The Secret History: A Read with Jenna Pick

First of all, I'm glad I read this after reading "The Goldfinch." I absolutely loved the latter book, and I was a bit disappointed to see such stark similarities in the plot and themes presented in the two books (awful harbored secret, surrogate father figure, unrequited love interest, illness-in-a-foreign-country sequence, somewhat tragic but mostly drab epilogue). Donna Tartt is a brilliant wordsmith, but the endings of her books feel like she just gets tired and quits. Plus she dissed Lynyrd Skynyrd.

The Secret History is well-written but seems to drag at some points. The alcohol, more alcohol, excessive alcohol, and then more alcohol were a stretch and downright distracting. How did these young people get so much booze? How did they manage to not get kicked out of college? Why are male and female students allowed to freely roam from room to room in the dorms? What the hell happened at the baccanal? I was so distracted by these burning unrealistic details that I couldn't concentrate on more important events. I wanted to find one character to like, but they're all selfish, snobbish, entitled, elitist, horrible brats. I think Bunny might have felt considered himself lucky to die and escape a life with these jerks.

There were parts of the story that drug on a little, but for every part that drug there were pages upon pages where I couldn't put the book down. The characters are engaging and mysterious as soon as you think that you've got everything figured out they surprise you again. Lovely book.