Reviews

The Little Friend by Donna Tartt

phoenix2's review

4.0

Donna Tartt is turning out to be one of my favourite authors. She can trully write some morally grey characters that are so appealing and appalling at the same time.

The book, though long, has a nice flow, with the story being streched out throughout a narration that seems to be unimportant, but everything is part of the big picture in the end. The suspence, moreover, was high in the final chapters, with Tartt doing her best in having the characters reach rock bottom after a spiral of bad decisions.

hudasaeedd's review

challenging dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

elliemackechnie's review

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

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

3.0

bester's review

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

2.75

eeriemusick's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted mysterious slow-paced

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

4.75

achillesheeled's review

4.0

Running might take her forward, it could even take her home; but it couldn't take her back--not ten minutes, not hours, not ten years or days. And that was tough, as Hely would say. Tough: since back was the way she wanted to go, since the past was the only place she wanted to be.

ok honestly while i definitely enjoy the unreliable first-person narrator of tsh and tgf i still liked this a lot with its omniscient style! harriet is a very vivid character and i think a 12 year old is a perfect age for the protagonist of this, since most of it deals with the conflict of past and future and childhood and adolescence. i understand how the ending is unsatisfying for a lot of people but i still liked it (even if i would have preferred a more impactful ending sentence). i have now read all of donna tartts novels (: planning on rereading the secret history soon!

carolineeckels's review

adventurous dark funny mysterious 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

2.0

Beautiful writing, compelling characters, one of my favorite authors, and yet I somehow still hated it. It just didn’t work. 

julmev's review

5.0

I really enjoyed this book, and I will probably be thinking about it for some time.

I loved how the southern gothic aspects of the book were used to talk both directly and indirectly about culture, class, race, disability, and family. The fact that it is set up as a murder mystery but really only uses that as a way to talk about everything else was intriguing.

This is the best depiction of "the last summer of childhood" that I have read, and the mood of the book noticeably shifted as familiar and comforting parts of Harriet's life ended and changed.

belanaborealis's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No

3.5

very unsatisfied with the ending. definitely my least favorite donna tartt novel. most of the characters were very infuriating

almalng's review

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75