Rating: 
Summary: Can't Get No ....
Review: Like so many of the previous reviewers, I was disappointed in The Little Friend. Ultimately, the biggest disappointment was how the book ended, with little or no resolution to any of the storylines. Come on, Donna, after 555 pages, at least give us a little satisfaction.
Rating:
Summary: In desparate need of an editor!
Review: It is the story of a 12 year old lost in a world of depressed and nonsensical adults caused by the unsolved murder of her brother years before that drones on and on with descriptions and commas and semi colons and colons and paragraphs composed of one sentence!!Please! The story, in and of itself is gripping but one must find it in the wordiness of the writer. This book reads like someone chatting on and on in your ear with you waiting desparatly to find out what is it all about??? And the ending leaves a lot to be desired! You finally get to the meat of the story and "BAM" it is over with loose ends flailing every which way. My advice - leave it unless you have nothing better to do and enjoy long winded talkers.
Rating: 
Summary: I think it is great
Review: This is the best book I have read in months. I read it in 5 days, and I don't have much spare time. Everyone here seems to be comparing it unfavorably to The Secret History. In my opinion, The Little Friend is much superior to The Secret History. How could anyone not be sympathetic to Harriet? This book had everything you could want in a novel--characterization, plot, tension, command of the English language, and above all, that feeling you get with certain books of being in touch with an intelligent mind. People who think the book was too long must not enjoy reading. Go look for your TV remote; it's probably under the sofa cushions. Many reviewers have commented that they are sorry they bought the book. I borrowed it from the library, and liked it so much that I have bought my own copy because I know I will want to read it again.
Rating: 
Summary: beautiful sentences
Review: I stayed up well past midnight the last few nights to read this book, and while the story itself was fairly intriguing, what kept me going was the beauty of the writing. I just wanted to applaud at some of her incredible sentences and descriptions. I didn't find any of it boring, although I was much more interested in Harriet's story than the Ratcliffs'.
I don't give it a five star because I was so dissatisfied with the ending I threw the book down (seems to be a common occurrence with this book) but it was an engrossing, entrancing read, and I really identified with Harriet and her love of books. I haven't read The Secret History but I will definitely read it now.
I would recomend it, but only to people with patience, time on their hands, and a love for detail and description that draws you right down into the story.
I am left very curious as to what happens to Harriet when she grows up. And what, by the way, was wrong with Allison? Did she see the murder?
Rating:
Summary: Not up to expectation!
Review: Count me among the HIGHLY disappointed. The Secret History is one of the best books I've ever read. The Little Friend, however, left me feeling very cheated, mad that I'd spent time getting involved in the lives of characters that went nowhere. IMO Ms Tartt is a talented writer. Her descriptions of character and events are vivid. Reading this book was like a winding train journey in which the train hits the brakes before reaching any recognizable destination.If you loved Secret History as much as most people, you'll have to see for yourself, but save a few bucks. Borrow a copy.
Rating: 
Summary: not a little disappointed
Review: One of the reviewers states that this book was not intended to be a mystery or a crime story in the vein of a Stephen King or Anna Rice novel but is more a work of literature. If it so then why did Donna Tartt uses the shocking hanging of a little boy as an attention getter on the FIRST page of her novel? She should have realized that most of the readers would then expect to learn how it happened. But there are no answers to this MYSTERY because mystery it is. It leaves a feeling of disappointment. The author should have been more sensitive to the fact that having started her novel the way she did the reader would be entitled to beleive a resolution would take place but there is no 'closure' in this book and the frustration overides the admiration felt at places in the book for some beautifully written parts. I can't help think that the author couldn't wait to get it over with at the end and left us hanging there (... no pun intended).
Rating:
Summary: I agree...
Review: with the above negative reviews. I finished the book last night and could barely slog through the last 100 pages. Where's a good editor when you need one? The book detoured into too many directions with an unbelievable resolution. I thought Tartt left behind her original premise of Harriet's solving the murder of her brother and went into a writing frenzy about rednecks on speed. I loved The Secret History, but was disappointed by her second effort.
Rating:
Summary: Read it slowly and savor.
Review: One is often let down with writers' second novels. This is especially so with Ms. Tartt, whose The Secret History was wonderful in both the artistic and commercial sense. The Little Friend is completely different to the first novel and it is better.
If one reads this one slowly you will really enjoy it. The Little Friend has it all - plot, mystery, character and most of all Tartt's terrific prose. In short it's a great southern novel and you'll be glad the editors weren't let loose. Donna Tartt really makes you feel a part of small town Mississippi in the 70's.
Rating: 
Summary: Unfinished Epic
Review: Having spent my childhood in Oklahoma and Arkansas, I began to love 'The Little Friend.' I identified, understood, even applauded Donna Tartt's bull's eye portrayal of the characters, from the candy wielding Southern Baptist hypocrite Mr. Dial to the crank crazed white trash Ratliff family, and even the Grandmother, Edie, whose strength and ability to keep her family together is ebbing through the cruel realities of aging and circumstances. However previous readers have pointed out succinctly many of the flaws, including the failure to remain in the 1970's, from references to Harriet's backpack, and the most glaring one--A meth lab? These came about in the 1980's when it became more difficult to obtain prescription amphetemines. Then the reader is led up to the multi-climatic conclusion--After Harriet's almost fatal tangle with the Ratliff's the reader is waiting to find out what is going to happen to her fragile family structure, and then the novel ends abruptly. Sometimes an inconclusive ending to a novel is justified, enough has been explained for an epilogue to be redundant, but this already flawed novel suffers irreparable damage from the inconclusive ending. Harriet's sister Alison is beginning to rebel, to find an escape, Harriet's grandmother is convinced her daughter's squalid house caused Harriet's illness, and Harriet's mother is attempting a reconcilliation with her husband. The novel ends here, just when it was getting more interesting again. I loved the first 3/4ths, and the rest--what a letdown. I am glad I only checked it out of the library. Shame on publishers who just throw out a large book based on a name and previous success. I wish she had wrote this first, this flawed novel had the potential to become a classic with just a little more work.
Rating:
Summary: Oh The Little Friend..
Review: The Little Friend is a book which most will find pointless. If as you are reading, you are only looking for a resolution much like a James Patterson novel, than it is true that this novel is not for you. You will gain no satisfaction from it. In response to the question posted by the reader from Breinigsville, PA, as to the significance of the title, The Little Friend I believe refers to Danny Ratliff, see page543 (hardback version) about halfway down.
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