Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Die geheime Geschichte, by Donna Tartt

273 reviews

melliedm's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/injury detail, Murder, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Incest, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Drug abuse, Self harm, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death, Religious bigotry, Addiction, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Animal death, Classism, Islamophobia, Sexual content, Racism, Animal cruelty, and Homophobia

Minor: Rape

bleepbloop's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

stunning. balletic. gross. I feel like I could read this ten more times and find new insight in each reread.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Injury/injury detail, Violence, and Suicide

Moderate: Blood, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Homophobia, Alcoholism, Classism, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Dementia, Incest, Suicidal thoughts, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Sexual violence, Islamophobia, Racism, Xenophobia, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Racial slurs, and Domestic abuse

ritugp01's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.75

This novel was lauded as a modern classic from Pulitzer-winning author Donna Tart. I wholeheartedly agree. The disdain that filled me for all the characters in various classics like The Great Gatsby, Giovanni's Room, etc, also permeated throughout the experience of reading The Secret History. I consider this further evidence that it is an exquisite piece of literature.

The novel has been described as "a murder mystery in reverse." While this is a perfect description, the book is also a deep look in how easily murder occurs, even in seemingly normal people, as long as one opens themselves to the possibility. 

Spoiler

In a tl;dr character analysis: Henry was utterly unhinged and I think I loved him regardless. Richard, the narrator was mediocre but served his purpose as a voyeur to multiple murders.  Charles and Camilla? WTF. But also, they both sucked and I cannot decide who was worse. Francis is the only valid character but he's on this ice too. Julian is just Henry but older and willing to fake social skills. Lowkey, Bunny sucked but damn I feel bad he was killed. Like, he was just freaking out that his friends committed MURDER, it's totally understandable he was on the edge of a psychotic break. This book was a lot, and Judy Poovey is the only good person in the whole story.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Death, Drug abuse, Sexism, Misogyny, Addiction, Cursing, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Car accident, Classism, Gaslighting, Excrement, Murder, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Ableism, Antisemitism, Self harm, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Suicide

em_gauts's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Alcoholism, Addiction, Classism, Homophobia, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Death, Violence, Murder, Injury/injury detail, Animal cruelty, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Alcohol, Grief, Racial slurs, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Animal death, and Drug use

Moderate: Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Incest, and Outing

Minor: Sexual assault, Stalking, and Rape

charlotteschapter's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Drug use, Suicide, Alcoholism, and Death

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Incest, Murder, and Homophobia

Minor: Rape, Racial slurs, and Animal death

itsocchiolism's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.75

i wanted to like this book so much, especially after all the hype around it but it just wasn’t for me. i didn’t like the characters at all and couldn’t sympathize with them. they all need therapy, and deserved to go to jail.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Domestic abuse, Animal death, Incest, Addiction, Racism, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Grief, Eating disorder, Drug use, Classism, Alcoholism, Homophobia, Self harm, Mental illness, Alcohol, Medical content, Drug abuse, Death, Suicide, Murder, Blood, and Gun violence

Moderate: Sexual violence, Panic attacks/disorders, and Misogyny

Minor: Rape

marialenak's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Death, Animal death, Incest, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Drug abuse, Murder, and Racial slurs

cfoley's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Incest, Cursing, Violence, Toxic friendship, Injury/injury detail, Grief, Classism, Alcohol, Addiction, Drug use, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Death, Mental illness, Infidelity, Gaslighting, Suicide, Murder, Blood, Antisemitism, Animal death, and Gun violence

andreadelo's review against another edition

challenging dark funny mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Homophobia, Murder, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Antisemitism, Vomit, Addiction, Death, Drug use, Racial slurs, Racism, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Violence, Alcoholism, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Outing, Medical trauma, Injury/injury detail, Incest, Grief, Domestic abuse, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, and Cultural appropriation

dannilmp's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.5

A dark academia book unlike anything I have read before. While The Secret History is quite a slow burner to begin with, I found myself reading the latter half in 100 page sections in one sitting. A story about Richard and his discovery of both a new way of thinking and a new way of approaching life thanks to the teaching of his Greek Classics teacher Julian and his small group of classmates. 

I enjoyed the fact that through certain paragraph or chapter opening sentences you could tell at what point in time Richard was narrating the details of the book from. To me this whole book had the feeling of suspence, as the main plot point had been introduced in the prolouge that was always at the back of my mind while I was reading. I was absorbing any small detail if I thought it could help me unravel the mystery before the book itself revealed it. I much preferred the second half of the book, espeically watching how the characters developed post major incident

Spoiler

for those of you who have read it I am referring to Bunny's murder

and how it would affect them in later life. 

However, there were some aspects of this book that I didn't enjoy. One was the way such simple aspects or concepts were so detailed that it felt uneccessary at times, activities such as smoking, drug use or even drinking dragged on far longer than they had any right to, or the repeated descriptions throughout the book were a little tiring. I also think without the plot points detailed in the prolouge, I would not have had the interest to keep reading through that first half as there would truly have been nothing to grab my attention. I also felt the ending was a little bit weak considering the build up in those final pages, I expected more of a bang ending and got a whimper. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Alcoholism, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Injury/injury detail, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Gore

Minor: Incest, Homophobia, and Rape