A review by hannahlberg
The Secret History by Donna Tartt

dark slow-paced
  • Loveable characters? No

4.0

I hated this book. I hated it so much I loved it. 
It took me 3 tries to actually start reading it, and even then I had to talk myself into finishing it, but also as soon as I got 30% in, there was no way I couldn’t not finish it. 

I'm very glad I did finish as I feel I have climbed up a very impressive mountain. 

The reason this book was so unbelievably difficult for me to sift through was because Richard and co are the most pretentious elitist d*ckwads I've ever willingly read about. and since he is the narrator, it's not like you ever escape the mindset for even a moment -

I think this rage I felt about the characters is both the reason why I kept wanting to dnf and had to force myself to finish and also the reason I HAD to finish, HAD to see it through. 

If you ever were a part of a cohort in school, especially one in the arts, read this- it will give you war flashbacks. 

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