Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

415 reviews

themeanfrench's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Dementia, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, Medical content, Outing, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

mdwsn27's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Islamophobia, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Outing, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

asrasher's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

3.75

Fantastic stuff. bit slow in the last third.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Physical abuse, Antisemitism, and Death of parent

dzejkopol's review against another edition

challenging dark inspiring 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

zahliajayne's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

i have never been so hooked to a book from the beginning. 

it was only within the first 70 pages where i discovered that this was possibly going to be my favourite book of all time- and this still holds true after completion. 

the effortless descriptions are like turning back time and recognising the simplicity of youth. all the while, comparing to the most intricate of classic literature and greek ingenious. 

the story eventuates different to how i expected, which kept me intrigued and infatuated. it is surprising, this, because there were hardly any truely good qualities about any of the characters. however, you still are coerced into loving them. 

i will return to this story, and annotate it to the brink. i cannot wait return.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Alcohol

gaby13's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Incest, Physical abuse, and Self harm

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt

soph_ieee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Alcohol

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

erebus53's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.25

For a story with attractive writing and the occasionally beautiful truth of phrase, I have never read a book with more characters that I loathed. It is set in a university clique where the students so devote themselves to their study of ancient Greek, and their sycophantic affection for their tutor, that they become quite disconnected from the rest of campus and the real world. It's like you take cliquey academia and then turn it up to 11½. Not quite as schizophrenic as Bunny by Mona Awad, though one of the characters shares the same name, there is a sense that the narrator is not quite reliable.

I didn't get a clear sense of when this was set but I'm guessing that because it references anti-Arab race hatred and Sadam Hussein, that it would have to be about 1991, though most of it feels a little earlier than that. Maybe my perception of it is warped by it having been written before computers and cellphones were ubiquitous.

I was completely culturally at is with a bunch of characters who range from sociopathic to just mildly self-involved, all with a heaping helping of sense of entitlement... all the characters have bad or absent parents which is probably deliberate. These kids are almost adults, similes, and frequently inebriated. They are perfectly ok with tolerating friends as they demonstrate casual disregard for others, drink driving, kleptomania, infidelity, fraud, Racism, Sexism, religious bigotry, and stiffing others for the bill at expensive restaurants. These antics are presented to the narrator as endearing.. again; reliable??

When a classmate goes missing, I as a reader have the ethical question, would I have killed the horrible kid myself?! If I did would that make me a bad person? This kid is demonstrably awful, to mind. Does it matter that he was raised awful, by awful parents, and had a learning disability? Given support could he have improved? Who would have the patience!!!

The book drags. If the scenery had been nice I wouldn't mind so much, but I just wanted to kick all of the characters to the curb. I've been off-the-rails, drunk, clueless, far from home, and made bad decisions. I really liked the part of the story where our narrator has to live in a horrible free room, with a hole in the ceiling, through the coldest winter in ages, and there descriptions of going to common spaces and hanging out at the University because.. it's heated. That I could relate to. But the rest of it...?

I'm not sure why I do this to myself.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Classism

Minor: Rape

trinity_windred's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

You need to be committed to reading this book to reach the end, but once you do it will live with you forever. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Violence, Grief, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol