A review by briochebun
The Secret History by Donna Tartt

dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

4 out of 5 ☆’s.

“Love doesn’t conquer everything. And whoever thinks it does is a fool.”

ੈ✩‧₊˚

The Secret History has been on my TBR for quite some time and I am so glad that I finally put some time aside to read it.

While I cannot say that my life was forever altered by this novel (though my feelings on that may change with time) I feel as though giving it anything less than 4 starts would be doing it an immense disservice. Readers of TSH will be able to see the impact that the novel has had on the Dark Academia genre and I think that in and of itself is an incredible feat that speaks to Tartt’s skill.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Vomit, Islamophobia, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Outing, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Car accident and Death of parent

Minor: Kidnapping