Reviews

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

pop_s's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

kas09's review against another edition

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Was slow and not interesting enough to keep reading 

riarchive's review against another edition

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5.0

i never thought i could love a book more than i love [b:The Fountainhead|2122|The Fountainhead|Ayn Rand|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1491163636l/2122._SY75_.jpg|3331807] and give me a melancholic feeling like [b:The Starless Sea|43575115|The Starless Sea|Erin Morgenstern|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1617715077l/43575115._SY75_.jpg|66444785]. but here it is. this is my favourite book, one of the most favourites, maybe ever. i love it so much that i'm going to make it my entire personality for the next few months.

i'm happy that i went slow with this one. it was initially my plan for the last book of 2021 but i changed to the first book of 2022 and honestly, it's worth it. slowpace, beautiful proses and analysis, amazing aesthetics. i wish i could erase my memories of this book so i can read it again. please refer it to be my new era. there's me before tsh and there's me after tsh now. thank you.

literarygoof's review against another edition

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4.0

for the love of god and all things merciful...i am a henry winters apologist

abalderson's review against another edition

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3.0

Not sure where to start with this one. After really getting into Dark Academia by reading When we were killers, If we were Villains & The Cloisters plus others, The Secret History has been one of my most anticipated reads for the second half of 2024 and I felt a bit let down. While it’s not the longest book out there, for me this book dragged. A lot. It felt longer than A Little Life to put it into context.

I really loved the setting & the storyline but it just fell a bit flat for me. I think mostly due to the characters. I couldn’t seem to like or connect with any of them, not a single one. I completely understand that some were not to be liked, & that was the point but as with every book there should be at least 1 you connect with/feel sorry for so that you want to keep reading. They all just came across a bit ridiculous and I felt myself constantly rolling my eyes at them. Additionally what is with the length of the chapters? I’m not a slow reader & there is no reason ONE single chapter should be over 2 hours long. There were plenty of opportunities to add in smaller chapters and I felt this just added to the feeling of the book dragging on and never ending - taking away from the intriguing plot & potential. I also found it very hard to read in places & certain aspect’s never really being explained properly.

Overall, quite disappointed. I can definitely see the hype around the plot & its potential but I don’t think it’s one I would run to recommend or make me pick up another book by this author

sjonesy's review against another edition

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4.0

4.5 ⭐️
Beautifully written! Close to a five star read but a few lulls and a little too much about the Greek language for my liking.

lemonmikan's review against another edition

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dark funny tense medium-paced

4.5

bookswithgrets's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-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

4.0

beth_loves_books's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense 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? Yes

5.0

Jesus Christ. 

katiiiia's review against another edition

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5.0

This book reminded me why I love reading. It pretty much consumed my life for the past week and it was freaking amazing. I usually read pretty fast but this one made me want to take my time with it.

The charcters were so well written. My favourite by far was Francis. I did like Henry as well but by the end of the book I was annoyed by him so I would find myself rolling my eyes when he showed up.
Conversations that the characters had made me think about topics that I otherwise most likely wouldn't.

You need to read this book, like right now.