Rating: 
Summary: Entertainment Weekly was right
Review: I should have listened to the reviewer in EW who gave this book a "D" rating. But who cares what EW thinks about books, right? Wrong. It was a much more honest appraisal than that which appeared in the recent Sunday New York Times, or even in The New Yorker for that matter. Those intellectual reviewers seemed to tip the glaring fact that The Little Friend is supremely dull. Were they afraid to state the obvious? EW was forthright. Next time I will know to take them more seriously! By the way, "D" is for dull.
Rating: 
Summary: Bad reviews not justified...
Review: I have an inkling those who are giving "The Little Friend" bad reviews are those that have read and loved "The Secret History" and were looking for the same exact book rewritten. However, with "The Little Friend", Donna Tartt has proven she can take on another style and succeed. Those that were looking for a mystery or some other brain candy will be disappointed, but those who are looking for a good story about human nature will be interested. I am confused by those who say there is no plot to this story. It seemed very clear to me. This book is not about solving a murder but rather about the summer of one little girl, her surroundings and her broken down and broken hearted family. And besides all this, the normal ups and downs of being a little girl - the excitement of summer, the boy 'next door' who has the secret crush, the imagination, the dread of summer camp, the comfort of relatives homes, etc.. Donna Tartt has done a wonderful job in bringing us in the mind of Harriet and at the same time has brought us back to when we were growing up. Donna Tartt also touches upon heavier subjects, racism, death, grieving etc.. All in all, I enjoyed this book - I felt caught up in the world of Harriet and her small town. However, I took away one star because I did feel as though I was reading a "young adult" novel rather than a book intended for an adult.
Rating: 
Summary: Endless Good Writing
Review: I loved her use of words until it became never ending. It seems the plot just petered out.
Rating: 
Summary: Southern Gothic Meets Kids' Adventure Story
Review: This superbly crafted and beautifully written novel held me transfixed from the prologue to its wonderfully ambiguous conclusion. Tartt's wordplay is graceful and haunting, her characters are deep and fascinating, and the suspense sequences had me writhing in my reading chair. I cannot recomend The Little Friend highly enough!
Rating:
Summary: Sell It Back Quick
Review: I read the "professional" reviews of this book and
couldn't wait to get my hands on it. Too bad I
didn't wait for READERS to review this book. My
comments echo the majority of reviews. Although
Harriet was quite appealing, spending a paragraph
on the white trash Ratcliff family was too much.
Much of the story was contrived and not very
likely to have happened artist's license or not. The
scene where Harriet and Hely manage to drop a poisonous
snake from an overpass and somehow have the snake
latch onto "Gum" Ratcliff as she drives below was
the last straw. I tried to skip through to see if
Robin's death was ever explained but gave up. I'll have
to live without the knowledge. How sad to have
such an eagerly anticipated book be such a downer.
Rating: 
Summary: Wish I Had Read the Reviews
Review: I loved Donna Tartt's first book, and couldn't wait to buy this one. I certainly wish I had read the reviews, as the reviews on this site are exactly how I felt. I rushed though quite a bit of this book, hoping that it would get better. Then, when I finished, I was left with a strange feeling that I must have missed the ending somehow. What a terrible ending. Do not pay money to buy this.
Rating:
Summary: annoying on tape too.
Review: I checked this out on tape from my public library. After 5 or 6 tapes, I still didn't know what it was about, and I stopped caring. If I hear the narrator say, "Harriet said" at the end of one more sentence, I was going to scream. I never finished it. It was that bad. I don't know what the hype is all about. Spend your time on better things.
Rating:
Summary: Misguided it's not
Review: ... I had already read about 2/3 of the book at that point, and was more than eager to finish it. Her character development was superb, as she created a bit of Harriet into each of her readers. While a certain level of dramatic irony keeps us from completely embracing this characters, we see where she's coming from. Every other member of her family, her friends, her town all share this seemingly clouded view of reality. It is only Harriet that can see through all of this. Tartt's readers do the same thing, presuming they can see through Tartt's plot, her plans, her characters. They make themselves out to be smarter than that brown-haired young woman with the soft voice. Just like Harriet is, though, we are all mistaken. Harriet has no idea what she is getting herself in to. And neither do we. We see the juxtaposition of the two families, the Cleves and the Ratliffs, as strange, yet they are both very similar. The comparison of the destruction of the maternal figures on each side is striking. Danny and Harriet aren't so different from each other. They each want to solve certain familial mysteries that have plagued them for years. It coincidentally happens that they try to solve them at the same time, thus generating a great storyline. Most reviewers are dispappointed by the ending, claiming there was no resolution, yet clearly that was Ms. Tarrt's whole point. When you really step back and look at the story, Harriet still is a 12-year old girl, and her naivete is just like all of ours. We sit back and criticize her for thinking that she will be able to solve this mystery, but then we blame the author when we feel unsatisfied. The book's power is in its ability to draw its audience to its main character. The lack of a "resolution" makes it even more powerful because we finally see how devastating this event actually was. Reread the times when Tartt refers to Harriet in the distant future to see how impactful it actually was. The book likens itself more to the end of "Stand by Me," where it's less about the end result as it is the journey. The only possible criticisms I have for the book are a few writing inconsistencies. 1) the scene in the pool hall is inaccurate as the shots that are made do not follow any billiards rules; and 2) the description of the trains from New Orleans to Chicago contradict each other. For this I can't blame the author but the editor. For those who ridicule the book for not having an ending they expected, embrace the fact that Ms. Tartt has captured her audience again, just in a more uncomfortable way this time.
Rating:
Summary: I wish more people could see this book for what it is...
Review: I think that because The Secret History had a more conventional stucture, people are disappointed when the unconventional rears its head in this novel. I'm amazed that so many people are willing to forego the art on every page in a futile search for plot resolution. If you're the type of person that can skip whole sections of a book and still feel that you've read it, this book isn't for you - it's safe to say that you'll miss the point. If you'd rather have a nice, tidy plot than deep characterization (completely believable if you haven't been living under a rock) wherein people's actions have understandable and sometimes heartbreaking motivation, then this book isn't for you. If you're the type of person that expects the conventional and gets pissy when you don't get it, this book isn't for you. If you made it this far in this review, give this book a chance - I don't think you'll regret it.
Rating:
Summary: Future readers of this book BEWARE
Review: I actually enjoyed reading this book and I even dreamed of snakes last night . . . yuck! But where is the ending?? What happened?? Is this a joke? I'm wondering today if the author has another chapter, page, paragraph . . . anything that will "end" the book. If anyone "gets" the ending please explain it to me! I wish I had known there was no ending before I began reading the book.
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