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mary_do_12'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
4.0
i cried 13 times in the span of reading this book and i feel like a piece of my heart has been torn out of my chest. i feel helpless and ashamed and deeply moved for jude.
coming to talk of all the great things this book offered, i do have to mention a few other things. first of all, the chapters were SO LONG. i told myself each night, i’m gonna read one chapter and then — even though i did only read one chapter — i ended up staying awake at least one more hour.
i loved all the characters in this book, though by the 3rd or 4th part i found some dissatisfaction with the plot. i can’t really explain it but ever since willem and jude started dating, the setting felt a little off. but i have nothing to back that with, so i understand that i can’t really argue.
overall though, this book was very rewarding — with tears, knowledge, and a new perspective on life.
Graphic: Chronic illness, Cursing, Medical trauma, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Vomit, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Rape, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Death, Eating disorder, Torture, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Child abuse, Body shaming, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, and Self harm
fee_1's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Blood, Physical abuse, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Rape, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Car accident, Medical content, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Violence, Sexual content, Suicide, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Death, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts
janann'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Addiction, Medical trauma, Sexual violence, Vomit, Drug use, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Rape, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Death, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual content, Torture, Toxic friendship, Alcoholism, Blood, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Violence, Bullying, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
ciaraflorence's review against another edition
Graphic: Gore, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Ableism, Bullying, Confinement, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Body horror, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Car accident, Child abuse, Suicide, Torture, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Medical trauma, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Trafficking, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Child death, Death, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Excrement, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts
cowardlyteaman'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
I absolutely love the way these characters are built, to be honest. They all got on my nerves at different points, but I still cherished all of them. I really like it when flawed characters.🫶
Willem is wonderful, of course, but not perfect? He makes mistakes! He's selfish, even. Delusional, at points.
Jude has been through — more than most, to say the least. And to be completely frank, it gets old after a while. I get tired of hearing about his problems, and I get tired of reading about him falling into the same patterns over and over again. However, I'm sure he's just as tired as I am. Or far more, probably. When I realised this, it became easier to empathise with his character.
JB is such a wonderfully flawed character. He made me wince with second hand ... not even embarrassment, just pain. I love him, even if he's a crown dick at multiple points during the book.
Malcolm is just there, honestly. Emotional support architect. But I do love a homosexual who never manages to admit it.
However, there comes the problem ... that there is no plot. There is no plot whatsoever. There is no end goal, no ambition the characters have for the future. They just are.
Hadn't it been for the fact that I annotated and analysed this book (just for hobby), then I might have quickly discarded it...
The events are short and repetitive, and soon become extremely predictable.
Moving on to something slightly more off-track... the names.
Jude St. Francis is such a great name for a character. I love it so much. Fits him so well.
Willem Ragnarsson, however. Eh. As a Nordic person myself, I have to say that I'm a bit confused. He has a Danish mother and an Icelandic father who gave their son a Dutch name? It's by no means impossible, but William or Vilhjálmur or Wilhelm would've just made more sense? Don't even get me started on the fact that these two Swedish-speaking parents named their severely disabled son Hemming. In Norwegian (which in all honesty is not much different from Swedish), «hemming» means handicap. Hämning /hem-ning/ in Swedish. While I'm sure the author had no intention of this, it jus seems absolutely ridiculous of them to name their child eith cerebral palsy Hemming. Not to mention that no-one's fucking named that in Denmark, Sweden, or Iceland.
That was my rant. It was worth it, despite the occasional drags of COMPLETELY irrelevant information.
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Medical content, Mental illness, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Blood, Body shaming, Grief, Ableism, Child abuse, Dysphoria, Medical trauma, Eating disorder, Murder, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Sexual content, Violence, Car accident, Death, Domestic abuse, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Rape, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Terminal illness, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Racism and Racial slurs
elishacarles's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Gore, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Grief, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Self harm, Child death, Death, Medical trauma, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, Abandonment, Blood, Car accident, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, and Rape
samlv'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
Graphic: Dysphoria, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Domestic abuse, Grief, Sexual content, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Blood, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Confinement, Cursing, Body horror, and Car accident
Minor: Confinement, Medical content, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, Outing, Drug use, Body shaming, Alcohol, Bullying, Cursing, and Gaslighting
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
manishasahota'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: Violence, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Sexual assault, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Body horror, Child death, Self harm, Adult/minor relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Addiction, Blood, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Grief, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Gore, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Death of parent, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Outing
Minor: Abortion and Cancer
audlittlebookshelf's review against another edition
I am begging you to read the author’s interview with Electric Lit before starting this book! Here are a few highlights: She compares therapy to religion and states that she does not believe in it. She also believes that some people cannot be helped or move past the point where they can be helped and would be better off committing suicide. Lastly, she openly states that she did not do any research before creating the main character who suffers years and years of abuse. Knowing these things, this book feels like an attempt to showcase and justify those beliefs.
It seems like a lot of the praise for this book is shock value combined with Yanagihara’s genuine talent for detailed and descriptive writing. Thankfully there are a lot of 1 and 2 star reviews for this book that do a great job of articulating its problems. I would recommend reading some before diving into this book, especially if you feel like you have only seen positive reviews.
I will also say that I read detailed summaries of the last half of the book because I wanted to know how it ended and if my instincts were correct. All I will say is that I am immensely relieved that I decided not to endure another 400 pages of this.
Lastly, I will leave you with this quote from the London Review of Books:
He wishes he too could forget, that he too could choose never to consider Caleb again. Always, he wonders why and how he has let four months – four months increasingly distant from him – so affect him, so alter his life. But then, he might as well ask – as he often does – why he has let the first 15 years of his life so dictate the past 28.
Graphic: Blood, Child death, Mental illness, Ableism, Addiction, Body horror, Car accident, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Suicide, and Trafficking
Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Addiction, and Alcohol