I actually don’t even know where to start with this one 😀We follow a group of very pretentious classmates, but through the POV of a new student & the events leading up to a murder of one of them. Honestly I thought I wouldn’t be able to connect to or understand this book (not sure where that came from), but I ended up becoming so incredibly invested. The pacing is EXCRUCIATINGLY slow, but I think that worked for this story and the way it was being told to us. I was seriously just so enamore...

edit: lowering my rate to 1 star because let's face it: this was awful, and boring as fuck. please, shut the fuck up. It took me 4 months to finish this book and mostly it was because I was dealing with uni and having several mental breakdowns. Also, the second part of this book was boring as fuck.My review might contain some spoilers!This was a hell of a ride. I don't even know where to begin, but let's try.I've seen a lot of hype for The Secret History everywhere. So, why not give it a try?...

so many negative reviews of this novel start or end with something along the lines of “i think i’m just not smart enough for this novel.” well, i have a degree in english literature, and i think this novel is trash.to quote the book itself, “there is nothing wrong with the love of Beauty. But Beauty—unless she is wed to something more meaningful—is always superficial.” this is EXACTLY how i feel. the writing is undeniably gorgeous, the aesthetic is perfect, but it’s just that—aesthetic. richard ...

My original review of this wasn't much of anything, because I believed (and still kind of do) that everything worth saying about this book has been said.However, there are things that I believe no one should say emerging in real time, and so contributing my likely already-expressed thoughts might counterbalance them, to some degree.In my first foray at writing about this (which you can still see below), I focused on the immersion of it. I said I "loved" its characters, though of course I meant m...

‘beauty is rarely soft or consolatory. quite the contrary. genuine beauty is always quite alarming.’ and oh, how alarmingly beautiful this story is, as all the best greek tragedies tend to be; full of sorrow and struggle, but often accompanied by pure loyalty and divine inspiration. gosh. i just… i cant even right now. on the surface, this book is great. but donna tartt is an absolute goddess of writing for the sheer depth of this book. its a work of absolute brilliance. i was never a classic...

“Beauty is terror. Whatever we call beautiful, we quiver before it.” I have never read anything like this book in my entire life. I laid in bed for over an hour last night upon finishing this book, just tossing and turning and thinking about everything I just consumed. I still don’t think I can put my feelings into words, but I can honestly say this book was a cathartic experience for me, and the irony of the word “catharsis” being a Greek rooted word is not lost on me, because if thi...

DNF at 70% “If you love one book by a certain author it does not automatically mean you will enjoy all the author’s work” (Me, while reading The Secret History) .Before I begin my review I have to inform you that Goldfinch is one of my favorite novels. If you want, you can see my short review here. Based on that fact, there should be no doubt in anyone’s mind of how much I love Donna Tartt’s writing. I thought it was perfect in the first novel I read by her, it kept me coming back for more eac...

Thank god it's over. I don't think I can surpass the review Nick wrote earlier tonight, but here goes . . . The good:--This book is well-written, at least in a certain contextless sense. There are many sentences in it (occasionally, even paragraphs) that, if taken by themselves, look like they might have been from a book worth reading.--At least two of the central characters (I'm thinking of Bunny and Henry) are vividly portrayed and interesting figures. (Unfortunately, one of them dies halfway ...

This novel, like so many other first novels, is full of everything that the author wants to show off about herself. Like a freshman who annoys everyone with her overbearing sense of importance and unfathomable potential, Donna Tartt wrote this book as though the world couldn't wait to read about all of the bottled-up personal beliefs, literary references, and colorfully apt metaphors that she had been storing up since the age of 17.The most fundamentally unlikable thing about this book is that a...

The first paragraph of The Secret History roughly sums up the mood of the book. In it, the narrator, Richard Papen, says that he thinks his fatal flaw is 'a morbid longing for the picturesque at all costs'. If you can relate to these words, chances are you'll love The Secret History. If not, you'll probably wonder what the fuss is all about. Personally, I can totally relate to these words, so I love the book. I've read it over half a dozen times, and while I do think it has its problems, I never...