Rating: 
Summary: How it is like Secret History
Review: The Little Friend has a similarity to Secret History in the underlying sense of dread that builds as the plot progresses. I got right away that this book was not going to be about solving mysteries or revealing secrets..it's more of a coming of age story. Although I was a little disappointed in the ending at first, after thinking about it, I realized that the ending fit better with the overall tone of the story. The satisfaction of this book must come from an appreciation of Tartt's language. I found myself re-reading passages just for the pleasure of it. Her ability to draw character is such that I really felt like I got to know real people, living in a real place. I look forward to more from Donna Tartt, she is a major talent.
Rating: 
Summary: Oh, please!
Review: I daresay Donna Tartt has never been bitten by a fire ant, or she would know better than to have twelve-year-old Harriet lie on top of a nest for several minutes and get up and walk away with no ill effects. Donna, fire ants swarm when their nests are disturbed. The girl would have had hundreds of bites within seconds; it would have been a medical emergency. Also, both fire ants and mosquitoes bite. They do not sting because they do not have stingers. These and other implausibilities in The Little Friend, along with the many red herrings and the scenes that fail to advance the plot or thicken the ambience distract from what Donna Tartt does so well: draw intriguing characters and vivid settings in sometimes breathtakingly beautiful prose.
Rating:
Summary: Donna Tartt's a gifted writer, but ...
Review: I just read Donna Tartt's first novel "The Secret History" right before chugging through "The Little Friend", and in my review of the first book my complaints were that the author manufactured suspense too "cheaply" by always keeping the characters' motivations in the dark, and that she didn't flesh out the characters as much as I would expect from an otherwise ambitious and enjoyable novel. "The Little Friend" remedies these flaws, perhaps rather too well -- the characters in this book are described at great length and their motivations laid out clearly (even if their decisions are frequently clouded by youthful naivete or [narcotics]). I liked the portrayal of the fading southern town and many of the characters ring true, although perhaps that's because they are reminiscent of "To Kill a Mockingbird" and other classic southern novels.To be sure, there are many points in the novel where the "action" gets sidetracked in tangential stories that add color but little oomph to the narrative. "The Little Friend" is generally well-written but lacking in the pacing department. Since the author famously took ten years to write this novel and it has left the impression of being poorly edited (unfinished, even) in the minds of most of the readers here, I can only guess that it is the author's intention to both frustrate the reader and assume the mantle of literature. It's startling that this gifted writer went from a polished page-turner in "The Secret History" to this sprawling, languid novel that gets bogged down in swampy detail while leaving the reader stranded on some major plot points. I did enjoy reading this vision of the south that surely must reflect a lot of the author's own experiences from growing up in Mississippi. Without being overly didactic she shows how blacks are marginalized and girls are squeezed into their expected sexualized roles. All of the people in the book are deeply flawed and the main character (a prickly twelve-year-old named Harriet) gets thrust rudely towards an adulthood where she can't just read books all the time and rely on the maid to make everything okay for her. ... Perhaps it's not fashionable these days to write novels that end with a tidy resolution or even a glimmer of hope, but I bet if Donna Tartt replaced her literary pretensions with a strong editor she could write some amazing fiction. "The Little Friend" is readable and has some memorable passages but mostly serves to dimly illuminate the author's vast potential.
Rating: 
Summary: BOOORRRIIINNNNGGGG
Review: This book was SO boring. I bought it upon its release because I loved The Secret History. I tried, I really did, to finish it and actually enjoy some of it, but I just couldn't do it! I am about halfway through and whenever I pick it up, I convince myself that, finally, something interesting is going to happen. No such luck. It just plods along, with no real end or plot in sight. I just wish I hadn't bought it when it was released because then I would have had the opportunity to read these reviews....Don't waste your time or money on this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Long on Characters, Short on Theme
Review: Donna Tartt creates some memorable characters in The Little Friend, and has an uncanny knack for helping her readers to "see" the locales in which she places her story. Unfortunately, great characterization and atmosphere do not a great book make. The coming-of-age epiphany at the end of the story falls flat in the face of hundreds of pages of build-up. From a writer as skilled as Ms. Tartt, I expected much more.
Rating: 
Summary: I LOVED THIS BOOK
Review: In spite of the reviews I read from Amazon, I asked for this book for Christmas. But, again because of these reviews, I didn't open it until the first of March. I couldn't put it down. I grew up and still live in Missouri. I had aunts that so much remind me of Harriet's aunts. I loved all the commentary about family. It was so beautifully written. As far as a resolution goes, is anything of any prime importance that happens to us ever really "resolved" in our minds? The Ratliffs were so clearly drawn that they actually made me feel as uncomfortable as if I was really around them. Harriett was a real case. Talk about a strong character. The whole book was so dark and foreboding. Better than any "mystery" book could hope to be. I will never forget it. I will never forget Harriett, and I will remember that cobra every time I open the sun roof of my car!
Rating:
Summary: MORE PLOD THAN PLOT
Review: I have been listening to between 20 and 30 books on tape a year for the past several years, and this is the first one I have been unable to finish. I managed to get through the History of Rome and have varied from Stephen King to Stephen Ambrose to Stephen Hawking. BUT, I could not get through this one. There simply is no plot, just tedium. You know the book is overwritten when you are constantly conscious of the words the author is using rather than rather absorbing the text in imagery. I did not read Donna Tartt's first book but wish I had not wasted the time on the second. I simply cannot see how anyone could find this work enjoyable, but "to each his own"...
Rating:
Summary: Page turner
Review: I really liked this book. It's very different to the secret history though. The story is set in the Mississippi area and therefore I recognize the atmosphere from the most Grisham's
But Donna Tartt doesn't write towards a happy ending and that's why I like it more.
I was really looking forward to this book and it was worth the waiting!
Rating:
Summary: I'd been waiting (but apparently not long enough)
Review: Okay, it's been said before, but bears mentioning again: The Secret History this ain't. The languor of childhood in general, and Deep South rural childhood in particular, are brilliantly drawn. But that's all that's brilliantly done here, and a careful mapping out of stasis is awfully little to get out of a long, long book. The stabs at real plotting peter out again and again, and a fair amount of the writing is filler, distraction to get from one set piece to the next. I still can't wait to read what she writes next, but after The Little Friend, my anticipation is mixed with a little trepidation.
Rating:
Summary: The Little Friend disappoints
Review: "The Little Friend" is ultimately disappointing in its lack of plot development and resolution. (Or is it supposed to be about a fifteen-year-old's summer fling with existentialism, in which we probably cannot expect a final resolution?) Harriet is a well developed, understandable character; however, this is not true of the other characters, which seem for the most part to be one faceted. A disappointing read.
(It was also surprising to find that the author's use of the verb "lay" would not pass an eighth grade grammar test!)
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