Reviews tagging 'Trafficking'

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

4 reviews

anna_pardo's review against another edition

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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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fkshg8465's review against another edition

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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 kept 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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ivvtheral's review against another edition

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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

Beauty is harsh.

The Secret History is a campus novel that follows a group of students at Hampden College told through the eyes of newcomer Richard Papen. It is Richard's desire to ingratiate himself with the other students in his class (Henry, Charles and Camilla, Francis, and Edmund) that involves him in a series of deaths.

The narrative (and the world in which in takes place) is introduced slowly, and deliberately. Richard's role as a bystander, rather than the driving force of the plot, served as an excellent device to keep the mystery of Greek class--and it's students--alive.

The characters themselves are both fascinating and deplorable, which in my view, is entirely the point. Tartt writes the characters as Richard perceives them; intoxicating, engrossing, and utterly unfathomable. He stands at a distance from the rest of them,
even in the midst of Edmund's untimely death,
and it becomes apparent that he knows as little about them as the reader. They're incomprehensible, and that's what makes it such a breathtaking read.

What are the dead, anyway, but waves and energy? Light shining from a dead star?

I've read this twice in less than a month and I fully intend to delve further into Donna Tartt's bibliography--I'd certainly describe The Secret History as a modern classic.
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the_rainydayreader's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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