Fiction

The Secret History

The Secret History

  • Downloads：8731
  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2022-11-30 00:21:37
  • Update Date：2025-09-07
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Donna Tartt
  • ISBN：1400031702
  • Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle

Reviews

anbrs ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Enfin j’ai fini ce livre ！ C’était la lecture de la saison que j’attendais le plus avec impatience。 Les vibes dark academia sont définitivement mes livres préférés donc je ne pouvais pas passer à côté de lui qui est si connu ！J’ai beaucoup aimé， mais pas jusqu’à dire que c’est un coup de cœur。 Tout simplement parce que le livre est divisé en 2 parties : la 1ere est tout bonnement fantastique， la 2e est vide。 Même si il y a quelques rebondissements （le suicide par balles de Henry putain ， et Char Enfin j’ai fini ce livre ！ C’était la lecture de la saison que j’attendais le plus avec impatience。 Les vibes dark academia sont définitivement mes livres préférés donc je ne pouvais pas passer à côté de lui qui est si connu ！J’ai beaucoup aimé， mais pas jusqu’à dire que c’est un coup de cœur。 Tout simplement parce que le livre est divisé en 2 parties : la 1ere est tout bonnement fantastique， la 2e est vide。 Même si il y a quelques rebondissements （le suicide par balles de Henry putain ， et Charles qui pête un plomb） il ne se passe rien d’autres et c’est à la toute fin。 Les policiers mènent leur enquête， nos protagonistes se noient dans l’alcool， les disputes et la cigarette à cause de leur stress d’être jeté en prison。 Cette partie n’est pas fondamentalement mauvaise， au contraire l’aspect psychologique des personnages et à son paroxysme et on découvre surtout leur vraie nature， mais après une 1ere partie aussi riche et remplie， c’est compliqué d’y voir beaucoup d’intérêt ！J’ai pris mais alors tellement de plaisir à annoter ce livre。 Je l’emmenai partout avec moi pour lire à tout moment， et quand je voyais une scène a marquer sans avoir mes post-it avec moi c’était terrible ！ （Et il a pas mal souffert dans mon sac， il est abîmé je me hais pour ça）。Dans la 1ere partie donc， la découverte de ce groupe élitiste et leur habitudes est fabuleuse。 Richard nous raconte son passé 8 ans plus tard， l’événement le plus intense de sa vie qui le marque encore， et le fait que l’on sache des la première ligne du livre que Bunny est mort c’est du génie。 Tout ça rend encore le livre plus tendu， car tout se passe bien et on se semaine quand est ce que ça va déraper et qu’il va être tué par les autres ！L’ambiance， le cadre， les personnages…tout dégage la vibe parfaite， jusqu’au meurtre on est scotché ！ 。。。more

Diana ，

This book makes you think about the way you live life。 It's an oddly aesthetic attack on aesthetics， making it incredibly funny in retrospect。 The plot is laughable after the fact， but while I was reading it， I was very invested in what was going to happen。 It's one of those worlds where you feel fully immersed in the book。 Highly recommend！ This book makes you think about the way you live life。 It's an oddly aesthetic attack on aesthetics， making it incredibly funny in retrospect。 The plot is laughable after the fact， but while I was reading it， I was very invested in what was going to happen。 It's one of those worlds where you feel fully immersed in the book。 Highly recommend！ 。。。more

Lexi ，

Donna Tartt， girl please go get therapy。 I wonder how some of the stuff in this book was even allowed to be published or didn’t get edited out。 I have rarely read such a bizarre book like this one， with random instances of extreme violent thoughts & behaviors， random drug use， unnecessary incest， and a cult without saying the word ‘cult。’ Donna Tartt， are you good？？ I hope she got the help she needed since 2004 because that was some weird shit。 Let’s get into it。CHARACTERSI hated them all。 They Donna Tartt， girl please go get therapy。 I wonder how some of the stuff in this book was even allowed to be published or didn’t get edited out。 I have rarely read such a bizarre book like this one， with random instances of extreme violent thoughts & behaviors， random drug use， unnecessary incest， and a cult without saying the word ‘cult。’ Donna Tartt， are you good？？ I hope she got the help she needed since 2004 because that was some weird shit。 Let’s get into it。CHARACTERSI hated them all。 They all sucked and were so damn stupid and annoying。 There is no possible way realistically that these complete dumbasses could get away with TWO murders！！ One of which they…mutilated the body while having a ritualistic orgy where they become their animal selves？？ Which we still don’t even know what happened there， but honestly I am not sure I want to know。 I think， for being the only one main girl in the story， Camilla was just so bland。 Her personality was trivialized by sexist remarks and her twin brother being creepy。 The incest was so unnecessary， like why the HELL is it in the book。 It serves absolutely no purpose other than shock factor and disgust。 I didn’t need that， Donna！！！ Seriously！Richard is such a boring narrator and his random bout of extremely violent thoughts in this one scene were so disgusting and horrifying， like this is literally so unnecessary and that one line of thinking about Camilla’s needs to be cut out because it’s horrendous。 Especially since he displays none of this attitude anywhere else in this long ass book， so it was just super random。PLOTLet’s do mundane things at college and enter a cult based on Ancient Greece， then discover my friends are covering up a murder in a cult sacrifice， then commit another murder！ All in 600 pages！！ This could have been put into 300 pages because it was so slow。 The end of the book was AWFUL！！ It was a random shooting and then a where are they now sequence。 The thing is， I feel like the cult aspect was not really brought up much near the end。 Julian is super particular about his students and then isolates his students from the entire school and giving them cultish ideas。 However there was so little Julian in the story？？ It was just weird how there was so much talk about all the influence he had on them and he was absent for a large part of the book。 RELATIONSHIPS？This is a book more based on friendships then romantic relationships like stated in the book， but there was an unnecessary amount of romantic undertones in this group。 Not necessarily romantic I guess， but creepy obsession with Camilla。 Why does Richard love Camilla？ She barely even does anything and he just loves her for her looks？ It randomly pops up in the story and it’s weird。 Charles and Camilla being obsessed with each other in a creepy way？ SERIOUSLY？？ And Henry being in love with Camilla？ HOW ARE ALL THESE RANDOM PLOTLINES SHOWING UP？？？ And then， NOTHING HAPPENS WITH ANY OF THEM！！！ What was the point then？？Okay， I’m done ranting。 This was such an odd book but I did enjoy the dark academia horror vibes going on。 I feel like the book could be better if there was a less disjointed plot and at least 200 pages taken out。 。。。more

Jelena ，

2。3 ☆

Lin Wycherley ，

Easily summarised as one of the most boring books I've ever read！This book is over six hundred pages long with very little plot to sustain it。 I found it repetitive， full of meaningless conversations among six of the most obnoxious and self-absorbed characters ever to （dis）grace a novel's pages， with many an abstruse passage to demonstrate the author's erudition。 I fail to see the 'point' of this novel; there was no story to tell， no journey of discovery and no mystery。I nearly put it down many Easily summarised as one of the most boring books I've ever read！This book is over six hundred pages long with very little plot to sustain it。 I found it repetitive， full of meaningless conversations among six of the most obnoxious and self-absorbed characters ever to （dis）grace a novel's pages， with many an abstruse passage to demonstrate the author's erudition。 I fail to see the 'point' of this novel; there was no story to tell， no journey of discovery and no mystery。I nearly put it down many times but persevered because I wanted to see if I could discern what made it so highly acclaimed。 I couldn't！ 。。。more

nicanicanii ，

this was gorgeous。 the kind of book people can only dream of writing

Lucy Rose ，

The greatest book of all time。

mahlaqa ，

good lord， i am haunted。

Tala ，

Dnf

Angelina Hazzouri ，

took me a sec to get into this but that's a me problem。 this book was so good took me a sec to get into this but that's a me problem。 this book was so good 。。。more

Miriam ，

Necesito escribir 200 tesis sobre lo que acabo de leer。Impresionante。

Kt Tunstall ，

Slow at times but great prose which made it feel realistic

Haley Hoffman ，

4。5

Alyvia ，

4。5 starsBrilliantly written and thought provoking， with complex characters and even more complex themes。 Loved the bit where richard is more offended that his friends left him out of their plans than he is about them having killed a man。

Cassandra ，

4。3 ⭐

Sarah Cable ，

fantastic slow paced read。 i would recommend this book to anyone。 seeing the characters slip into evil is so fascinating。 because it’s so intimate and slow， you really feel the slope in a way that i’ve never experienced in a book before。 the ending is crazy。 this story will stick with me for a very long time。 i loved the settings and the vibes of the dark academia， and the characters were so distinct and real that i felt as if i was reading something that really happened。 very dark， wintery book fantastic slow paced read。 i would recommend this book to anyone。 seeing the characters slip into evil is so fascinating。 because it’s so intimate and slow， you really feel the slope in a way that i’ve never experienced in a book before。 the ending is crazy。 this story will stick with me for a very long time。 i loved the settings and the vibes of the dark academia， and the characters were so distinct and real that i felt as if i was reading something that really happened。 very dark， wintery book。 long， but well worth the read。 。。。more

Rachel ，

Damn。

Nathan Chamberlin ，

3。5A pretty interesting exploration of grief， guilt， and to a lesser extant class/class psychology。 This is only my second Dark Academia book and it was dogwater compared to Babel （seriously go read that book）。 I couldn’t give this book any higher for two main reasons:1。 A lot of the parts were very boring。 Some of the developments are very drawn out。 I think this could have been 2/3s as long and gotten the same display of emotions as it did in its full length。 There was a lot of stuff that felt 3。5A pretty interesting exploration of grief， guilt， and to a lesser extant class/class psychology。 This is only my second Dark Academia book and it was dogwater compared to Babel （seriously go read that book）。 I couldn’t give this book any higher for two main reasons:1。 A lot of the parts were very boring。 Some of the developments are very drawn out。 I think this could have been 2/3s as long and gotten the same display of emotions as it did in its full length。 There was a lot of stuff that felt like filler。 Random descriptions of what Richard did that day， his thoughts and some random shit。 The parts that weren’t boring were actually rather gripping。 There were definitely periods where I could not put the book down。 The stretch after bunny’s murder was particularly boring to me （not a spoiler Dw）。2。 The main character doesn’t really feel like he has a personality。 He kind of seems to just be a lense that we see through but we don’t really get to know him at all。 Maybe that’s a choice on her part but I don’t think it was a good one。Anyways， a good tragedy， I almost cried。 。。。more

Tracy ，

Excellent。 I am now aware that "Dark Academia" is a genre of fiction。 A gripping read; it really pulled me into the lives of the characters。 It's a somewhat dense novel， and slow in places， but the lyricism is irresistible。 The last third wasn't as exciting as the build up and aftermath of the main event， but I wasn't sorry about the ending。The book has been around quite a while， and is viewed as a modern classic， so I instead will mention a few things that had me wondering， in hopes someone has Excellent。 I am now aware that "Dark Academia" is a genre of fiction。 A gripping read; it really pulled me into the lives of the characters。 It's a somewhat dense novel， and slow in places， but the lyricism is irresistible。 The last third wasn't as exciting as the build up and aftermath of the main event， but I wasn't sorry about the ending。The book has been around quite a while， and is viewed as a modern classic， so I instead will mention a few things that had me wondering， in hopes someone has answers。（view spoiler）[Do students at small East Coast colleges really wear suits and ties to class， or was it just this batch of overly status-conscious students？ As a West Coaster， it boggles my mind。How did they achieve the "mystery" of the Bacchanal？ Henry described what didn't work， but I'm not clear on what did。 They should have just dropped acid。How was the farmer killed？ Henry did it （he said he killed him）， and the rest joined in （I assume）， but how， without weapons？ Granted， Henry is a large fellow。I found it hard to believe Henry was the type to commit suicide， considering how hard he covered his ass and think he was smarter than everyone else。 （hide spoiler）] 。。。more

