Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

1897 reviews

sleepyaquarius's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

3.75

Beautifully written and heartbreaking. Trigger warning for everything you can think of. I will never read this book again 👍

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Kidnapping, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Self harm, Pedophilia, Grief, Gaslighting, Eating disorder, Abandonment, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Body shaming, Addiction, Sexual assault, Ableism, Sexual violence, Rape, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, and Physical abuse

megshughes_13's review against another edition

emotional slow-paced

• 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? Yes

3.75

just too long. the repetitiveness got a bit much, nothing ever changed or got better. i understand it’s meant to be realistic so. the writing was great. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicide attempt, Death, Self harm, Domestic abuse, Vomit, Sexual assault, Grief, Kidnapping, Car accident, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Physical abuse, and Medical content

abbeyrode's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Chronic illness, Suicide attempt, Violence, Blood, Sexual assault, Drug use, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Suicide, Gore, Abandonment, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Addiction, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Death, Rape, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, and Medical content

matilidaad's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.75

You have to be ready before you pick this book up. There are hundreds of pages of character building which can be slow and dry to get through but it is so so so relevant and important to the ending. 

This book has slow relationship development and gives you little peeks behind the characters history curtain before you get your return on investment. 

This book quite literally had me crying on the tram in public, it is so emotionally devastating but it is also the most beautiful story of love, friendship, trust, loss and trauma. It is incredible if you can stick with it 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Grief, Eating disorder, Chronic illness, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Suicide, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

xaqrii's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-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? Yes

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Sexual violence, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Body shaming, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Eating disorder, Kidnapping, Medical content, Rape, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Confinement, Drug abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Blood, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Death, Forced institutionalization, Suicide, Child abuse, Violence, Self harm, Chronic illness, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

juliabristow's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

2.5

Several months ago I was talking to a friend and I mentioned that I had gotten this book and immediately she just said "oh, the trauma porn book." In my head I was very dismissive, thinking I was pretty sure she hadn't even read the book and was just being annoying. But now that I've read it,,,, yeah 😭

The book starts out really strong if you enjoy contemporary fiction, but the more and more you dig in to Jude's backstory the more just unnecessary it feels. I actually have nothing against depicting really dark and traumatic experiences in books, but I feel very strongly that if you're going to do it it has to serve a purpose, and in this instance I just don't really think it did. I think you could argue that ONE of Jude's childhood traumas would be constructive to the story, explain his refusal to open up to people, and give the reader enough sympathy towards him. But after time and time again of learning something awful that happened to him, it stops being useful to the narrative and only exhausts the reader. [spoiler ahead] I genuinely laughed when Willem died because I had become numb to feeling bad for Jude and the amount of shock-value trauma was almost comical. Maybe that makes me a bad person but I don't care!!

Not only does the trauma get old, I also really stopped being able to sympathize with Jude once I got about 3/4 of the way through the book. I know him refusing therapy is a common point throughout the book, but jesus CHRIST go to therapy. I genuinely just can't feel bad for someone who isn't even trying. Refusing to go to therapy, forcing himself to have sex with Willem, apologizing to people for being sick, it honestly just becomes insufferable after 700 pages of it. And again, it serves NO purpose. Things would be different if the book was about his journey to recovery and overcoming the trauma, but instead the author just slaps some improvement at the end before finally having Jude kill himself anyway - there's absolutely no message or anything to take away besides "wow, that guy's life sucked." And again, maybe that makes me a bad person, but I think the real answer is that my friend was right and the book is just trauma porn.

Most people will say that this book is emotionally devastating and will make you cry, and that is true! But I only cried at the happy moments, which are few and far between, and the sad parts would be much more impactful if there was an actual point to them, like I've said several times already.

Anyway, at the end of the day I don't think this is actually a BAD book, just an unnecessary one that spreads potentially harmful messages and would probably cause someone with similar experiences to go off the deep end themselves. In the acknowledgments at the end the author has a list of people she consulted for medical, legal, and artistic advice, and the fact that there isn't a mental health expert in that list feels like a sign

Rant over, 3 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Pedophilia, Rape, Ableism, Eating disorder, Medical content, Chronic illness, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Violence, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Blood, Body shaming, Religious bigotry, Death, and Grief

Minor: Vomit

lqne's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Child death, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Body shaming, Grief, Death, Dementia, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Stalking, Torture, Chronic illness, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Pedophilia, Ableism, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Forced institutionalization, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Alcohol, Bullying, Drug abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Trafficking

mari_lit's review against another edition

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Gore, Ableism, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Blood, Medical content, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Body shaming, Death, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Suicide

Moderate: Drug abuse and Drug use

Minor: Death of parent

privatecaboose's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Kidnapping, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Grief, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Self harm, Trafficking, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Violence, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, and Rape

canisand's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

• 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Torture, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Cursing, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Ableism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Terminal illness, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Hate crime, Homophobia, Body horror, Bullying, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Suicide attempt, Xenophobia, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Outing, Self harm, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicide, and Violence