Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

215 reviews

songofachilleus's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Incest, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Cursing, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Classism

Minor: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Rape, and Sexual content

wooblatoober'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? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

WOW!! it was surely a difficult read for me (it took me 2 months) but it was so worth it & i’m so glad my friend made me read it. there are so few books (or authors!!) out there that are so good at leaving me with questions that DON’T MAKE ME ANGRY!! idk what her method is but tartt’s ability to make you wonder & theorize has landed this novel a cult following, because when you’re done reading, all you wanna do is TALK ABOUT IT!! you want to discuss theories with your friends, or what they thought of each character, or watch several 3-hour-long video essays while you clean your room, or follow the tsh reddit page. it gets in your head, partly because it SEEMS SO REAL! characters don’t make moral decisions, but it feels like you’re there and living this story, so not only do you understand why they’re making their decisions—sometimes they seem like the only option. details are included as literary devices, but they also just serve to make the story more realistic. & don’t get me started on the characters. judy poovey is quite possibly the only likeable character in all 628 pages (which is by design, as she seems to serve as a tether to reality in ways), & yet i REALLY LIKE most of the characters despite having flaws that would usually make you HATE someone. i’ve never liked (or enjoyed in any book, for that matter) unlikeable characters at all, let alone this much before. i said it was a difficult read, but i really appreciate its length—apparently, tartt cut out a good portion of tsh before publishing, & thinking about what she might have gotten rid of keeps me up at night. tartt’s literary tools are so well-used, i feel like i can truly analyze this book & its literary devices like im in school again, & it’s so much fun!!

i think i enjoyed reading each character so much because of their complexities, paired with richard’s very limited point of view—one that he (and the reader) doesn’t always realize is so limited. in fact, he doesn’t really every get to have all the information at any one time, illustrated by the hundreds of fan theories from people who have exactly the same amount of information that richard has. so you’re left to unravel characters’ motives and actions with the same amount of information richard has—again, not a lot—& left to understand only what he understands. tartt also doesn’t leave any loose ends—every detail it’s important, & serves to make the story seem more realistic. these things makes it more immersive—like the reader is living it, or hearing a story about a friend, someone they know, something that actually happened that the reader is helping to try to get to the bottom of. it involves the reader in a marvelous way. & this stupid fucking book has me saying prick ass words like ‘marvelous’

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Antisemitism, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual content

Minor: Rape, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, and Outing

zoe_archambault's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

ive never read a book where i absolutely hated all the characters but couldnt stop reading to learn more about how their shitty little brains work and what they will come up with next. in true donna tart fashion it is really long winded but that tracks with the idea of it being a story of events told so it works. though there was a lull in the second half where the main climax had passed and they were just vibing and then i was not expecting the ending and it brought me right back in

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, and Sexual content

Minor: Suicide and Car accident

aj9moon's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Homophobia, Sexual content, and Violence

bzappas's review against another edition

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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Drug abuse, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Drug use, Incest, Sexual content, and Suicide

garrettcz's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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

3.0

This is an odd book. The pacing is absolutely bizarre. 

I found the first 25% very boring. It then picked up in a big way, and I couldn’t put the book down until about 60%. Then it went back to very monotonous and mostly boring for the remainder, and toward the end I couldn’t wait for it to be over. 

Henry is a great character. Everyone else feels pretty underdeveloped. You’re still finding out rudimentary details about some of the main characters in the last couple chapters. 

Nearly every character is miserable and pretentious, which gets to be pretty grating. 

I feel like this book could have been A LOT shorter and it would probably have been a lot more enjoyable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

anna_pardo's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Bé, aquí hi ha molta tela a tallar i comentar!

El centraré en els personatges, que són fascinants i odiosos a la vegada. Perversos, egoistes, pedants, manipuladors i fatxendes. Grisos. Així que m'ha encantat detestar-los 😅 Sens dubte són, juntament amb l'ambientació, el punt fort de la novel·la.

Sobre la trama, diré que han passat 30 anys des de que es va escriure i a ulls d'ara no és res sorprenent ni novedós, malgrat la foscor i la perversió del que s'hi explica. Entenc que fascinés a un nínxol molt concret en el seu moment, però no entenc aquest revival que està visquent la novel·la ni que sigui el millor llibre en la vida de ningú.

Sigui com sigui m'ha tingut completament absorbida, està molt ben escrit i té molta mandanga que fa de bon comentar. I oh, com els he detestat a tots!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, and Classism

amberacks12's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

2.0

This book started out very addicting. On its face, it sounded like it was going to be the most boring book ever, and a couple chapters in I thought it actually was going to prove that wrong. Rich and pretentious white kids doing rich and pretentious white kid stuff, which, unfortunately for me, eventually turned out to actually be as boring as it sounds.
I would be lying if I didn’t admit that this book initially sucked me in. Donna Tartt’s writing style is sumptuous and beautiful. I’m convinced she could make the phone book into a beautiful piece of writing. And the tension that permeates the story from page one until about 30% had me addicted. It reminded me of Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier, in that there was tension without necessarily anything happening to explain that tension. It’s a masterful way of writing. 
But then all of a sudden there was no mystery anymore. I wish she had ended the story there, about 50% in, to be honest. I almost considered giving up, but I just had to know how such buttoned up college students could become such nasty monsters, and how things could just completely spiral out of control. Once the tension was gone, in its place there were just some spoiled brats with no moral code doing things because they wanted to, with no thought for consequences, and they are just nasty gross individuals and I just didn’t care, about any of them or the direction their lives were going in. 
It says a lot that when I started out, I was listening at 1.25x speed and by the middle had it up to 2x. I was so bored, and grossed out. 
I am a little concerned for people who rave about this book, not going to lie. 
If all dark academia books follow this pattern, I don’t think the genre is for me. 
Although now I know the significance of the word bunny to dark academia, so that’s something. 

Writing style: 5
Enjoyment: 2.5
Emotional impact: 2
Educational value: 2
=2.8

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Incest, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Sexual content

lovemeuntililovemyself_3's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective fast-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

4.0

I think it's incredibly well-written and has amazing character detail, however, it's definitely the kind of book to read twice for full understanding. I ended up hating the characters, especially Bunny and Henry but I also feel somewhat intrigued and sympathetic. Reading it quickly and sometimes in short clumps made it hard to grasp and feel the emotions and plot fully, there are tons of subtle details that need extra attention. It's fast-paced, which is helpful for me as it's been hard to get back into reading, but that pace makes it hard to comprehend everything written. I think my opinion may change on how I feel but for now, I think there's a lot more to this book than what you may read initially and that it is definitely worth reading. I enjoyed the message of the book and keep learning more from the discussion and analyses.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death and Grief

Minor: Drug use, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Sexual content, and Alcohol

midnightstory's review against another edition

mysterious reflective tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Incest, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Medical content, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, and Antisemitism