Caroline ，

couldve been good but was so long for no reason

Sarah ，

You beautiful devil。 I will never forget you。

Ryan ，

I waffled on this rating， and I think it may be more of a 4 star book because its not very concise。 It kind of oscillates between a tense psychological thriller and a meandering， bucolic campus novel。 Often times when the action ebbed I was left wanting to get the pace back up。 However， I ultimately landed on 5 stars because I think the "plot" scenes were so gripping and artfully told， and I may have to concede that the juxtaposition of the more languid parts made the intense ones even more so。 I waffled on this rating， and I think it may be more of a 4 star book because its not very concise。 It kind of oscillates between a tense psychological thriller and a meandering， bucolic campus novel。 Often times when the action ebbed I was left wanting to get the pace back up。 However， I ultimately landed on 5 stars because I think the "plot" scenes were so gripping and artfully told， and I may have to concede that the juxtaposition of the more languid parts made the intense ones even more so。 Pretty fantastic characterization as well， really made interesting with the first-person perspective， how the narrator's subjectivity， mood， and information kept each character constantly developing and in flux， at least to the reader。The ending maybe a little unintuitive to me， but not ready to confidently say it shouldn't have been what it was。 。。。more

Justine S ，

4。5 ⭐️ overall。 5⭐️ for atmosphere and world building， but I had a few issues with the way this was written。 Was there an editor involved at all？ Sections of this book dragged…。a lot。 A good 100 pages could have been cut without impacting the story at all and the epilogue was totally unnecessary。

faith ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 My first modern classic and I loved it sm。 The characters were so well-written and I learned like 5 new vocabulary words😭。 Also my first time reading a book from a male pov so that’s fun！ And with Henry， even though he was pretty horrible in this book I was still very attached to his character so reading those last pages hurt a little。 I think the main reason I gave it a 4 and not a 5 was because if a book is 5 stars for me that means I don’t get bored at all or for a long amount of time， and wi My first modern classic and I loved it sm。 The characters were so well-written and I learned like 5 new vocabulary words😭。 Also my first time reading a book from a male pov so that’s fun！ And with Henry， even though he was pretty horrible in this book I was still very attached to his character so reading those last pages hurt a little。 I think the main reason I gave it a 4 and not a 5 was because if a book is 5 stars for me that means I don’t get bored at all or for a long amount of time， and with this book I did get bored sometimes but that’s expected since it’s more of an adult and “in-depth” book and slow-paced（the 100+ page chapters）！ However in the end I adored this book and definitely looking forward to reading more modern classics/classics as I get older。 🌞 。。。more

Jessica Nailor Martin ，

I honestly have no idea what I just read。 I wouldn’t call it a thriller。 It was weird and interesting and really slow paced but somehow I still liked it？ Idk。 I don’t have my thoughts collected。😬

Mina Haven ，

Just really not my cup of tea。 I didn't like any of the characters and couldn't relate to them in any way。 The story takes forever to unfold and doesn't make a lot of sense in my opinion。。The audio book， that is read by the author， is very annoying by the way the female narrator is trying to portray the voices of the mainly male characters。 It sounds like she's trying to mock somebody。 Sometimes you can hear her flipping pages or static noise， because the voice recording isn't loud enough。 I sto Just really not my cup of tea。 I didn't like any of the characters and couldn't relate to them in any way。 The story takes forever to unfold and doesn't make a lot of sense in my opinion。。The audio book， that is read by the author， is very annoying by the way the female narrator is trying to portray the voices of the mainly male characters。 It sounds like she's trying to mock somebody。 Sometimes you can hear her flipping pages or static noise， because the voice recording isn't loud enough。 I stopped reading and listening after 3/4 of the book and read the Wikipedia article instead to know how it ends。 Happy for everyone who likes it， but I can't relate。 I hoped it would be more like Dead Poets Society。 。。。more

alicja ，

me when i'm insane in the most stoic way me when i'm insane in the most stoic way 。。。more

theonlymasa ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 'Forgive me for all the things I did but mostly for all the ones I did not。'？？？？？:））））SCREAMING TROWING UP TEARING MY HAIR OUT henry’s roses:，） camilla all alone:，）francis married？:，）richard in california again:，）charles？？？？？:，）bunny…。julian:/its 1am and I have school tomorrow？？？ what？ after reading this？ no 'Forgive me for all the things I did but mostly for all the ones I did not。'？？？？？:））））SCREAMING TROWING UP TEARING MY HAIR OUT henry’s roses:，） camilla all alone:，）francis married？:，）richard in california again:，）charles？？？？？:，）bunny…。julian:/its 1am and I have school tomorrow？？？ what？ after reading this？ no 。。。more

mauro ，

the characters >>>

Evy ，

1。5 stars。