Reviews

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

rgholmes's review against another edition

5.0

No thoughts… head empty

spoetnik's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Very much liked some of the characters, the plot, the climax and the tension Tartt builds in the book. Also some symbolism was really interesting, especially the terror and superficiality of unwed beauty and the references to Ancient Greek writings took me back to my highschool days. However the book is insufferably pretentious at times, with unnecessary language and symbolism that really doesn't flourish within the story's narrative. The mixture of the plot of Dostoyevsky's crime and punishment, gothic elements and Greek tragedy was extremely ambitious and understandably did not really make any sense in the end. Also the characters were really unrealistic and Tartt really tries to create the same nauseous uneasy ambiance that Dostoyevsky always creates but really doea not succeed in this. Cool book tho thanks Eylül for lending me the book

my_hearts_in_atlantis's review against another edition

Extremely boring. I just can't bring myself to finish it.

katschabel's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.0

kashartman's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

lisato's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.0

megantall's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.5

arsku's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

4.0

libraryofdreaming's review against another edition

2.0

I have such conflicting feelings about this book. It’s been on my tbr for at least 4 years so I’m glad to have finally read it but I was honestly expecting something more. The first part of the book was really intriguing and had lots of great lines. It just sort of fizzled out for me at around the halfway mark. Things got weird and honestly too gross for me. I feel like a lot of things were thrown in for shock value but never actually enriched the story or were addressed in any way. The narrative became repetitive and I never found the spark I was looking for.

I guess my final reaction is: thanks but no thanks. Parts of it were beautifully written but this is not the book for me.

Please be aware that practically every trigger/content warning under the sun could probably be applied here.

burntrubyletters's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0