Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

25 reviews

orangebeanreads's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad 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

3.75

A slow burn type read, the constant stress of the characters is palpable- making it feel as though you MUST read more just to ease the tension. But that release never really comes. Some uncomfortable topics that are employed very intentionally by the author, and when paired with her writing style give the entire book a sense of fantasy despite taking place grounded in the real world. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Cursing, Eating disorder, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

anneroza's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, and Kidnapping

madalina0_0's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

sarahlizzie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Horrible book. Read this if you want to be haunted, day and night, by fiction. If you like the feeling of being flayed one inch at a time, read this book. Five stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Suicide, Violence, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Drug abuse, Homophobia, Incest, and Antisemitism

Minor: Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, and Vomit

bookishfabledfiction's review

challenging dark funny mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Antisemitism, Medical content, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

rayaufebay's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

lucyford's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book was SO GOOD. I don’t even know how to describe it in a way that truly encapsulates everything good about it. The plot is so well-written, and is really brought to life by the amazing writing style and slight poetic element to it, and all the atmospheres she creates just feel so real. Not to mention the foreshadowing (when you’re reading, you know it’s foreshadowing to something but you don’t know what it’s foreshadowing to, which is just so cool), and the fact that you’re always wondering how the story is possibly going to progress from point A to point B. The characters are all so complicated and interesting, and the themes of the books are very philosophical which makes the book all the more interesting. Overall, 10/10 read, absolutely exceeded my expectations. (ALSO THE ENDING??? CAUGHT ME SO OFF GUARD OMG)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Rape, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

briochebun's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

4 out of 5 ☆’s.

“Love doesn’t conquer everything. And whoever thinks it does is a fool.”

ੈ✩‧₊˚

The Secret History has been on my TBR for quite some time and I am so glad that I finally put some time aside to read it.

While I cannot say that my life was forever altered by this novel (though my feelings on that may change with time) I feel as though giving it anything less than 4 starts would be doing it an immense disservice. Readers of TSH will be able to see the impact that the novel has had on the Dark Academia genre and I think that in and of itself is an incredible feat that speaks to Tartt’s skill.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Islamophobia, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Outing, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Car accident and Death of parent

Minor: Kidnapping

littleredwinter's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-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

5.0

The characters feel like complicated, fully formed human beings. They’re not lovable per se but that’s the point. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, and Murder

Minor: Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Antisemitism, Kidnapping, and Grief

One character makes homophobic and antisemitic remarks. The characters come from wealthy white families and it’s strongly implied in certain spots that their families are somewhat racist and classist.

noo's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Drug use, Homophobia, Incest, Suicide, Blood, Grief, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Animal death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Kidnapping, Car accident, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism