I absolutely loved this book, with its beautiful writing and prose, literary references, and setting. I loved each character and think that Richard made a good MC to narrate the story. This book had me thinking about it constantly and saving passages in a notebook. Something about the first half of the book felt nostalgic and I was hooked from the start. I think I enjoyed the build up to Bunny’s death more than the fallout but even then I was still engaged.

The crash out of Charles was really interesting and sad. I think Tartt writes characters very well and did a good job showing how everything affected them. I loved Francis because a lot of his lines, especially while interacting with Richard, made me laugh when I needed it. Henry’s downfall was the most interesting to me, I had no clue what he would do next because he always seemed like he had a plan. Julian leaving was probably his last straw and I still can’t tell if he ever felt remorse for anything he did or if what he did was wrong (guessing not) but I also feel like he didn’t seem to have much of a reason for living before everything happened. There was still so much I wanted to know from each of the characters and I wish we could’ve seen inside their heads too.

This book is a perfect read for fall into winter. I think I will definitely reread this at a later point and see how knowing what happens affects my thoughts. Seriously so good if you like an emotional rollercoaster with intense writing.