Rating: 
Summary: A Lost Premise
Review: This book was overly long, and it seemed like the original premise got lost in the story. Ms.Tartt can certainly write, but I felt the writing took over the story. Certainly the book jacket is misleading. What was the story she was trying to tell? As others have mentioned, the ending is a non-ending. Was I disappointed....most definitely!
Rating: 
Summary: Look closer for an impressive accomplishment
Review: After reading The Secret History, The Little Friend isn't at all what I expected. Donna Tartt has accomplished something in this one that seems to have gone almost completely unrecognized on this forum. Yes, I have read better plots and stories, but I have never seen race and social class explored in quite this way. Tartt describes the issues in great detail without ever presenting them as issues, or out and out preaching about them. She never gives you her own voice directly about this weighty subject, but lets you see glimpses in the mirrors of her characters and third person narrative. I almost put the book down at first, because of the heroine's cold and thoughtless racism. I kept reading, though, when Tartt objectively points out that Harriet could have misread the motives of a poor mixed-race child who tries to retrieve a library book from a trashcan. The fact that she's a child underscores the subtle criticism of saccharine platitudes about children's inherent innocence about racism. Character development in this book gives an accurate description (from my experience having lived most of my life in the south) of class and race dynamics. I was impressed with the ring of truth to all the characters and indeed to a story line which, as in reality, goes far and wide of what one expects. Most people in this book are complete people, not stereotypes lacking in faults, strengths and complexity. I don't think you can talk about race and class without this meaningful kind of character development. Tartt explored not only the upper-class white folks' complete lack of empathy, (with some realistic exceptions)but also the more difficult notion of racism and class warfare within the blacks and poor whites of the south. [warning, SPOILERS ahead]
I thought it realistic that Harriet doesn't come away from her life's lessons with a brand new egalitarian mantra, as one might expect from a novel so keenly observant of racial relations. Instead she comes away with just the beginnings of personal shame for her own lack of understanding, and possibly with a hint of critical thinking skills that might one day lead her to look closely at all levels of society with empathy and reason. Then again, she might not, judging from her shameful act with the red gloves, and the missed opportunity to help her Aunt's maid receive her rightful legacy. That Tartt's choice of title directly refers to the lower-class ruffian who almost kills Harriet in a drug induced rage implies that his story line is indeed important and tragic. (it's in the book, towards the end, someone refers to Danny as 'the little friend' of Robin.)The character's inherent talents combined with his violent and oppressive upbringing left me caring about what might become of him after his impressive surviving of the water tank. His friendship with Harriet's deceased brother gets bandied about and misunderstood throughout the course of the book. One wonders what might have happened had Harriet's brother lived. Donna Tartt had expressed dismay in an interview that The Secret History was described by some as Southern Gothic. The Little Friend is a prime example of what the genre should be.
Rating:
Summary: The Book With No Ending
Review: After diligently reading the over-descriptive pages and pages and pages of this disappointing book (I loved the Secret History), I was angry at the ending which left the reader hanging with nothing but questions to ask the author. Talk about FRUSTRATING!!!!! What happened to Harriet? How about her parents? Did they go back with each other? Who killed her brother? Did Harriet really have epilepsy? Did the police ever find out what happened? I agree with some of the other reviewers that the character descriptions were well-written but they led you nowhere and the book was entirely too long because of these. And the question of the year.....What the heck does the title mean? What's with the doll? Who's the "little friend". Arghhhh! Sorry, Donna. Can't recommend this one. Try again.
Rating: 
Summary: sorely disappointed
Review: I have a hard time believing this book was written by the same person who wrote "The Secret History". It took me nearly two weeks to drag through several tedious subplots to finally discover there is no ending. I agree with a previous reviewer, this book definitely needed the aid of an editor.
