Reviews tagging 'Trafficking'

Et Lille Liv by Hanya Yanagihara

784 reviews

abbeyrode's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Chronic illness, Suicide attempt, Violence, Blood, Sexual assault, Drug use, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Suicide, Gore, Abandonment, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Addiction, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Death, Rape, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, and Medical content

juliabristow's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Several months ago I was talking to a friend and I mentioned that I had gotten this book and immediately she just said "oh, the trauma porn book." In my head I was very dismissive, thinking I was pretty sure she hadn't even read the book and was just being annoying. But now that I've read it,,,, yeah 😭

The book starts out really strong if you enjoy contemporary fiction, but the more and more you dig in to Jude's backstory the more just unnecessary it feels. I actually have nothing against depicting really dark and traumatic experiences in books, but I feel very strongly that if you're going to do it it has to serve a purpose, and in this instance I just don't really think it did. I think you could argue that ONE of Jude's childhood traumas would be constructive to the story, explain his refusal to open up to people, and give the reader enough sympathy towards him. But after time and time again of learning something awful that happened to him, it stops being useful to the narrative and only exhausts the reader. [spoiler ahead] I genuinely laughed when Willem died because I had become numb to feeling bad for Jude and the amount of shock-value trauma was almost comical. Maybe that makes me a bad person but I don't care!!

Not only does the trauma get old, I also really stopped being able to sympathize with Jude once I got about 3/4 of the way through the book. I know him refusing therapy is a common point throughout the book, but jesus CHRIST go to therapy. I genuinely just can't feel bad for someone who isn't even trying. Refusing to go to therapy, forcing himself to have sex with Willem, apologizing to people for being sick, it honestly just becomes insufferable after 700 pages of it. And again, it serves NO purpose. Things would be different if the book was about his journey to recovery and overcoming the trauma, but instead the author just slaps some improvement at the end before finally having Jude kill himself anyway - there's absolutely no message or anything to take away besides "wow, that guy's life sucked." And again, maybe that makes me a bad person, but I think the real answer is that my friend was right and the book is just trauma porn.

Most people will say that this book is emotionally devastating and will make you cry, and that is true! But I only cried at the happy moments, which are few and far between, and the sad parts would be much more impactful if there was an actual point to them, like I've said several times already.

Anyway, at the end of the day I don't think this is actually a BAD book, just an unnecessary one that spreads potentially harmful messages and would probably cause someone with similar experiences to go off the deep end themselves. In the acknowledgments at the end the author has a list of people she consulted for medical, legal, and artistic advice, and the fact that there isn't a mental health expert in that list feels like a sign

Rant over, 3 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Pedophilia, Rape, Ableism, Eating disorder, Medical content, Chronic illness, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Violence, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Blood, Body shaming, Religious bigotry, Death, and Grief

Minor: Vomit

lqne's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Child death, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Body shaming, Grief, Death, Dementia, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Stalking, Torture, Chronic illness, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Pedophilia, Ableism, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Alcohol, Bullying, Drug abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Trafficking

privatecaboose's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Kidnapping, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Grief, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Self harm, Trafficking, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Violence, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, and Rape

canisand's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Torture, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Cursing, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Terminal illness, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Hate crime, Homophobia, Body horror, Bullying, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Suicide attempt, Xenophobia, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Outing, Self harm, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicide, and Violence

effievee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Rape, Self harm, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Suicide attempt, Violence, Trafficking, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Blood, Child abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Pedophilia, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Addiction, Alcoholism, Religious bigotry, Vomit, Alcohol, Stalking, and Cursing

elisavo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Medical trauma, Abandonment, Violence, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Blood, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Torture, Trafficking, Body shaming, Bullying, Car accident, Chronic illness, Cursing, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Suicide, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Kidnapping, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Car accident, Gaslighting, Medical content, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Trafficking

sphjnx's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Medical content, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Self harm, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, and Trafficking

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Drug abuse, and Addiction

Minor: Car accident and Death

hgullegrogan's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A Little Life is both genius--in the dimensionality of its characters and universe --and absolutely heartbreaking. This story emotionally destroyed me, but I believe that it will be one of the most impactful pieces I will ever read.

I'd first like to say that this book is extremely challenging to read due to the shocking, graphic content it contains. I would not recommend this story to anyone sensitive to graphic discussions of abuse, sexual violence, self mutilation, and suicide.

Despite the difficult content, Yanagihara has created a world and characters that are so authentic and believable that I feel that I have both known the characters and lived their lives--much like recalling my own memories.

Each of the primary 5 characters are governed by the false truths they learned as children. Jude's story is extreme, but the delineated parts of his life accentuate this idea.

A Little Life grants the reader both hope and desolation; that they have the power to instill goodness and happiness in others

'to an extent'. As much as we see the best in our loved ones, we cannot force them to see and believe it. We have the power to do our best for others, but it is ultimately their choice how they live. 

The despair I felt when I realized the meaning behind this book's title broke my heart. I feel as if I have mourned myself through Jude (though our lives couldn't be more dissimilar). Jude's sense of self is mauled and disfigured by his past--a past that he knows to be horrendous--yet he cannot untangle himself from it.

Although Jude eventually dies by suicide, his time with Willem during "the happy years" instills the importance of deep connection that we build with others. Willem is both a secondary character and the primary protagonist with how he inspires kindness and compassion.

Despite the initially slow pace, Yanagihara's writing is so poetic and beautiful that I was immediately transfixed by the story. If you can handle the graphic content, you will feel joy, hope, grief, inspiration, heart break, pride, contentment, and sorrow.

 You will feel as if you've lived a whole life within your own and grieved the loss of those you've never known. You will smile, laugh, and cry. You will likely see yourself or someone you know within these pages, and you will wonder what you can do better for those you love.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Self harm, Rape, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Suicide

Moderate: Child death, Eating disorder, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Trafficking

Minor: Death of parent, Vomit, and Drug abuse

bshipps's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

While this has become one of my new favorite books,  it is also gut wrenching. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Trafficking, Sexual violence, and Suicide