#Donna tart

[potatosaresweet]

''the secret history vibe is studying hard and loving the classics'' so close! the secret history vibe is a close group of pretentious idiots who secretly hate each other murdering people for the vibe and ignoring the concepts of the moon landing and hypothermia

[pink-inthenights-blog]

'Are you happy here?' I said at last.

He considered this for a moment. 'Not particularly,' he said.

'But you're not very happy where you are, either.'

[evilrobotdog]

Ornithomancy Henry, sure….

But I like to picture him as a falconer too

…and Bunny finding himself disturbed by it

[fearbehere]

you know the end before it starts

wolf in white van, john darnielle / the secret history, donna tart / gone girl, dir david fincher / the illiad, homer / seven pounds, did gabriele muchino / oresteia, robert ickle / the raven boys, maggie stiefvater / they both die at the end, adam silvera / romeo and juliet, william shakespeare / war of the foxes, richard siken

[cosmiccowboystuddies]

A Secret History, otherwise known as what the fuck Richard

(the last few bullet points will be talking about CSA so if that triggers you or makes you uncomfortable, don't read this)

Hi pookies, sorry for being awol, I've been prepping for finals, as well as annotating a secret history, and I had some thoughts I felt like sharing.

first of all fuck Henry

Bunny being the one to say " to live forever" is the definition of being doomed by the narritive

there is no version of the story where bunny lives, and by him being the one who says that, is in a way a challenge to Henrey

Richard opens the book by claiming to be a good liar, and in every situation where he lies he does it horribly is the funniest thing ever

Henry was a budding serial killer, and I think that by the simple fact of giving poor Charles those pills

I also don't think Bunny was as bad as the group made him out to be. Richard is obviously a self-admitted unreliable narrator, but I really don't think Bunny was as bad as they were making him out to be

sure he was probably really annoying, but the week before his death I don't think he was being purposely antagonistic but acting afraid

and in a sense when Richard found out about the murder, that was bunny signing his death certificate.

i think Henry was always going to kill Bunny, he was just waiting for a good enough excuse

when Jullian left Henry started decompensating like a serial killer, and that's why he lost control when talking to Charles

and while it is clearly the best choice to send Fransis to the police, Henry tells Charles to go because Charles is easy to manipulate

i think Fransis is obviously disalutioned by Henry from the beginning of the book, while Charles and Richard were still drinking the Kool-aid

Camilla is obviously romantisized by Richard, and I think that in all reality he probably viewed women in a simmular way Bunny did

in Camilla's descriptions she is often barefoot, and he makes note to mention that during the act of the murder she wasn't present

he also compares most women to Marion a person he thinks is too stupid and girly

people forget how physically imposing henry is, by Richard describing him it almost infantilizes him, in a way.

he is physically imposing which made him look odd, but he lifted camila with great ease, and lifts weight despite is limp

i think he hurt camilla by pulling out her hair, and hurting her wrist

i feel bad for bunny because while he was teetering over the edge he must have been so afraid

richard and henry could have been the same under slightly different circumsances

camilla is not as oblivious to things as people belive she is, obviously she is a victim, but the narrative implies that she is for lack of a better term, not completely innocent

she is a victim of her circumstances, but not completely innocent

richard clings to the group because they are every thing he wanted to

henry killed himself to achieve some fucked up version of godhood.

fransis is the most complex character because by the end of the book we feel bad for him despite taking advantage of 2 of the other characters in the book

he is also clearly in love with Charles but yk

CSA TW BELOW

okay so i think its pretty clear that Charles is a CSA victim

he very clearly has an eating disorder, and a alcohol problem which Fransis exacerbates by getting him drunk and hooking up with him frequently

not only that but he is really dependent on his friendships and is constantly paranoid that they are talking about him, but needs constant reassurance like a child

but also when bunny is making digs at the group, he starts talking about the preversions of the catholic church, i don't think that group cared, nor do i belive that any of them are particularly religious, but I do belive that Bunny was making a dig about Charles being molested by a preist

and if that's the case than his ultimate outcome makes the most sense,

that also makes sense why he would frequently sleep with camilla and fransis

feel free to message me so we can chat about it... this book has recently become my greatest obsession, or we can chat in the comments.

[lavendermaelk]

Pomegranate Proposal

Henry Winter x GN!Reader, The Secret History  Word Count: 824 Content Warnings: Fluff, Kissing, Slightly Suggestive Themes Summary: Henry comes over to help you with homework and you end up as his partner.

It was a rather quiet day for [Y/N], staying inside their apartment to keep warm and catch up on some of their work that had been abandoned the night before in favor of a more lively scene, tagging along with Richard to a party he’d been nearly dragged to by Judy Poovey. They were flipping through the pages of the book that Julian had assigned for the term when the phone that was near the front door rang. They let out a soft sigh before rising from their place on the couch, setting the book aside and walking over to pick up the phone. 

“Hello?” they spoke as they pressed the  cold speaker end of the handset to their ear. 

“Oh good, you’re home,” It was Henry, his deep, cold voice immediately recognizable. “Would you mind if I stopped by? I suppose you might want help with your Greek since you were out all night.” There was a hint of a smirk in his usually flat voice and the corners of [Y/N]’s lip’s turned up a little at the sound of it. 

