Reviews with content warning for Gore - Le Chardonneret

הסוף היה יפה,
אבל אני לא בטוחה שזה שווה את עובי הכרך, שכלל עד הסוף המדובר רק רגשות חרדה, מועקה ודחק.

אני גם לא בטוחה אם באמת אהבתי אותו, או שהדרך הארוכה שעברנו ביחד הפעילה עליי מניפולציות.

אפשר להשוות את קריאת הספר לצפייה בסרט אימה כשאתה קטן, מכסה את העיניים אבל עדיין מציץ מבעד לאצבעות כדי לראות.

מומלץ למזוכיסטים, אוהבי אמנות, דמויות קשות לחיבוב, ותיאור יתר.

Content Warnings

cstein's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Some racist humor/undertones that the 2022 reader should question. Tartt's description of the attack and its aftermath are moving and memorable, in contrast to later passages and conversations which feel rushed and underexplained. Interesting use of an unreliable narrator and a combination of several narrative styles. Generally entertaining.

Content Warnings

cdomonoske's review against another edition

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emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Content Warnings

saramion5's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Content Warnings

spookystag's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Content Warnings

tobeeornottobee's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

i've seen a lot of negative reviews about this book. about how it's boring, hard to get through, uniteresting. i think if your only critique of a book is that it's boring, it's not really a critique. it's a heavy book, it was written in the early 2000's and deals with a lot of trauma and unhealthy coping mechanisms. going in i thought this was a book i would have to drag myself through. i didn't find that to be true in the least. its dysfunctional and unreliable, a direct reflection of the narrator. the book takes us through a lifetime spent severely depressed and filled high with anxiety. i think if it was shorter, less wordy, it would have been so much more impersonal. it wouldn't have settled in my chest the same way. (also the characters. obviously, we're seeing it through theo's eyes so everything is tinted with his thoughts and feelings. i think boris and theo's dynamic is really important. i think andy deserved better. i think theo is a repressed gay man. i think these people were real and tangible.) take care with the topics and triggers in this book. but if it is something you think you'll enjoy, don't be deterred by negative reviews.

Content Warnings

leahsbooks's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

This book was absolutely incredible, although I’ve been putting it off for quite a while because to be honest, it is a huge brick of a book. Unlike a book where I read it and get sucked into the story, this is more of an experience that feels like I’m actually IN the story, at a level of intensity that I’ve rarely found in books.

The writing is so descriptive, even if it is a bit overly wordy at times. Donna Tartt has a way with words that makes me feel as though I was right there with Theo as he went through everything, but they were explained in a way that I’ve never quite seen before. Even when the descriptions were the most off-the-wall, I was able to clearly picture everything:

“His gold-rimmed aviators were tinted purple at the top; he was wearing a white sports jacket over a red cowboy shirt with pearl snaps, and black jeans, but the main thing I noticed was his hair: part toupee, part transplanted or sprayed-on, with a texture like fiberglass insulation and a dark brown-color like shoe polish in the tin.”

Seeing Theo grow up under the heavy burden of grief was heartbreaking. Grief isn’t an easy thing to deal with, but to have your entire world turned upside down at the age of 13? He didn’t just lose his mother, but his home, his stability, his support, and basically his whole world. It was painful to see him struggle with his own grief and how to express it:

“Certainly I wasn’t howling aloud or punching my fist through windows or doing any of the things I imagined people might do who felt as I did. But sometimes, unexpectedly, grief pounded over me in waves that left me gasping; and when the waves washed back, I found myself looking out over a brackish wreck which was illuminated in a light so lucid, so heartsick and empty, that I could hardly remember that the world had ever been anything but dead.”

The events of one single day affected the entire course of Theo’s life. I couldn’t help but read this whole book without wondering how differently his life would have been if things had occurred differently on that one day. It was no easy thing to be inside Theo’s head for the duration of this book. He was self-pitying, overanalytical, self-sabotaging, and maudlin. But at the same time, I just wanted to take him under my wing and hug him. It’s rare that I can empathize so deeply with such a damaged character.

“My moods were a slingshot; after being locked-down and anesthetized for years my heart was zinging and slamming itself around like a bee under a glass, everything bright, sharp, confusing, wrong — but it was a clean pain as opposed to the dull misery that had plagued me for years under the drugs like a rotten tooth, the sick dirty ache of something spoiled.”

While I tend to strongly prefer plot-driven stories, this character-driven story was one that I just couldn’t put down. It was like I had an uncontrollable need to find out what was going to happen next to Theo, and figure out what the ultimate outcome was for him. The painting was an intriguing side note, but the characters were really what held my attention. There was just something about Boris (especially), and Hobie that kept drawing me in, and wanting to find out what happened to them as well.

This book was a serious investment of time, mental energy, and emotions, but it was absolutely worth it. I can’t help but wonder if Donna Tartt’s other works are as engrossing as this one. I guess I’ll have to check them out.

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