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rinnavv'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Animal death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Bullying, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Alcohol
bxnnny's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
the story mainly follows a little girl named harriet who is trying to solver her brother's murder which occurred a decade before. donna tartt's stories are usually slower paced and this one is no exception. however, this one didn't have much (or really any) payoff in the end and i felt really dissatisfied.
i enjoyed some of the prose and i found the characters to be interesting and realistic, even if they all drove me nuts, especially harriet's aunts, grandmother, and mother. it was very frustrating how no one ever really listened to harriet. her feelings about ida made me sad and were so touching. harriet's struggles with not having any real present parents or father-figures/mother-figures felt so raw and real and heartbreaking. it's awful seeing how much robin's death affected the entire family and how it all weighs on the children left behind, forever feeling that they'll never be enough or as loved or as doted on and nothing will ever be the same. it really is a good character study, this book.
the writing is of course great but the story itself was not what i expected it to be and there was so much that i wish had been more explored. lots of questions were left unanswered and maybe that's for the best in the grand scheme of things but idk. i wanted more! it really felt like this was just a snippet of these characters' lives and there's so much unknown before and after this moment in time. and maybe i'm just being greedy, wanting more things answered, but i really just did feel dissatisfied by the end.
Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racial slurs, Racism, and Grief
there are a lot of slurs in this book, including the n word and the r word. snakes also have a prominent role and are described in detail, for anyone who has a fear of snakes! there is also a lot of descriptions of near-drowning and the feeling of not being able to breathe.kaaaaaaaaaaate's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Blood, Vomit, and Murder
Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Grief, Colonisation, and Classism
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, and Alcohol
yleavy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
I’ve always been unsettled by how Tartt writes POC, and The Little Friend is no different (maybe worse). This book finally convinced me to never read another of her novels.
Also, how many times can one write “there was a stunned silence” or “there was a confused pause” in one book? A lot, apparently.
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
charmarie'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? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racial slurs, and Racism
Moderate: Sexual content and Violence
_david_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I ended up skim-reading large parts of the book and reading chapter summaries to check if I read everything important.
If you're considering dropping the book because you don't like the writing style and a few characters, definitely do drop it. If you're still pusing through because you're trying to figure out the mystery, drop the book. It's an unsatisfying end for most.
I personally kept reading because I wanted to know what happened to Harriet herself and the Ratliffs. Besides that, I found the exploration of grief in the family interesting, but it became much less in the Harriet-focused part of the book. I don't regret finishing the book, but I definitely don't recommend picking it up. There's better books out there about stereotypical Southern USA.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Ableism, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Vomit, Medical content, and Abandonment
Tw: Drowninghjb_128'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? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, Mental illness, and Abandonment
rzh's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racism, and Grief
Moderate: Alcoholism
lynix's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I was hoping for a somewhat conclusive ending but so many questions were left unanswered, like who killed Robin, who gave that girl the gloves and what they were doing with the snakes in the first place. also all of the characters annoyed me more and more throughout the book, though I guess that's somewhat the point.
sorry but this one wasn't my cup of tea at all.
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Drug use, Racial slurs, Racism, Vomit, and Murder
rowanelisa's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail