Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

314 reviews

midnightstory's review against another edition

mysterious reflective tense slow-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Incest, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Medical content, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, and Antisemitism

mariareviews's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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

i’m honestly at a loss for words. the final pages leading up to the epilogue left me utterly stunned.

The Secret History is an extraordinary novel, where the narration immerses you so deeply that it feels like you're right there with the characters—experiencing their panic, paranoia, and the weight of their decisions. it’s definitely a story that lingers long after you've finished it.

that said, it isn’t exactly a book you'd reach for if you're looking for a traditional crime or mystery novel. instead, it’s more suited for those who appreciate deeply layered character interactions. i wouldn't say i necessarily relate to the characters personally, but their paranoia, doubt, and almost impulsive decisions feel incredibly true to the human experience. Richard, Charles, and Francis saw Henry as a kind of Sherlock Holmes—Richard even compares himself to Watson at one point—but in reality, while Henry was undeniably brilliant, he was still just a young adult whose life had spiraled out of control, much like the rest of them.

i feel like i’ll need to reread it to truly grasp everything, but even now, i’m completely captivated by this novel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Blood, and Alcohol

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Grief, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Cursing, Eating disorder, and Death of parent

sdloomer's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

5.0

I believe I distinctly enjoyed the first half of the book

before the murder

more than the second

after the murder

, even though I completely understand the necessity of describing the aftermath and spiral of the players. But that isn't to say I didn't enjoy the latter half at all. I thought about this book constantly when I wasn't reading it, and within a couple of days, it shot to being one of my favorite reads this year.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Suicide, Religious bigotry, and Murder

Moderate: Homophobia and Sexism

Minor: Incest and Self harm

sassyjax's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Antisemitism, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

alastorthewerewolf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Holy f*cking sh*t this book has decided to change my whole life goals

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Homophobia, Incest, and Mental illness

Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Outing, and Classism

helhas3letters's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

1.75

Never have I read about a group of people so pretentious yet so vapid, so snobbish yet so thick, so self-involved yet so empty, so exhausting yet so inexcusably BORING.

Not a single one of these characters is likeable (perhaps maybe Georges LaForgue), so I just did not care one bit about what happened to them. And what on earth is with everyone

being utterly obsessed with and casually kissing Camilla?!? This woman is apparently a prop for everyone else to project their desires onto.

An awful lot of male gaze for a book written by a woman.

In terms of the plot, it’s incredibly repetitive and moves frustratingly slowly. Aside from the two or three main events that take place in this story, there is just far too much waiting around, moving back and forth between locations, and nothing happening for my liking. I honestly don’t understand the point of large chunks of this novel, nor certain characters who do not affect the story or world whatsoever.

I thought the ending was pretty bizarre too. Why did it become a

“where are they now”? And why does it include the most random characters?! Including the cat we were introduced to about 20 pages ago?!? To be fair, I cared more about that cat than I did most of the main characters, but still. A strange choice.

Some people love this book but for me, I can’t help but feel it was a massive waste of time. I kept hoping it would get better, but for 600 pages, it never did. I persisted past where it would have been sensible to give up and in the future, I will trust my DNF instincts.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racial slurs, Suicide, Violence, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Physical abuse, Racism, Self harm, Xenophobia, Blood, Antisemitism, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Death of parent, Outing, and Classism

maygetdizzy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

stratospheric's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Suicide, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

abhea_reads's review against another edition

4.75

"england was so wowed by the secret history they named their king and ~camilla~ after the twins" — I wrote that before even finishing the first ⅕ of the book and I had no idea how true it would turn out to be

 

I love linguistics so much and this book would get 5 stars if slurs didn't jump scare me every time I started to feel safe again

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Incest, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Classism

Minor: Rape

abigailhaagen's review against another edition

dark mysterious

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

Story was incredibly well-told, the characters very fleshed-out, and I was engrossed and read almost 400 pages in one day. However, it also romanticized a lot of unhealthy behaviors, which probably wasn't great for me mentally (no, Abigail, you can't return to college to study Ancient Greek while drinking bourbon and smoking cigars

and plotting murders

smh)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, and Vomit

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Antisemitism