism, and found family, you’ll love The Goldfinch. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Drug use, Grief, Addiction, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Death, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Suicide, Car accident, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, and Panic attacks/disorders

123urmom's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

I only know about it’s existence because of the movie. There were some good parts but it was slow and sad. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Mass/school shootings, Addiction, Death of parent, Child abuse, Mental illness, Drug abuse, and Medical trauma

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, and Car accident