The Secret History by Donna Tartt | Book Review

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[SaroshSohail]

Omg... I devoured this book in a matter of few days. It was one of those page turners I just couldn't put down. This book was something that wasn't in my comfort zone and I actually feel happy about doing that. The whole reverse mystery structure I felt complimented the book. It was rather an unusual setup but it was needed to understand why Richard and his friends killed Bunny. It was addressing the question of "why did they do it?" rather than "who did it?"

[e-wentan]

I finished reading the book in about a week's time actually, I hadn't encountered much of a problem with the writing or pacing of the book, but perhaps it was because of all of the glory and hype it had on tumblr and other such websites! That being said, there were points in the book when I questioned the purpose or direction of the story and came to inconclusive analyses. Overall, the general allusion to the study of Greek and Classics was quite a refreshing and original concept to me and I enjoyed the references to other pieces of literature like Julius Caesar which were obvious inspirations :)

[lisameskimen]

I really liked this book but I'm not in love with it. The writing is magnificent, and I think unraveling the murder to see how and why it happened was a good decision. The pacing definitely seemed off though, and it took me a year of putting it down and picking it back up again to finish it. I enjoyed the last 150 pages the most out of all of them because by then I could finally empathize with Richard and felt an attachment to some of the characters. I boil this down to the fact that Richard finally exhibits some remorse and becomes more relatable. I also think Tartt eventually characterizing one of the characters as a possible "enemy" of the friend group (I won't say which) creates more of an element of us vs. them that was lacking before. Whereas for most of the book I felt completely on the outside of this group of quite snobby intellectuals, when it came to THAT point I felt like Richard and I were on the same boat of being very suspicious of that character.

[awesomechic]

I agree about the pacing, it felt a little off, and you are right, there are a lot of things that can get on your nerves about the book. I expected to love it, but I just kept getting more disapointed in the lack of engaging characters and important events. You were a lot more generous in this review than I plan on being to everyone who asks me about it, but yeah I understand the appeal. The writing was really amazing, it was just every other element that was mediocre.

[PlanetShannonTV]

Thank YOU!  I felt the exact same way when I started reading this book about feeling like you are waiting for the event to happen. I eventually put it down because of that, and also because there were many literary references and thought I needed to have read more books to be as 'in' as the characters in the story.

[BookWormTales]

Thank you for reviewing this. I have been wanting to read The Secret History for a while so it was good to hear your thoughts on it. I think I will wait until I am back in my reading stride again to pick this up. I feel like I am lacking focus at the moment so this probably isn't the right book for now.

[CarolynsReadingRamblings]

i put it down after nearly 200 pages because as you said, it seemed really slow and i just thought "wow this is messed up" once it picked up pace but i think i will try what you did and pick it up later

[adultishbooks]

I'm really excited to read this. You are totally right about War and Peace. It'll make Tartt seem easy. I'm super nostalgic for college lately so I'm glad I'm picking it up in October.

[Deathadderdiva]

I wound up getting all of Donna Tartt's books for my birthday this year and spent a good part of the summer reading them(still working on The Goldfinch at the moment). I do agree that Tartt is an acquired taste yet I truly enjoy her work thus far. The Secret History reminds me a bit of Patricia Highsmith, particularly The Talented Mr. Ripley when it comes to Richard and I would recommend it as a good intro to Tartt. The Little Friend is more challenging as it's not really about solving a murder, despite having a very gruesome one as the driving motivation for the main character. If you take that one on, do prepare to take a good long time with it. TLF is worth reading but can feel drawn out at points. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on Secret History!

[wallaceyovetich]

I'm glad you did this review. I've wondered about her earlier work, but as soon as you said it took over 100 pages for you to even start to get into it, I knew it wasn't for me. SO USEFUL. 

[bookishsabrina]

I really want to read The Goldfinch since its been so praised lately on BookTube, but I only have access to The Secret History right now, so I think I'm going to start with this. I don't know much about it but I've been feeling really drawn to it lately. Also, there's a big buddy read for it that's going to be happening in October, so I'm excited to check it out.

[rosemannering]

It's really refreshing to hear another view of Tart :). I hear lots of people rave about her so it's good to have some balance. I've been wanting to read this for a while but I think I'm gonna put it off until I can devote a little more time and energy to it

[cindyurban]

I loved "The Secret History", the writing was beautiful, the plot was great.When I finished reading it, I was thinking, "What do I read now?" because nothing could compare to that book. I read "The Goldfinch" I liked it a lot, but not as good as "The Secret History".

[ChapterStackss]

I've been meaning to read a book by Tart for such a long time. 

From what you've said, I might check out The Goldfinch first :) I agree with you in that her writing is talked up so much, so I'm surprised to hear she would use that kind of device to draw people into the story.

[chrissybooksandberries]

A friend actually recommended this author to me and I wasn't looking forward to anything by her despite looking up her stuff. The story seems interesting though and this might make me interested in her later on. Thank you.

[sweetdream]

I really enjoyed this book. It was a little slow, but the suspense got my attention.

[Mrsjow]

I'm'glad you're saying it's gonna be more exciting because where I am i's pretty boring... I'll keep reading then!

[susanliston]

Can you stop, like, ending your sentences with a question mark?  And you, like, stop, like saying, like...like???  You would be easier to listen to...