Rating: 
Summary: Long
Review: I like suspense and I like mystery, and this book had both, but the story never really climaxed. There was so much unneeded description and running around. Only until Harriet went to the tower at the end did it get good and then nothing. I was disappointed. I could write my own ending, but them I would just write my own book.
Rating: 
Summary: Fresh & Fabulous
Review: Waiting for Donna Tartt's second novel was certainly worth it. Once I started The Little Friend, I was totally imersed in the story and couldn't put it down. There's a wonderful sense of place in a small Southern town and characters that stayed with me long after I finished the book. I loved Ida Rhew and Hely especially. There were laugh out loud passages, and I really enjoyed viewing life through the eyes of a precocious little girl which Tartt captured perfectly. A departure from The Secret History, but a very welcome one. I only wish I could know what happened to Harriet after the book ends.
Rating:
Summary: I LOVED THIS BOOK!
Review: I am absolutely FLABBERGASTED that half the reviews posted here are negative. Doesn't anyone get it? This book is about the journey and not about the ending. There were times when I would put the book down and just marvel about how AMAZING Donna Tartt's writing style is. I'm at a loss to even try and describe it. She it super talented and understands human nature so well. I laughed so hard at some of the passages, especially the ones involving Gum, the redneck grandmother. I was fully invested in this book and thoroughly satisfied with the journey that this book took me on. Like other people have said, sometimes endings aren't so neat and tidy. Just enjoy the ride!!! Donna Tartt is the best!
Rating:
Summary: How could anyone not LOVE this book?
Review: Wow! I made the mistake of reading the customer reviews of this book, and it almost kept me from reading this gem. I liked Secret History quite a bit, but this was 10 times better. Tartt's characters are carefully and thoughtfully drawn (rich and complex), her language is beautiful, the imagery grand, and the plot fast-paced and intriguing. The bizarre action scenes (with snakes a-plenty) kept me on the edge of my seat, and I've never read a more terrifying story of a white trash family, including fascinating and dark descriptions of a druggie's mind, body, and activities. This is an adventure story with a brave 12-year old girl as its heroine. I couldn't put the book down. No, there isn't a tight or happy ending, but this book will haunt you. The great language and characterizations reminded me a bit of White Oleander by Janet Fitch, except that A Little Friend has more dangerous adventures. The only thing I'm not crazy about is the title of the book, but hey, there are worse flaws than a weak title. I recommend this book highly. I hope Tartt writes another book soon!
Rating: 
Summary: You feel as if you're there
Review: Donna Tartt's Little Friend evokes the flavor of the Mississippi I remember, having been born in the Delta region and retaining contacts with family and friends there over the years. Her characters and settings come alive. As I feel sure others have discovered, the central character of 12-year-old Harriet seems almost a distillation of To Kill A Mockingbird's Jem and Scout as they might have been in the 70's. Although Harriet's family is the epitome of a dysfunctional unit (unlike Jem and Scout's experience with Atticus), there is still the support group around her - with her grandmother, her great-aunts, and Ida Rhew, the maid and mother-substitute - that harkens back to the young Finches'
extended "family." I can forgive Tartt's let-down at the end of the novel because of the totally engrossing picture of family and place painted through the bulk of the story. Any chance of a sequel?
- A transplanted Mississippian in London
Rating: 
Summary: should have been half as long
Review: I was totally enthralled by "The Secret History" and 5 years later read it a second time and still could not put it down. Before reading "The Little Friend" I had seen some of the critical reviews but did not agree with them during the first half of the book. Then about midway, the writing style almost seems to have changed. The book became over-wordy, over-moody and just plain boring in parts. A great shame as I think Donna Tartt is a very, very talented writer. Most of the other reviews restated the plot so I will not do that here. Suffice it to say that a.) I hope it does not take Ms. Tartt so many years to write her next book and, b.) Hope she finds a totally different subject.
Rating:
Summary: Not as good as The Secret Hisory, but a good read
Review: I bought this book having loved The Secret History, and I have to say I was disappointed. The reviews on the back were very good, but the story just wasn't as captivating and the characters were much more transparent.
