The Secret History

I think that this author was asked to write a book that kids would have to analyze in high school. Also please make sure that it's just pretentious enough to be called a modern classic, and moody enough to become popular on TikTok.

I didn't hate this book. I just thought it was kind of boring. There are some great stories written about seemingly mundane lives that are incredible. The problem I have with this book is that they did not have mundane lives at all. In fact, they were quite unbelievable and yet it was still somehow incredibly boring.

I know that the whole point is that you're not supposed to like the main characters, but I truly did not like a single person in this entire book. Even the professors and parents were unlikable. It would be more depressing, except that it feels so removed from real life that none of the story actually feels that real.

I think one of the main reasons is popular is because of the dark academia aesthetic, and because it happened to hit the right market on social media. Obviously this author is incredibly skilled and has written other amazing works. This one just isn't my cup of tea.