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A review by ettegoom
The Secret History by Donna Tartt
dark
reflective
tense
medium-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
3.0
I don't know what it is about American novels as a genre, but they all seem to have truly terrible humans in them. I couldn't decide whether I wanted things to work out for everyone in the end, or for them to all end up dead/incarcerated.
The story is a complete train wreck from start to finish. The characters are a bunch of 'poor little rich kids' joined by the narrator, a scholarship student, who manages to join the group, yet remains an outsider whilst still being intimately involved in trying to protect the group.
A friend saw me reading this, and asked if a review that she'd seen entitled "what the hell Richard" was correct. Yes it's correct, but I'm still not entirely sure what the reviewer was referring to, because there are so many what the heck? moments for every character, that is hard to single out any particular moment that could have triggered the reviewer's response
The writing is compelling and I read the book over about three days where I struggled to put it down. I don't know whether I enjoyed it per se, but I most certainly wanted to know what was going to happen next.
The story is a complete train wreck from start to finish. The characters are a bunch of 'poor little rich kids' joined by the narrator, a scholarship student, who manages to join the group, yet remains an outsider whilst still being intimately involved in trying to protect the group.
A friend saw me reading this, and asked if a review that she'd seen entitled "what the hell Richard" was correct. Yes it's correct, but I'm still not entirely sure what the reviewer was referring to, because there are so many what the heck? moments for every character, that is hard to single out any particular moment that could have triggered the reviewer's response
The writing is compelling and I read the book over about three days where I struggled to put it down. I don't know whether I enjoyed it per se, but I most certainly wanted to know what was going to happen next.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Classism