A review by theelliad
The Secret History by Donna Tartt

slow-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

5.0

finally coming to the end of this book, i felt reminded of a quote from the great gatsby “There must have been moments even that afternoon when Daisy tumbled short of his dreams -- not through her own fault, but because of the colossal vitality of his illusion. It had gone beyond her, beyond everything.” 

my expectations for this read were unreasonably high and, while i loved it very much, i can’t help feeling slightly disappointed in its inability to live up to my hopes 

that said, this is still an incredible book, the references are immaculate and having studied some of the texts mentioned it served to boost my ego massively, im also always a huge fan of morally grey characters and themes of death so it was a big hit in that sense 

nothing however and i truly mean NOTHING excuses those chapter lengths, no chapter has any business being 200 pages donna i stg 

overall i loved the dark academia side but felt the plot got somewhat lost in tartts desperation to appear scholarly, which granted is the entire purpose of the novel. to consider tartt a genius in exploring academic elitism, moral greyness and the loss of the self in an attempt to please others would be an understatement, and while the overly romanticised recommending of this book under the dark academia aesthetic made it tumble short, the purpose is something yet to be matched by any other book