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Comments (117)

What did you think about this title?
1 to 25 of 117 items
Feb 29, 2024mljackroyd rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
A suspenseful and moody story set at a fictional college, Hampden College. Tartt succeeds in creating a consistent feeling of foreboding throughout.
Feb 17, 2024 CALS_Amanda rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
If there are any good people in _Secret History_, they’re firmly on the sidelines. The main and supporting characters are rife with failings, some petty, some terrible—some both. The intellects of Richard, Henry, and the rest do not save…
Feb 06, 2024Misterslug rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
outside of Neil Gaiman's books, this is the one i compare all other books to. This came out the same year as i started university so i feel/felt a personal connection to the settings and sentiments early on in the book. could not put it…
Jan 26, 2024cae1a rated this title 1.5 out of 5 stars
I don’t think I’m smart enough for this book. Good writing but it is way too long. I thought it was quite uneventful and anticlimactic. It was a chore to read.
Jan 24, 2024512cadcock_0 rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
I loved The Goldfinch and picked this up when I saw it was rated even higher on Goodreads. It’s in the same vein with its intelligent yet non conventional young characters who go through some traumatic events. I didn’t like it quite as…
Jan 03, 2024Mia_114 rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
"The Secret History" by Donna Tartt is a captivating and atmospheric novel that weaves a compelling tale of murder, intrigue, and the complexities of human relationships. Set against the backdrop of an elite East Coast college, the story…
Jan 01, 2024marthagpike rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
Honestly had higher expectations. I was bored. Well written piece though.
Dec 16, 2023BiblioJP rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
I strongly recommend picking up this magnificent tale of secrets, betrayal, lust, envy, and terrifying beauty. Although verbose, it does not quite become esoteric. In fact, the prose flows like honey and I was captivated from the first…
Nov 18, 2023fka_aurora rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
"Does such a thing as "the fatal flaw," that showy dark crack running down the middle of a life, exist outside of literature? I used to think it didn't. Now I think it does. And I think mine is this: a morbid longing for the picturesque at…
Oct 10, 2023Keeper_of_the_Book_Hoard rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
After reading it, I can see why this book defined the "dark academia" genre. I found it a compelling story but it is long and slow going at times so is not for everyone. It definitely creates a mood and evokes an aesthetic. Will it make…
Sep 15, 2023
How many pages is it? I read The Goldfinch but thought it was needlessly long.
Sep 13, 2023LPL_AdamL rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
There's a reason why The Secret History comes so highly recommended, and it's because reading about rich people being awful and doing bad things (whilst gleefully quoting Plato) is extremely entertaining. This book is like an eloquent,…
Aug 22, 2023krothbau rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
I wanted to enjoy this book so bad. Typically I love a good dark academic read. It started out okay, but then just dragged on. I abandoned it around page 300. I just couldn’t read anymore about Bunny being awful and Richard being so…
Aug 01, 2023Marknel rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
About the only thing this book did for me is make me very happy I didn't go to an Eastern College.
Jul 21, 2023PetraL rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
The main characters are whiny, self-absorbed, and self-indulgent college students. A bleak read.
Jul 19, 2023JamieMasters rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
What I would give for aesthetic perfection around the idea of posh literary academia. Curls of wood in Victorian side tables making ghostly shadows in the flickering light of low-burning oil lamps as I and a group of fellow students in…
Jul 18, 2023kavya12 rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
I would describe this as a dark academia novel, so if you don't like the trope of rich obnoxious teens making mistakes, don't read this. While some aspects of the Greek society that the characters are in confused me, the mystery part was…
Jul 08, 2023emmi_27 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
it is the type of book you can read multiple times and come up with different theories each time. one of my favorite books.
Jul 05, 20231isParanoid rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
“Beauty is terror." This book ever since I finished the audiobook in April 2023 has stuck with me. Not a day goes by when I don't think of the characters and their mistakes. This is not a perfect book, but the message haunts me and I look…
May 31, 2023LauraSteinert rated this title 0.5 out of 5 stars
DO NOT READ THE PROLOGUE. It ruined the first half the book for me. (NOT A NOVEL, yuck). Please feel sorry for a bunch of alcoholic drug addicted 20-year-olds who think money is the solution/problem with their lives. Please be impressed…
May 07, 2023LPL_SarahM rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Not sure what took me so long to read what is commonly known as the benchmark of dark academia, but reading it 30 years after it was published did not make it feel any less suspenseful. This book is a brilliantly paced downward spiral.
Apr 15, 2023WhidbeyIslander rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
I read this many years ago (1990’s) and believe I gave it 4 or 5 stars. Because it was featured in the mystery book Eight Perfect Murders which I will be reading next, I picked up my old copy and started to re-read it. As I plowed…
Mar 17, 2023Uma Sharma rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
College student Richard Papen is selected to join a set of classes with very limited enrollment and meets the only other five people in the classes. The socially isolated group is strange, always with hidden injuries and bloody clothing.…
Mar 02, 2023Jeka_Z rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
The Secret History Author: Donna Tartt Genre: Thriller Formant: 559 pages, Paperback Year Published: 1992 Language: English/Greek The Secret History is one the books that I wanted to read this year and I am glad I got it out of my…
Jan 28, 2023ryner rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Set in the 80s in a small, private college in Vermont, the story centers on a handful of graduate students studying ancient Greek. The primary protagonist, Richard, is new to the school, and he slowly falls in with the others in class,…