Reviews tagging 'Islamophobia'

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

138 reviews

roaming_enn's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-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

4.75

Does such a thing as "the fatal flaw," that showy dark crack running down the middle of a life, exist outside of literature? It used to think it didn't. Now I think it does. And I think mine is this: a morbid longing for the picturesque at all costs.

Beauty is terror. Whatever we call beautiful, we quiver before it. And what could be more terrifying and beautiful, to souls like t he Greeks or our own, than to lose control completely? To throw off the chains of being for an instant, to shatter the accident of our mortal selves?

Summary:
This book is about a bunch of Ancient Greek undergraduate students and that time they murdered one of their classmates. The one who dies is revealed in the beginning, and it is the HOW they get there that's the real story. The story is told in first-person through Richard Papen's POV, a newest Greek student that the professor accepts, newest member of the group that had been together for longer. He is writing just under a decade after the events of the book. 

Thoughts:
I love how academic it was, and it feels like a book written by an academic (which it was) for other academics. The author doesn't hold your hand, assuming you're smart enough to follow the story with what she gives you. There was at least one scene that I thought was entirely unnecessary for the Islamophobia it spewed, and I'm still not sure why it was included. The ending was a little disappointing because I wanted things to be a particular way but they ended up not. I wish it had been more than just a handful of years later when the story is told, rather than Richard still being a young man. But in either case, a lot of people seem to hate this book. I loved it. I don't love the characters, but I found them, and the story, REALLY compelling. And for me, that makes up for not loving the characters. 

Be sure to check all the content warnings. I tried to include as many as I could think of in this review. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Islamophobia

Minor: Cursing, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Vomit, and Antisemitism

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

I loved The Goldfinch and was expecting to love this one too, but instead, I’m unclear why this book was such a big deal. The whole time, I keep wondering if this book inspired Shonda Rhimes into How to Get Away with Murder, and like that TV show, I hated the premise of the plot and still watched every episode and read every page, and in the end, all I am left is to wonder why I did.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

sabripolin's review against another edition

challenging 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Blood, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Chronic illness, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Incest, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

thimbler'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Drug use, Homophobia, Blood, Islamophobia, Murder, and Classism

Minor: Vomit

cryptofauna's review

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.0

um? idk how to feel. 
a bit overly literary and pretentious but i kind of feel like that was the point. meandering and dense as hell but also somehow very interesting and captivating. slow for a while at the beginning, and then alternates between very tense and thrilling and then back to slow for a while and then back. 
the characters were interesting and i was definitely drawn into the world for most of it but it was also just. really long? 
idk i feel like i struggle with more pretentious works because i feel like they don’t keep my attention as well, but i did read 90% of this in one day which is why i’m so conflicted. it clearly held my attention, and at some points i was excited to keep reading for sure but for a majority of it i was kind of continuing out of vague interest and also maybe because of sunk cost
some weird choices like

THE INCEST???? also felt like henry killing himself felt kind of random and out of the blue?? again may be intentional for it to feel weird i just don’t love it as the ending but idk what i would have preferred

it was good i guess but generally not for me is what i’m taking from this. i felt like i didn’t fully get it (??) and while i really liked some parts of it i came out feeling kind of ambivalent about spending like 6 hours on this book.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Islamophobia, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, and Death of parent

carol16's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

3.25

Really disturbing book that made me deeply depressed - not entirely sure why this is on the list of dark academia books because it just doesn't give much academia vibes. I think I am more of a light academia girlie. I did however think it was well written and gives much to chew on - which is why it is rated 3 stars. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Homophobia, Racial slurs, Islamophobia, and Religious bigotry

manderleylilacs's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense medium-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

4.0

I'm really glad I read this, it was down as a bucket list read for a long time. a I'm honestly shocked that so much of the dark academia aesthetic was tied to this novel, since it's shown throughout the book that the students taking Greek are pretentious, self-absorbed pricks; and it seems like everyone else in the university is incompetent or drunk/high constantly. The valley girls who the Greek students look down on seem to be the only semi-decent people here. That isn't a critique at all since that looks to be the point, but I don't know how that part of the fandom was able to emerge, I was gripped towards the end of the book wondering what would happen to the group, not that I was particularly wishing for a happy ending for any of them. I might have been more ~enamoured~ with the characters or aesthetic is I had read this as a teenager.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Islamophobia, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Gore, Incest, Physical abuse, and Abandonment

Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Religious bigotry

I'm really glad I read this, it was down as a bucket list read for a long time. a I'm honestly shocked that so much of the dark academia aesthetic was tied to this novel, since it's shown throughout the book that the students taking Greek are pretentious, self-absorbed pricks; and it seems like everyone else in the university is incompetent or drunk/high constantly. The valley girls who the Greek students look down on seem to be the only semi-decent people here. That isn't a critique at all since that looks to be the point, but I don't know how that part of the fandom was able to emerge, I was gripped towards the end of the book wondering what would happen to the group, not that I was particularly wishing for a happy ending for any of them. I might have been more ~enamoured~ with the characters or aesthetic is I had read this as a teenager.

carefulfearanddeaddevotion's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.75

 This book has been on my TBR for a decade, and sadly, it disappointed.

The only thing that saved this book from being a 1 star read is the writing. The scenes are well-paced, the conversations natural, the descriptions--both of location and feeling--are extremely vivid. Unlike The Goldfinch, I was able to finish this book. Like The Goldfinch, I found the characters bland and insufferable. I really just could not empathize or even sympathize with any of them. When Bunny was alive, he was bigoted and not very likeable. Once he died, I did feel bad for him, but only because I am not a psychopath and I think murdering a friend because they found out you murdered someone else is bad, actually.

I did find myself actively enjoying the book after

Julian finds out that Henry (and the whole friend group, really) killed Bunny

. Richard is finally able to see how he built up Julian and the whole group to be these perfect, aspirational people, when really they're not perfect, not at all. I could feel his panic, and his disgust, and this is when he started to feel more real, and therefore more enjoyable.

Not really that important overall, but was I actually meant to believe that he's in love with Camilla?? I'd sooner believe that he's in love with Cloke. He definitely had much more believable chemistry with all the boys in the group (or even Judy) than he did with Camilla. Just like Meredith and Oliver(?) in If We Were Villains I don't buy it, I really don't. Stop with the forced heterosexuality, stop shoving that shit down my throat. /lh

ALSO we find out that, actually, Bunny was right and Camilla and Charles ARE fucking. ewewewewewewwwwww.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

berrytart's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

3.75

dear lord this book was hard to get through, i like the thought of the book and the way it ended. but i nearly cried tears of relief when it was over. everyone was insufferable which i did like!! i’ll most likely never reread this book again though 😃


(francis best character!!)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Homophobia, Incest, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Islamophobia, Murder, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Rape, Antisemitism, and Car accident

Minor: Cancer, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

arthedgehog's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Racism, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Religious bigotry, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Biphobia, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, and Deportation