Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

6 reviews

atalea's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Deadnaming, Drug abuse, Violence, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Grief, and Murder

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Eating disorder, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, and Vomit

benotafraid's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• 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

3.5

Excellent start, strong middle, slightly let down at the end.

the romance arc with camilla did not need to be the end of her character arc. the epilogue was somewhat bungled

Still, an excellently written book with flawless vibes.

edit to lower rating: a second reread just left me feeling like a lot of the build-up was hollow. the ending really let's the whole book down.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Suicide, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Incest, Self harm, Sexism, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, and Suicide attempt

nickel_'s review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious slow-paced

• 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders and Alcohol

becreadsbooks_'s review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

So sick and twisted I wanna punch Donna Tartt.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and Classism

zoehakim's review against another edition

challenging reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

funmilayo's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective 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

“One likes to think there's something in it, that old platitude amor vincit omnia. But if I've learned one thing in my short sad life, it is that that particular platitude is a lie. Love doesn't conquer everything. And whoever thinks it does is a fool."

To make the reader care so deeply about characters so rotten and unlikeable is quite an impressive thing. None of the characters are good but all of them are incredibly real. Donna Tartt's writing is unbelievably vivid and beautifully haunting. I have never read anything quite like this novel and I doubt that I shall ever read anything like it again. The story starts out somewhat slow but it is more than worth it to get through those first few pages. I don't really know what else to say about this book so I'll just add some of my favourite Quotes.

“Forgive me, for all the things I did but mostly for the ones that I did not.”

“There are such things as ghosts. People everywhere have always known that. And we believe in them every bit as much as Homer did. Only now, we call them by different names. Memory. The unconscious.”

“Why does that obstinate little voice in our heads torment us so? Could it be because it reminds us that we are alive, of our mortality, of our individual souls – which, after all, we are too afraid to surrender but yet make us feel more miserable than any other thing? It is a terrible thing to learn as a child that one is a being separate from the world, that no one and no thing hurts along with one’s burned tongues and skinned knees, that one’s aches and pains are all one’s own. Even more terrible, as we grow older, to learn that no person, no matter how beloved, can ever truly understand us. Our own selves make us most unhappy, and that’s why we’re so anxious to lose them, don’t you think?”

"some things are too terrible to grasp at once. other things – naked, sputtering, indelible in their horror – are too terrible to really ever grasp at all. it is only later, in solitude, in memory, that the realization dawns: when the ashes are cold; when the mourners have departed; when one looks around and finds oneself – quite to one's surprise – in an entirely different world."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Classism