Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

330 reviews

ottolee's review against another edition

I have had to rewrite this review repeatedly to succinctly gather my thoughts on why this book is one of the worst I have ever experienced. I listened to this book on CD while driving and have chosen to drop it at around the halfway point following a double whammy

of a suicide attempt and an overly long description of child sexual abuse

because a quick Google search confirmed for me that it would not only not get any better, that it would only get worse.

Plain and simple, this novel is an exercise in endurance, not simply because it is incredibly long, but because Hanya Yanagihara seems to be into repeatedly and brutally abusing her main character and forcing the reader to witness the almost comical lengths to which she chooses to hurt him. There are increasingly infrequent sections of the novel breaking up the increasingly frequent and drawn out depictions of physical and violence against an ambiguously gay, ambiguously ethnic, disabled man. 

This is what causes the book to be as long as it is; it is the literary equivalent of Yanagihara strapping the reader to a table and drawing increasingly large quantities of blood out of them to see what they can stand, giving them cookies and Gatorade in between each draw just so the next one can be bigger. The reader hopes that, at some point, she will get what she came for, finish the experiment and give you back what you gave up. But she doesn't. She just wants to watch you bleed.

I think Yanagihara explains herself best. 

"I wanted A Little Life... to begin healthy (or appear so), and end sick — both the main character, Jude, and the plot itself." (https://www.vulture.com/2015/04/how-hanya-yanagihara-wrote-a-little-life.html#_ga=2.58977709.1601876994.1578809567-1295422479.1578809567)

And so it does. And I, personally want to vomit.

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Content Warnings

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

faeee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• 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? N/A

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Ableism, Death, Grief, Sexual assault, Blood, Body horror, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Adult/minor relationship, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, and Eating disorder

toochmarone's review against another edition

I read 500 pages of this, and am just tired of the torture. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Chronic illness, Death, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Body horror, Child death, Drug use, Rape, Suicide, Trafficking, Murder, Alcoholism, Bullying, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Blood, Body shaming, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Addiction, Gore, Toxic friendship, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Eating disorder, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Self harm, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

gebevafaye's review against another edition

dark sad 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

0.25

Truly the most tedious, fluffy, ridiculous book I’ve ever read. I really wanted to like it, I read it all. But seriously so slow, too long and in essence just misery porn.

Jude as the main character is so frustrating. He is always a bad friend, a bad partner, a bad person and everyone allows him to be. He’s an addict to his trauma and everyone enables him. And don’t even get me started on the misleading synopsis. None of the so-called friends are mentioned after the first fourth of the book. 

The fact that I had to list like 50 trigger warnings with no real payoff is concerning.

I didn't find anything about this book appealing and I would not recommend it to anyone.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Violence, Self harm, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Child abuse, Car accident, Trafficking, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Torture, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, Death, and Chronic illness

parkerjm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring 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: Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Blood, Kidnapping, Rape, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Child abuse, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Car accident, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Self harm, Gore, Toxic relationship, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Abandonment, Gaslighting, Infertility, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Ableism, Blood, Addiction, and Alcohol

sahnve's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, and Vomit

cari_'s review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-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

3.75

This is a wonderfully written book about terrible things. It's characters are rich and explored deeply enough for readers to develop a strong connection to them, which makes the terrible things worse. There are people who I would never recommend this book to, and I would suggest looking up content warnings before delving in if you are prone to triggers. It is not without flaws, but it affected me deeply (for better or worse).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Grief, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Death, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Rape, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Drug abuse, and Body shaming

Minor: Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Infidelity, Abandonment, and Kidnapping

alinute's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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: Rape, Mental illness, Bullying, Violence, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Pedophilia, Panic attacks/disorders, Incest, Gaslighting, Cursing, Addiction, Toxic friendship, Torture, Xenophobia, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Racism, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Drug use, Drug abuse, Death, Car accident, Child abuse, Body shaming, Body horror, Blood, and Adult/minor relationship

caitlin_d89'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

4.25

Take notes, they will help so much at first. It will say “he did” / “he said” but the POV changes up without notice so knowing the characters will keep you from being confused. Hard book to read since it’s so emotional but such a good read. I felt connected to the characters, almost like a friend by the end so you really feel their feels. Triggers! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Forced institutionalization, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Dysphoria, Blood, Ableism, Medical content, Gaslighting, Confinement, Body shaming, Abandonment, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Self harm, Torture, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Rape, Trafficking, Suicide, Mental illness, Gore, Domestic abuse, Chronic illness, Body horror, Incest, and Child abuse

Minor: Cancer, Car accident, Gaslighting, Addiction, Bullying, Gore, Biphobia, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Medical content, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Incest, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, and Kidnapping

trayana's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

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