Reviews tagging 'Suicide'

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

1649 reviews

bizzyizzybee's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective relaxing 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? It's complicated

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Incest, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Animal cruelty

jpalms0626's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

4.0

I've been sitting on this review for over a week because I just can't wrap my head around what I feel. There were parts of this book that felt like they dragged, and a lot of content that wasn't quite what I was expecting (definitely read the trigger warnings for this) and did not seem like they added anything to the story. That being said, the first piece of the book and last piece had me locked in and I can't seem to stop thinking about this book. I found it also a quite unique story line with unique characters that felt well developed and flushed out. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Suicide, and Murder

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

snail_trebuchet's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

darkbluereader's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.5

I love when an author can write characters in a way that makes me root for them even though I don't like them and know that they're bad people! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Suicide, and Murder

Minor: Animal cruelty and Suicide attempt

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

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

3.75

Fantastic stuff. bit slow in the last third.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Physical abuse, Antisemitism, and Death of parent

armstrongangela83's review against another edition

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, and Murder

Moderate: Incest and Suicide

lunaquarius's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Suicide

Moderate: Homophobia and Incest

Minor: Cursing and Racial slurs

uhhjeepers's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book is a gift to people who like literature and value pretentiousness in controlled environments, such as a novel. 

I’ve had this book on my list since I entered college, and I graduated this May. There’s almost some magic to reading it once I’ve gotten my degree, as I’m not too close but not that far removed. It’s the perfect in-between that I think this book dabbles in itself, in its own ways.

Unreliable narrators are my bread and butter, and Richard feels like their forefather — the one who came before. The first person immediately introduces doubt but makes me so close to him that I always want to take his word as truth. But despite my inclination to trust him, I still feel doubt even as the covers are closed. And that is beautiful, that lingering.

The other characters are equally, if not more, captivating than our first-person guide through the world. I’m very partial to Henry and Francis, I was endeared to them early on and stuck with that feeling even when Richard implored me to feel otherwise, even against my own better judgment. None of them were trustworthy or even necessarily good, but I loved them all the same.

The plot in this book is just as lively as the characters. I loved it in the exciting and the mundane equally, and that comes from Donna Tartt’s expert navigation of the perspective. Richard’s purposeful omissions and emphases make the pacing feel alive, literally, like the ebb and flow of life. The rush and dawdle of day-to-day. I loved it.

I’m generally an emotional person, but I really had to fight back tears finishing this in public. I felt sad for events, for characters, and for the simple act of being done. And that is such a testament to the greatness of a book — an unwillingness to leave it. I’ll certainly return in due time.

Apologies for such a wordy and gushy review. I feel like I always talk more and have a greater appreciation for word play after I read something that hits me the way this did. This book is dark academia magic in its purest form, so if you’re looking for that, look at this. But beware that every other dark academia book experience will be informed by this one, past and present.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Suicide, Xenophobia, Religious bigotry, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Islamophobia, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Classism

Minor: Racial slurs