Rating:
Summary: Hideous cover, not a murder mystery, great characters
Review: I think so much of the disappointment with The Little Friend is due to its characterization as a murder mystery which is reinforced by a creepy china-faced doll on the cover. I would call it, How I Spent my Eleventh Summer with a Family Beaten Down by Grief in a Small, Quirky, Semi-Gothic Mississippi Town. It's more of a rambling, colorful home movie of southern life than a thriller.(I was puzzled by the title, too, until I came across a reference toward the end of the book describing Danny Ratcliff as Robin's "little friend".) The real joy in this book is the completely developed inhabitants of the novel. Tartt has lavished attention on all of her major and minor characters. I was astonished by Edie, the formidible matriarch and delighted with the Ratcliffs - a family of brothers beyond dysfunction involved in burglary, methamphetamine production and snake-handling. Tartt even provides a sly epilogue for an escaped cobra. If you like novels to be plot-driven, this is 500+ page book will seem endless. If you want an entertaining meander through some great southern writing, give it a try.
Rating: 
Summary: am i missing it?
Review: as many other reviewers have noted, this is quite a let down after The Secret History. i've been anxiously awaiting this book, and now that i've closed it for the last time, i can't recall why. the writing was, indeed, intelligent and respectful, and the characters were remarkably developed, but where the heck did that story come from and where did the plot go? am i missing the point? i kept trying to make predictions and was so looking forward to clarification, but this ending - this whole story- was just a lot of description heading nowhere. i'm disappointed. i feel betrayed. i can't even figure out what the title means! while The Secret History left me feeling like i'd been privy to the secret lives of intellectuals - and therefore a bit of an intellectual myself (though i was only 23 when i read it) - this left me feeling like a bad judge of character. i'll keep reading the reviews to find out what deep message i overlooked. there must be one...there must!
Rating:
Summary: One Disappointed Classicist
Review: First, I'd like to emphasize that I loved The Secret History. I've waited years for Tartt's second book, but I found it something of a let-down. I suppose this is mostly because I enjoyed Secret so much and I was expecting more of the same (I'm an academic and a classicist, and I was thrilled with the way Tartt brought my field to life). The Little Friend is cute enough, but, my own obscure interests aside, it just doesn't compare to Secret History (first novel or not, Ms. Tartt).
Rating:
Summary: The first 400 pages were slow, but then it got OK...
Review: If you liked "Secret History," then go read it again! Don't read this. This was a hugely disappointing second novel. I loved "Secret History" and its rich characters and yummy details and great plot. This novel just plodded along with characters that you didn't care about or what to learn about. The book crawled along, but the last few chapters were OK. A decent payoff for the labor of surviving the first 400 pages. In a nut shell: Skip this book and re-read "Secret History."
Rating:
Summary: ultimately disappointing
Review: If I hadn't placed such high expectations as I did for the follow-up to "The Secret History" it's hard to say how much I would have enjoyed this book. It wasn't bad, but wasn't very good either. However, in the shadow of "The Secret History" it definitely disappointed me. It was too lengthy, and as far as the plot went, in my opinion, it was rather mediocre. This could have been a great book, I think. It had a lot of promise, but all in all I wasn't that impressed.
Rating: 
Summary: This book was excellent!
Review: This book was wonderful! I read all the time, and often set books down after 200 pages if I am still not interested. I could not put this 500 page book down! I was so caught up in the story, I just had to know what Harriet was up to. I even left work early to go home and read this book! This story haunted my dreams, and even made me worried about dark corners on lonely streets. It took over my life people! The other reviewers seemed disappointed and I have no idea why. I think the title makes sense, and the cover is great. Also this was one of the best endings ever. I think people were upset because it did not end the way they expected. Tartt leaves you reeling for more.....
The only problem I had was that I could not stop picturing Harriet as a younger girl, maybe nine or ten definately not twelve. She is way too much of a tom boy and way too naive to be 12. All in all,it was a wonderful, dark and entertaining novel. Now, on to The Secret History!
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