A review by bybyberry
The Secret History, by Donna Tartt
challenging
dark
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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
The atmosphere was so well captured that at this point I believe I personally attended this college and became accomplice to a murder because I had a stupid obsession with Greek and belonging with fascinating people!!!
Anyway. This was a nice challenging read after my summer books ; the pace is slow, the characters are morally grey (or maybe completely dark), the narrator's sometimes unreliable. It's the kind of book that's so slow that it's sometimes hard to stay into it, but at the same time everytime i put it down i wanted to go back to it. While reading the last hundred pages in a tramway, I actually stayed long after my stop had come because I just wanted to keep on reading. I rode the tramway for an hour instead of 20min just to stay in the focus in my reading zone.
The writing is just splendid, my god, the atmosphere is so vivid, the nature, the colours, aaaah *chef's kiss*
I will say, it took me a while to "get" the characters, and I've read books with better characterisation before, especially when it comes to the only female protagonist, Camilla - I find that she's only described through being lovely and beautiful and delicate, and maybe it's because it's from the perspective of Richard, the narrator, but it was still a bit frustrating. And I don't think Julian, the magnetic professor, is as charismatic as he's supposed to be.
Overall I completely get why this book is thought as a modern classic and I think it has earned its title!!
Anyway. This was a nice challenging read after my summer books ; the pace is slow, the characters are morally grey (or maybe completely dark), the narrator's sometimes unreliable. It's the kind of book that's so slow that it's sometimes hard to stay into it, but at the same time everytime i put it down i wanted to go back to it. While reading the last hundred pages in a tramway, I actually stayed long after my stop had come because I just wanted to keep on reading. I rode the tramway for an hour instead of 20min just to stay in the focus in my reading zone.
The writing is just splendid, my god, the atmosphere is so vivid, the nature, the colours, aaaah *chef's kiss*
I will say, it took me a while to "get" the characters, and I've read books with better characterisation before, especially when it comes to the only female protagonist, Camilla - I find that she's only described through being lovely and beautiful and delicate, and maybe it's because it's from the perspective of Richard, the narrator, but it was still a bit frustrating. And I don't think Julian, the magnetic professor, is as charismatic as he's supposed to be.
Overall I completely get why this book is thought as a modern classic and I think it has earned its title!!