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feral_andro's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
minor spoilers
I did not particularly like this book and don't understand why so many people do. The writing was not immersive for me -- instead of showing the reader who the characters are, all we get are endlessly long descriptions of the author telling us. I typically really enjoy dense writing, but it was not beautiful or original prose.
As for content, I still don't know how I feel about it. As someone who has experienced abuse, I just don't see Jude's internalization of it as realistic. Yes, there are elements of realism, but I think the degree to which he has internalized what he experienced is dramatized in the extreme and somehow takes away from the experiences of real abuse survivors .... though I have not yet been able to find the words to describe why I feel this.
(Possibly because in the end we're just supposed to accept that some people are too broken to be "saved" and are just destined to die. And as someone who has been suicidal before, I don't like this suggestion at all.)
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Drug use, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Violence, Ableism, Blood, Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Mental illness, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Suicide, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Physical abuse, Grief, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Injury/Injury detail, Acephobia/Arophobia, Dysphoria, Infidelity, and Toxic friendship
dhiby'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
Graphic: Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Suicide, Abandonment, Ableism, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Vomit, Violence, Death, Infidelity, Self harm, and Sexual harassment
icarusandthesun'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
i can only describe how i feel.
one can find two different types of people in the review section of this book:
- type A: "this book is completely mental and tragedy porn and you shouldn't ever read it", and
- type B: "this book is completely mental and tragedy porn and you should absolutely read it",
(and of course the impartial "i love it but would never ever recommend it to anyone").
so i was curious which type i'd end up being.
answer: type B. because i loved it.
of course it was tragic, and traumatic, and bloody, and cold and crazy. but it was also lovely, tender and warm.
maybe i'm just a whole other level of delulu and mental, but i found a little life strangely comforting. when i feel down, i feel this urge to pick it up, to drown in this world yanagihara has created. i want to read about the lives of all these people i've had the pleasure of meeting—jude and willem and harold and julia and malcolm and jb, and and and.
one of the reviewers on the back of the cover said something along the lines of "i wish this book was longer" and at first i thought this person insane. but now, ... my god, this person's right. i find myself wishing i could just pick it up and continue reading. this feeling is especially strong when i'm feeling down—comfort book and all that.
720 pages, and i want to re-read it. actually, i just want to never stop reading it.
originally, i didn't want to rate this book at all, because that would be like rating a sad, trauma-dumping (auto)biography; it feels wrong somehow.
but i can't really stop thinking about it, and that's always THE sign that tells me that i really, really enjoyed a book. so i want to give it a good rating.
so yeah. type B.
do check out the trigger warnings (there's a lot of them), but if you're okay with all of them, i want you to read it. forget that "i would never recommend it to anyone because it's so sad"-stuff. i'm telling you to read it. because it's good.
it's a good book.
Graphic: Physical abuse, Mental illness, Violence, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, Suicide, Grief, Death, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Blood, Ableism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Rape, Medical content, Emotional abuse, Child death, Pedophilia, and Torture
Moderate: Infidelity, Outing, Vomit, Drug abuse, Terminal illness, Addiction, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, and Car accident
peppyb'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
5.0
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Grief, Medical content, Sexual harassment, Terminal illness, Violence, Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Ableism, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, Suicide, Body shaming, Bullying, Religious bigotry, Vomit, Abandonment, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Chronic illness, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Trafficking
Moderate: Toxic friendship
Minor: Biphobia and Infidelity
xiumillion'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
4.5
Please check trigger warnings before you read this book. If you have a trigger, it is probably in here
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Trafficking, Vomit, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Ableism, Car accident, Confinement, Eating disorder, Addiction, Gore, Sexual content, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Torture, Violence, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Infidelity, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, and Suicide
danpeachey's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Trafficking, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Hate crime, Mental illness, Death, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Bullying, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, and Vomit
Moderate: Body shaming, Car accident, Chronic illness, Addiction, Blood, Cursing, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Ableism, Medical content, Outing, Abandonment, and Child death
stardustdreamer's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death of parent, Medical content, Stalking, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Ableism, Addiction, Drug use, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Sexual violence, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Death, Drug abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Slavery, Violence, Blood, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Vomit
Moderate: Confinement
rileyhawkins'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
Graphic: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Dysphoria, Trafficking, Torture, Pedophilia, Grief, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Stalking, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Self harm, Racism, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Medical content, Hate crime, Alcohol, Outing, Mental illness, Infidelity, Gaslighting, and Forced institutionalization
chloleighton's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual content, Suicide, Car accident, Death, Eating disorder, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Pedophilia, Self harm, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Child death, Addiction, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Infidelity, Suicide attempt, and Drug abuse
eliel'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
3.75
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Eating disorder, Abandonment, Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Infidelity, Self harm, Violence, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Rape, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual harassment, Blood, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Sexual violence, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Toxic relationship