jwells's review
It's not the thriller aspects that I enjoy (the suspense, the murder, etc.), as much as the academic fantasy world. This one is, if anything, even better than the fantasy world of The Secret History, because it's slightly more convincing. It stretched credibility a little too far to have the 20-somethings fluently chatting in ancient Greek, but... we could have memorized all of Shakespeare by 22, couldn't we? And we could have had a college clique that also did, and constantly threw out perfectly apropos quotes from his plays, instead of a the actual friend group we had, who constantly threw out the same few quotes from The Princess Bride and Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Okay, no, it's just as far-fetched. It's funny how many books are like this. A lot of people who went to college still have a fantasy about how college should have been. See also Pamela Dean's Tam Lin. There's something kind of sad about it. An author builds this fantasy world about incredibly smart people who are unreasonably dedicated to the liberal arts at an unreasonably young age, and who form a sweet little found family to support each other's fascination. And then said author feels compelled to demonstrate the unhealthiness of the clique, by having them freaking murder someone. Because, no one who loves [Greek, Shakespeare, whatever] that much, at the age of 20, could possibly be a psychologically healthy person? I guess?
It's like a brief fantasy of what it would be like to love something as much as you wanted, and still have friends, a place to fit in , people who understand you. And then it's followed by: "Don't worry! I know That's Not Normal!! I'm not really one of those Obsessive Nerds!! See, I get that they are weirdos, I'll write them an awful, tragic ending, because Those Pretentious People come to bad ends!"
sigh
Graphic: Drug use, Alcohol, Blood, Death, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Violence
Minor: Vomit, Sexual content, and Eating disorder
nicoleanthony's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Physical abuse, Sexual content, Addiction, Homophobia, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Grief, Alcohol, Body horror, Death, Toxic relationship, Blood, Drug use, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Suicide, Gore, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Murder
rupanjali's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Murder, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Suicide, Drug use, Homophobia, and Drug abuse
Minor: Eating disorder
ex3lion's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Death and Gore
Moderate: Vomit and Violence
graceclawson's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Violence, Drug abuse, Murder, Grief, Death, Toxic friendship, Blood, Alcohol, Addiction, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Homophobia, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Sexual harassment
helenadominick's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Cursing, Violence, Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Grief, Mental illness, Alcohol, Body horror, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Eating disorder, Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, Addiction, Drug abuse, and Drug use
Minor: Homophobia
reasek's review
- 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
3.5
Moderate: Death and Violence
Minor: Eating disorder
sleepy_ghost_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Death
Minor: Suicide
kate001's review
- 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
Graphic: Alcohol, Drug use, and Violence
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Grief, Murder, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, Addiction, and Blood
Minor: Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Sexual content
mini_malist's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Also loved the queer and mental health/trauma representation, always appreciate that!
Spoiler
Oh sweet irony! I absolutelly loved LOVED how James died in the same way Richard did - what a show-stopping move </spiler>Moderate: Death, Drug use, Physical abuse, Alcohol, and Violence