Scan barcode
stjohnswarts's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
however, it’s so beautifully written that i felt compelled to keep reading despite how turned off i was by the graphic violence. i cry rarely these days, and even more rarely at books or movies, but i cried reading the last chapter. i’m not sure i’ll be reading more of yanagihara’s writing, but i am glad i got to read a little life.
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Torture, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Violence, Self harm, Suicide, Trafficking, Sexual assault, Vomit, Grief, Abandonment, Blood, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Body shaming, Car accident, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Rape, Sexual violence, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Medical trauma, and Toxic relationship
macpreeper's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Minor: Grief, Rape, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Chronic illness, Classism, Drug abuse, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, Racism, Torture, Violence, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Ableism, Physical abuse, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Trafficking, and Transphobia
besotted's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, Gore, Chronic illness, Sexual assault, Homophobia, Self harm, Mental illness, Grief, Child abuse, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Ableism, Lesbophobia, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Transphobia, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Vomit, Classism, and Deadnaming
julianareynolds's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Graphic: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Body shaming, Child abuse, Rape, Toxic friendship, Grief, Addiction, Alcohol, Body horror, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Hate crime, Drug use, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Car accident, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Alcoholism, Classism, Ableism, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, and Pedophilia
asphodel04's review against another edition
This book is trauma porn. I don't even agree with that phrase as a concept because of how it gets used to criticize survivors. But as one, this is trauma porn. There is a difference between writing a book that does not have a happy ending, and that reflects the often-true reality of living with a disability, with PTSD and other assorted mental health issues, with not being okay, and with writing a book that exists solely to torture not just its characters, but its readers.
Yanagihara is also not someone who should have written this book. Quoting here another review [@ellereadsomebooks on GoodReads (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3529182954) and Instagram, who provides a much more in-depth, less angry review]:
"• yanagihara does not believe in trigger warnings. she believes that it is “very dangerous to isolate oneself from information or art or history or news because the subject is painful”. trigger warnings are there so people do not experience severe mood/mind altering trauma when abruptly encountering something they are affected by. and in a little life, there is a plethora of things to be triggered by.
• she also does not believe in therapy. this led me to wonder if there is a connection between this fact and that one of the worst villains in the novel is a psychiatrist. i believe there is.
• she stated she did not research the psychological background or trauma responses of jude, the main and most traumatized character, at all. she said that “jude came to her fully formed”."
I highly recommend reading Elle's full review, but I also want to respond to this, which she wrote in the same review:
"one cannot be so reckless when writing subject matter like this. because these are real problems for real people. just because they are fictional characters doesn't make it any less real. writing about child sexual abuse or suicidal thoughts should come with responsibility[...] what is her message out there to readers, real, living, breathing people, who are survivors of similar if not the same things as jude? what is the greater meaning? yanagihara said herself that she wanted to write a character who never gets better. there you have it. it is the reader that suffers the most." (emphasis my own)
What I got out of my 100 pages I tolerated of A Little Life is that Yanagihara simply does not acknowledge the lives of real, living, breathing people who are can understand Jude on a chilling and horrific level. In a Guardian interview with Tim Adams, she responded to a question regarding the photographic inspiration for the book by saying: “Photography is always a kind of stealing,” she says. “A theft from the subject. Artists are assaulters in a lot of ways and the viewer is complicit in that assault. In the same way with the book. I hope readers feel a sense of entanglement in these lives; they are bearing witness to them but there is also something quite intrusive about that.” Not only does this flat-out confirm that it was Yanagihara intended to make her readers suffer, it (along with the rest of the interview) shows the morbid way she views and depicts the lives of real people's suffering: as a tool for her art.
TL;DR: Fuck this book. Don't read it. It's exploitative trauma porn. Content note/trigger warning: Yes. Everything. The warnings I have listed on this review are only the ones I read or know for a fact appear.
Graphic: Abandonment, Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body shaming, Child abuse, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Gaslighting, Grief, and Medical content
stitchbooks22's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Violence, Eating disorder, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Car accident, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Vomit, Drug use, Gore, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Fatphobia, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Infidelity, Medical content, Outing, Ableism, Acephobia/Arophobia, Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Cancer, Child death, Drug abuse, Dysphoria, Abandonment, Suicide attempt, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, and Terminal illness
lozbot27's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Child death, Fatphobia, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Suicide, Car accident, Classism, Death, Drug abuse, Dementia, Infertility, Self harm, Torture, Toxic friendship, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Chronic illness, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Trafficking, Addiction, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Kidnapping, and Physical abuse
oops_i_read_it_again's review against another edition
- 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
2.0
Graphic: Chronic illness, Violence, Sexual assault, Addiction, Cancer, Child death, Cursing, Suicide, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Death of parent, Dementia, Drug abuse, Drug use, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Self harm, Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Classism, Dysphoria, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Car accident, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship
denisescoffeebreak's review against another edition
- 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
I think it was written beautifully, at some point it wasn’t reading but almost like watching the scenes of a movie right before my eyes.
We know from the start of the book that Jude is such a troubled character and that really does make you affectionate to his character - he isn’t against recovery, he just can’t excuse it for himself, he grew up learning to only allow pain in his life and that itself it’s such a difficult thing to unlearn.
There wasn’t any need for William to do a proper coming out, even his relationship with Jude didn’t really revolve around their sexuality but the respect and trust in each-other, so why is there a need to specify their sexuality? who cares.
The book was indeed very very heavy on the subjects but in my opinion it was expected - I think it’s not a reason to bash the book, that’s low key what it is known for, it is not an easy read, which is why I (like many others) suggest you check the trigger warnings before reading.
I sometimes had to put down the book to take a big breath but that’s what made me like it even more, it touched me enough to have a physical reaction lol.
One thing I didn’t like it’s yet another representation of a toxic gay love story, although again (sorry) expected in this book (that I know it’s not known for it’s”love story” though, which is good).
Anyways five starts because it really touched me and I couldn’t put it down. :)
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Suicide, Body horror, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Blood, Car accident, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicide attempt, Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Classism, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Medical trauma, and Trafficking
em1339's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Car accident, Medical content, Medical trauma, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Trafficking, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Classism, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Body shaming, Bullying, Physical abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Slavery, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Violence, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Domestic abuse, Gore, and Rape