That said, however, it did keep me entertained. The setting is dark and sticky, the characters are beautifully described, even though they are mostly not so beautiful. And the character of Harriet is fascinating. However, I did not, as one reviewer assured me I would, 'fall in love with Harriet.' She was just a little too odd.
If you want an interesting read, and don't mind that the book ends a little diappointingly..in that, it doesn't properly end, this is a good story. However, don't expect another 'The Secret History.'
Rating:
Summary: This book is a mixed bag, but worthwhile
Review: After the adulation Donna Tartt recieved for her first book, "The Secret History", the bar was placed almost frighteningly high for her sophomore effort. It's really very hard to judge whether she managed to vault that bar, because "The Little Friend" is not an easy book, and certainly not a book for every taste. Simply put, this is the story of Harriet, a young girl who selects a pretty heavy summer project for herself--to bring to justice the killer of her brother Robin, murdered some 10 years previously, whose memory hangs heavily over his family and its sleepy Southern town. Tartt doesn't give us a beach-novel whose pages zoom to a satisying wrap-up, she gives us Literature with a capital L and atmosphere by the pound--some of it works, in a To Kill A Mockingbird-on-Acid kind of way (the scene where the children are trapped in a house full of snakes had me nailed to the page), but there are long, arid, frustrating stretches as well, not well-suited to what is essentially a mystery-thriller novel. Tartt is an exceptional writer, but her meticulous craftsmanship can be problematic in a genre where expectations are geared towards fast movement and neat resolutions. I enjoyed this book and was frustrated and impatient with it, in almost equal amounts. Recommended, but with reservation.
Rating:
Summary: Divine secrets of the Yawn Yawn Sisterhood?
Review: If Donna Tartt had not been the author of best-selling book 'The Secret History' I doubt if this rambling book would ever have been published. I expected an intriguing story of a young girl doing some detective work to solve her brother's murder, instead Tartt just uses this initial premise as the opening gambit for another character-driven novel about the American South. All the stock characters are there - the matriarchial grandmother, the ditzy aunts, the neurotic mother, the devoted black servant, the crazy redneck family, the fanatical preachers. Suffice to say no cliche is left unturned and after a promising start the book rambles on for pages and pages with nothing happening. It gets better towards the end (though some of the kids' escapades were about as convincing as Scooby Doo) but the ending - well the ending made me lose the will to live. I guess the message is don't expect your curiosity to be solved - this is no simple detective story - it is a piece of GREAT AMERICAN FICTION. What it honestly feels like is that the Tartt had a bad case of writer's block and had to force every word of this long uninvolving, rambling epic on to the page. A waste of my time ...
Rating:
Summary: This book does have some redeeming qualities
Review: I too am tempted to vent my frustration with the ending of this book by giving it the lowest number of stars possible. I felt cheated by the author's abrupt conclusion, like many other readers.However, like life, this book was more about the journey than the goal. I was jolted by the realization that the identity of Robin's killer would never be revealed, but then I thought back on some of my favorite parts and realized maybe reading the entire lengthy novel may not have been such a phenomenal waste of my time after all. Here are some of my favorite parts: 1. The way you keep thinking that nobody cares about Harriet, yet at one point her mother becomes frantic with worry when she mistakenly believes her daughter has stayed out all night. 2. The fact that Harriet's life is saved at the water tower because all summer long she's been practicing holding her breath at the country club pool. 3. I loved the portrayal of the pubescent girls at Camp Lake de Selby. These "Christian" girls are rude, crude, and completely realistic. In the entire book this is the only reference made to adolescent "coming of age" which I found uncharacteristic and very refreshing. Most books about 12 year old girls would at least mention a crush or a first period, a la Judy Blume or the movie "My Girl." I'm glad Ms. Tartt refrained. (I don't know if authors ever come on here to find out what we the public thought of their work, but if they do, perhaps my comments will help alleviate a little of the humiliation and shame some of the more scathing reviews here will have caused Ms. Tartt.)
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