The Secret History by Donna Tartt

 

Hello again lovely people!!! Today I’m going to review the most anxiety inducing book I have ever read in my life. I’ve wanted to read The Secret History since the fall semester of this year when I saw it in the campus bookstore but the paperback is $16 which I did not want to pay for a book I may or may not like. However I now know this is worth the money. 

The story revolves around six students studying Greek at Hampdon College. They are the only six people studying it with their professor Julian. So really they’re only friends are each other which leads to high tensions when things go wrong. Our narrator is Richard who is the most recent addition to the Greek group and is significantly poorer than his companions. The others are Henry, Francisco, Bunny, and the twins Charles and Camilla. What I’m about to tell you isn’t a spoiler because it’s mentioned on page one. They will end up murdering Bunny. I won’t tell you all why because the build up is crazy. The novel focuses on the lead up to Bunny’s murder and then them coping with what they’ve done.

I think what I love about this book is none of the characters are the epitome of good or bad. These are complex and realistic people. The closest we have to a “good” person is Richard but he has his flaws as well. I get a real Kill Your Darlings feel from this book. In fact when I was reading I kept imagining Dane DeHaan as Henry. I will say if you are offended by strong language and slurs then this might not be the book for you. It’s not constant but Bunny is very homophobic and racist but this goes away in the second half of the novel. I love this book and the stress it caused me. I ended up reading it everywhere and I would get so entranced by it I couldn’t hear people talking to me. I highly recommend this book!!!