Reviews tagging 'Acephobia/Arophobia'

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

38 reviews

emmarauchtcamel's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

i don’t know what’s going on in hanya yanagihara’s mind but damn this woman made my heart shatter into a million pathetic little pieces and called it a day 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Abortion, Biphobia, Self harm, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Deadnaming, Death, Drug use, Abandonment, Acephobia/Arophobia, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Eating disorder, Body shaming, Body horror, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Alcohol, and Homophobia

neontulips's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.0

I'm furious. The craft of this book was so excellent, asides from what I would say amount to some planning and character writing issues that begin about the final quarter of the book, that it bothers me immensely that every lesson in the book emanates such a pessimism, that they all amount essentially to a bleak miserable world that does not do much to fight Jude's contention that his life is not worth living. Around the point in the book where I began to think, wow, Yanagihara really understands that the only way to really go on living is to submit to the mortifying ordeal of being known, she created a false world in which it was impossible to allow oneself that relief,

and concluded a story which purports essentially that the people around Jude should have let him go, as a man only fifty, because his life was so hard

. To treat such violence as inevitable is to put that violence into the world. This book is beautiful and miserly and irresponsible. I hated giving it a rating for this purpose.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Car accident, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Violence, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Outing, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Vomit, Abandonment, Acephobia/Arophobia, Alcohol, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Child death, Dementia, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, and Medical content

dbsuperslayer's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Ableism, Homophobia, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Rape, Torture, Trafficking, Acephobia/Arophobia, Blood, Body shaming, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Vomit, Car accident, Death, Pedophilia, Self harm, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Sexual content, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Chronic illness, Gaslighting, Medical content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Violence, Drug abuse, Drug use, Medical trauma, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, and Forced institutionalization

floraaea3's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Rape, Blood, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Sexual violence, Ableism, Toxic relationship, Acephobia/Arophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Child death, Eating disorder, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Mental illness

feral_andro's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad medium-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

3.25

tw: suicide

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.)

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Violence, Blood, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Pedophilia, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Physical abuse, Self harm, Bullying, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Child abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual violence, Drug abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Acephobia/Arophobia, Dysphoria, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Toxic friendship

adamparrishlover's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Pedophilia, Addiction, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Eating disorder, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Self harm, Death, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Blood, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Chronic illness, Child abuse, Car accident, and Vomit

Moderate: Racism, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Homophobia

prawdziwki's review against another edition

challenging tense slow-paced

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

0.5

o tym też nie chcę rozmawiać, bo mnie nie przekonacie // this is fucking awful

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Death, Chronic illness, Ableism, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Acephobia/Arophobia, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Biphobia, Transphobia, Homophobia, Vomit, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Drug use, Eating disorder, Outing, Addiction, Drug abuse, Medical content, Classism, Racism, and Grief

moomoochamp's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gore, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Chronic illness, Body shaming, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Body horror, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Physical abuse, Self harm, Mental illness, Suicide, Violence, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Kidnapping, Dementia, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Abandonment, Drug abuse, Drug use, Medical content, Chronic illness, Gaslighting, Ableism, and Medical trauma

Minor: Abandonment, Car accident, Toxic friendship, Fire/Fire injury, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Acephobia/Arophobia, Racism, Religious bigotry, Cursing, Fatphobia, and Vomit

emilyhunterr's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• 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: Chronic illness, Death, Forced institutionalization, Body horror, Sexual content, Violence, Vomit, Sexual violence, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Body shaming, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Grief, Incest, Rape, Self harm, Suicide, Ableism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Adult/minor relationship

jaybird_reads's review

dark emotional slow-paced

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

No stars because no star rating feels accurate. On one hand, the prose is really beautiful and the book is, at times, incredibly written. On the other, I do not believe this author should have ever written this book.

I will begin this by saying that I am a queer disabled man, and it is for that reason (and my insatiable, sometimes harmful curiosity) that I read this book.

This book is not some great gay novel as so many have claimed. It is not even written about queerness; it just uses sex with men as one of the many ways that Jude is physically and emotionally tortured. Jude’s sexuality, trauma, and disability is not written with empathy — it is written with a sick fascination that is voyeuristic in nature.

Some of the characters are more than lovable. Some of the scenes and relationships are beyond beautiful. I cried over the first description of Jude’s pain because it was so similar to my own. I cried over the care that Harold showed Jude. I don’t care. The point of this book could have been achieved in 200 less pages and with less than half of the atrocities that were done to Jude.

I might write more later, but for now I have finally sat down and read (in one week) this 800 page trauma-porn novel that so many people are undeservedly obsessed with (most likely because our culture is obsessed with trauma and abuse, especially that visited upon queer men) and can finally say from personal experience: do not fucking read this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Medical content, Self harm, Sexual assault, Torture, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Car accident, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Violence, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Vomit, Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Stalking, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Acephobia/Arophobia and Alcohol

Minor: Cancer, Eating disorder, and Fatphobia