So, I’m probably 80% of the way through this book, and I’m struggling to finish. I have read both of Tartt’s other books and loved them, but this one just feels like it’s dragging on. I have been clinging this long because I wanted some closure on the Robin mystery, but the books feels like it has gone almost completely off the rails.

Is this Tartt’s worst effort, or am I just not to the payoff yet?

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Lady_Dai t1_iy4bwg3 wrote on November 28, 2022 at 5:32 PM

#737,028

I love The Goldfinch, i adore The Secret History, but i hated The Little Friend, i thought it was SO boring. I even read it twice because i thought, i must be wrong, her other books are brilliant. But nope, second time was equally boring for me. 🤷‍♀️

TheChocolateMelted t1_iy4hkr0 wrote on November 28, 2022 at 6:09 PM

#738,135

I've read The Secret History a few times and absolutely loved it. The Little Friend is another story. It's actually put me so far off her stuff, I've been avoiding The Goldfinch. If you're 80% way through and do want to know more about how the Robin mystery pans out, definitely keep going. It would be difficult to say it really improves very much from here, but from memory, the pace does seem a little faster. Good luck.

nickelundertone t1_iy4wd1q wrote on November 28, 2022 at 7:47 PM

#741,161

The mystery will not be solved. Learn the art of skimming! The climax contains some entertaining action.

Orbeef t1_iy56yzg wrote on November 28, 2022 at 8:56 PM

#743,062

Funny, there was another post on the secret history that led me to believe no one was a fan of both that and the Goldfinch. People always seemed to love one and hate the other, myself included.

The Goldfinch is one of my favorite books ever but I hated the secret history. Never read the little friend bc of how much I hated the secret history.

3day_potato_salad t1_iy5722t wrote on November 28, 2022 at 8:57 PM

#743,078

So I actually loved this book. It’s not as good as The Secret History, but I like it more than the Goldfinch.

To me this felt like a more adult version of those books I read growing up about kids who foray into the world of adults to solve mysteries. Harriet the Spy, Encyclopedia Brown, Boxcar Children, Sammy Keyes, Chasing Vermeer, From the Mixed up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. I’m sure I’m forgetting a ton. In those books the kid is always very clever. Maybe the adults don’t believe them or think that the mystery is worth trying to solve or think the kids are capable. But they know they’re right, they go for it, and the always solve it in the end thought clever plans and deduction.

The Little Friend hit a lot of those nostalgic elements for me but kept the story more grounded. First of all the mystery here so much more brutal than the ones in the kids stories. Harriet throws herself at it like she’s in a kids book, but the reality is that she really shouldn’t be doing any of this and there might be serious consequences.

Anyway, it just hit me in the right way because I read it at a time when I was transitioning towards more adult books, but I still had great memories of reading those books as a kid. I can see how if you don’t have that really particular association this would be sort of just a dull mystery.

lyrasbookshelf t1_iy59eyz wrote on November 28, 2022 at 9:12 PM

#743,518

It's my least favourite of hers too. It just drags too much and it's too long, especially for the payoff we get with that ending.

belladonnatook t1_iyao4w3 wrote on November 30, 2022 at 12:06 AM

#784,145

Replying to nickelundertone (#741,161)

I read it years ago and still, when I spy it on the shelf, feel disappointment at that ending. Donna Tartt is so meticulous, such a beautiful writer, and I felt completely let down by the ending of that book.

Concur, the action was very entertaining.