“Not at all, I’ll leave the door unlocked.” They replied, quickly exchanging their goodbyes before setting the phone down on the base and happily making their way back to the couch. They decided to tidy up a little more, give space for Henry to sit when he came over and all. It was no secret that the two Greek students had grown closer over the two years they had known each other, longing glances across the round table during class, an idle hand lingering on one’s arm or shoulder. 

It wasn’t long until [Y/N] heard the door open to reveal the tall, broad shouldered scholar with a book in his hand as well as a small bag. Henry closed and locked the door behind him, making his way to the couch and sitting next to [Y/N] as he always did when the group got together in someone’s home. He set the bag down in their lap and peered at their book to flip to the page they were on. 

“What’s in the bag?” [Y/N] asked, nudging him playfully and pulling their notebook a little closer to show him what they’d accomplished so far. 

“Pomegranates. They’re in season now and I thought you’d like a few.” He said, as they opened the bag to see three softball sized, plump red fruits. [Y/N] let out a soft chuckle and set their notebook in Henry’s lap to get up. 

“Why don’t I open one? We can snack on it while we work. Do you want something to drink too?” they asked, walking over to the kitchen. 

“Anything’s fine,” He called after them, busying himself with finding where they’d left off in the homework. They hummed softly, putting on a kettle and preparing a pot of tea to steep while they pulled out the seeds into a bowl. It didn’t take long for them to come back to the couch with their tea and a bowl of pomegranate seeds on a tray, their fingertips stained a faint crimson from opening the gifted fruit. He cleared some space on the coffee table for the tray and poured them both a cup of tea. 

Henry hesitated a little after he set the teapot back down onto the tray before he picked up a few of the plump seeds with his slender fingers, turning to [Y/N] and cupping their face with his free hand. 

“Open.” he said softly, [Y/N] obeying without objection. Their lips parted, tongue jutting out slightly to blanket their bottom teeth as Henry dropped the seeds into their mouth. “Swallow.” He ordered again, his hand never leaving their cheek. [Y/N] did as he told, again with no protest as they chewed on the juicy seeds, a tart sweetness flooding their mouth followed by the slight crunch of the seeds before they swallowed. A bit of a smirk tugged at their lips, their hand coming up to hold onto Henry’s wrist. 

“You know, you could have just asked me like a normal person.” They chuckled a little, pulling a humorous scoff from him. 

“I thought we’d established that we’re far from normal.” He jested, his voice barely above a whisper as they slowly closed the gap between them. [Y/N] leaned in just a bit more, their lips meeting in a soft kiss. He could taste the tartness of the pomegranate as his other hand settled on their thigh, almost pulling them closer. The silent bliss came to an end as [Y/N] pulled away to look at Henry’s eyes, little pieces of the sky taken and gifted to him in the form of his bright irises. 

“I suppose I’m stuck with you forever then?” They licked their lips with a soft laugh.

“Why? Does that not appeal to you?”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

[the-tallest01]

I just finished reading The Secret History. I’m disappointed in y’all, went looking for analysis or fanart or something and all I found were dark academia mood boards 😔

[nerdwhore777]

books i want to read by the end of 2023

the secret history (currently reading) - donna tart

kafka on the shore - haruki murakami

the picture of dorian gray - oscar wilde

crime and punishment - fyodor dosteovesky

hamlet - william shakespeare

[itstwoamandimcursingyourname]

the secret history students despite studying Greek act so Shakespearean and the if we were villains students despite studying Shakespeare act so Greek

[godsofwoes]

im nothing in my soul if not obsessive.

[reys-letters]

books !

genres : mostly mystery, thrillers, recently romance too (I've only read really basic romance ones tho-)

favourite book : then she was gone (omfg read it, its soo good) its mostly thriller/mystery, but I assure you, you will not be bored at any page, its AMAZING. (by lisa jewell <33) + if u like this, try the family upstairs (series)

other favs - the secret history. aggtm (yes, now overrated but that doesn't mean it isn't the most perfect series ever). reappearance of rachel price. library of borrowed hearts. the selection.

romance, i haven't read a lot, so basically only the very popular ones, but I did like beach read, better than the movies (so cute), things we never got over (enemies to lovers). + most emily henry books <3 + AND SHATTER ME. ISTG I CAN TALK FOR HOURS

ty for reading! have a great day/night <3

[pink-inthenights-blog]

Seeing people write Henry Winter x reader fanfics is so funny, like yes that's how Richard felt

[elivandel]

Love it

[shadowbannedthehedgehog]

i opened the goldfinch and it has 1one thousand and thirty pages 😳

[cosmiccowboystuddies]

so i just read a secret history, and Richard what the fuck?

[lettucealone]

The Secret History is one of the batshit craziest books I’ve ever read and it’s written like a literary classic. Nothing could have prepared me for the remarkably mundane absurdity of every single scene in this book. It starts with Richard stalking a group of friends and they’re weird teacher and ends with Richard asking a girl he never dated and hadn’t seen in three years to marry him, and neither of these things make the top 20 craziest events that happen in the book. It was one of the most boring books I’ve ever read, but I couldn’t stop reading because I had no idea what the hell was happening.