Reviews tagging 'Racial slurs'

Le Chardonneret by Donna Tartt

89 reviews

eef_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

alexandrabelze's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.5

ignore how long it took me to read this 😍 but, lord have mercy, donna tartt has yet to disappoint!!! though it did kinda slow down a little near the end, there was not a single moment throughout this book where she didn’t have me hooked. from start to finish, i had no clue where we were going but i enjoyed the ride! donna tartt’s writing style is unmatched. of course, i have to applaud her attention to detail; from furniture making to the fine arts, she made sure what she wrote was fact. and the way she makes characters feel so real and alive is insane! boris is probably my favorite of all the characters, along with theo’s mother. finishing this makes me want to reread a secret history T-T

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Moderate: Cursing, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, and Murder

shaleen64's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• 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

4.0

At nearly 900 pages it’s a book that requires dedication and is not for the casual reader. The story itself could have been told in half the number of pages, however, the value of this book comes from is detailed descriptions of the characters, their lives and what has shaped them into the people they are. 

There are several unexpected moments that will leave you shocked, saddened and hopeful. Even with its length I always found myself engaged and keen to read on, but can see how for others it would be too slow paced and a drag to continue. However, the book is beautifully written and is real food for thought (especially the final few pages). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, and Vomit

sunflower7skull's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.75

Beautifully written and it reads like a classic, but I can't say I enjoyed the plot. Gorgeous and heart-wrenching descriptions of grief are the brightest point, which is sort of saying something. Definitely check the trigger warnings on this book, because the depictions of suicide and drug abuse are very graphic.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Vomit, Car accident, and Abandonment

Minor: Animal cruelty

Very graphic depictions of drug abuse, grief, suicide, and addiction! Watch out if that could bother you.

lambclown's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Racial slurs

wesleyreads's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-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

4.25

Very original story, written very well (amazing atmospheric descriptions), gripping, it leaves you wanting more. I love the themes (guilt, grief, what's right and wrong, does such a thing as fate exist?), the symbolism, the way the characters all contrast each other and all serve to offer another perspective on the themes. There is just so much to unpack...

There was just one section of the book I found boring and I felt the character was wallowing in self-pity with not much going on for a while. Luckily the pace quickly picked up again. The end fell a bit flat, but I guess it was a choice lol.

I don't understand why so few people mention this but unfortunately there are a lot of racial stereotypes being portrayed. Any character who isn't American is basically a stereotype of their culture and even their dialogue is written in heavy accents, which I found unnecessary. As if as a rule immigrants can't learn to speak English well? For example, all Russian characters have the exact same voice and similar personalities. I would rate it higher, if it had been less obnoxious with that. 

Also, given its widespread success, the number of people involved in writing this book, and many reprints I found it surprising that there were several mistakes made when the author was trying to write Dutch words. 

Overall, a very amusing read that leaves you thinking about what it all meant, but be prepared for racism...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Racial slurs and Racism

paradicsomleves's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Moderate: Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Blood

woweewhoa's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

While this book is very well written and a compelling character study, I unfortunately don't think I liked reading this book very much. It's a long and miserable read about Theodore Decker, our protagonist, ruining his life and getting his life ruined by others. It's a tragedy from the get go, and while its not all his fault, it's still hard to read at times. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Moderate: Gun violence, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

maddie_1999's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective 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

0.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Mental illness, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Islamophobia, and Stalking

dillydallyallie's review against another edition

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

3.25

Beautifully written but very slow. I enjoyed the prose and it contained very beautiful snippets of sentences that I found myself re-reading to appreciate. It is, however, quite lengthy and at times difficult to get through. As an infrequent reader I may not have finished it if it were not for summer reading in high school. That said, I am glad I read it. And to be fair, it’s not an easy task to live up to Tartt’s The Secret History.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug use, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and Alcohol

content warnings may be incomplete or slightly incorrect!! i read it a while ago so it’s just from what i can remember! also i don’t remember the severity so i added them all to moderate