Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Der kleine Freund by Donna Tartt

57 reviews

j_rose18's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism

rinnavv's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• 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

Tough read due to how heavy it was both mentally and physically (a lot of words on a LOT of pages lol). Loved everything about this though. Will miss the characters dearly :')

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Content Warnings

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

af666014's review against another edition

slow-paced

2.5

There are some great themes to this book, but I found the ending wholly unsatisfying and it moved too slowly for my taste. Not my favorite of Tartt’s

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Racism, and Murder

emicordelia's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs

Moderate: Racism

bxnnny's review against another edition

mysterious 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

i was very interested in reading this as i've read donna tartt's other books and this one (based off the little synopsis on the back) seemed the most interesting. unfortunately, it fell quite short.

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.

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Content Warnings

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.

julianfromme's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

not a bad novel, but definitely my least favorite of donna tartt’s. i can’t pinpoint why, but it was too long. i loved harriet a lot, though, and wish we would’ve gotten a bit more insight into allison. i like the ambiguous ending; personally, i don’t believe danny killed robin at all. if any ratliff did, it was probably farish, but more likely it was some sick killer.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Racism

yleavy's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• 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

The novel is very atmospheric, but ultimately an unsatisfying slog that did not need to be told in 620+ pages.

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. 

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Content Warnings

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

star_witch's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

4.5

While I'm not totally satisfied with the ending, I genuinely liked the book and connected on a personal and deeper level with the characters.

I saw my younger self in Harriet and the nostalgia was grief striking. I miss being 12 and not having a care in the world other than solving made up mysteries my mind made.

because in the end that's what it comes down to

Hely is the best character, prove me wrong.

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I still think about this book 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Grief, Medical trauma, and Murder

charmarie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• 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

portions of the book not narrated by Harriet drag by very slowly

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racial slurs, and Racism

Moderate: Sexual content and Violence

_david_'s review against another edition

dark 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

2.0

This book put me in a reading slump. I'm relieved to finally have finished it. There were great moments in it, but it was so tough to get through. All the long descriptions and show of characters numbed the impact of the good parts.

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.

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Content Warnings

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: Drowning