Reviews tagging 'Violence'

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

1504 reviews

camiraculous's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

I don’t recommend this book to my friends or anyone, really. 
Or, read this book but you have to prepare yourself for a VERY emotional read.

I was nauseated, had to close my eyes on so many parts and had to take breaks because I couldn’t read through lyrics tears. I am in grief. 

Check the trigger warnings, and I can’t stress this enough. 

As I am writing this, I still have a hundred pages left, but I needed to sort my feelings before being even more in grief. 

It is book you can not put down but also a book that you have to put down to absorb the horror of it. 

I hated that book at some point, I thought «  why would I do that to myself? I can just put the book down » but no! I couldn’t because what I was reading couldn’t be final,

there had to be an end to all that suffering Jude went through!

But I loved it. The writing is flawless. I loved how seamlessly we could jump from one narration to another, or from a moment in time to another. 

I loved how some pieces of the story, important pieces, were only first mentioned in the latter half of the book. How we kept on discovering more and more about each character in a quite jarring manner. 

And, I need to talk about how much I loved the characters. 

My favourite one is Willem. I loved reading in his perspective, discovering his flaws and insecurities right after a chapter where he was described as the perfect friend by Jude. 

The first chapter we got with Malcolm (the only), I cried and was sad for two days. I related so much to that character, lost, and hopeless and not knowing what to do with his life even though he knows he has opportunities and capacity. Him not wanting do disappoint his parents but also not wanting to do as the pleased… I am at that place in my life, early twenties. And I think that if I re-read the book, maybe I will relate to other parts of the story.

I love books that make me take a big step back, rethink your priorities.

But as I said: I do not recommend this book. Or don’t blame me if you do read it and do not come out intact. (it’s crazy how people only read the stuff I forbid them to read). 

…

It took me ages to finish it because it is hard to read through tears. 

I still agree with my review previously written. I still love-hate this book and it’s characters.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Vomit, Emotional abuse, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Violence, Toxic relationship, Pedophilia, Medical trauma, Medical content, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Death

rinnfoskey's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

Ooooft. A long, beautiful and haunting novel. I felt totally captured by this book, staying up far far too several nights in a row to finish it both because I was so invested in the characters lives and Hanya managed to keep the reader engaged over some nearly 800 pages but also because I wanted to be done with it and the emotional turmoil! It was so tender and so brutal, an exaggeration of possibilities on both ends of the spectrum but that we can all find elements in our own "little lives" to connect with. I loved and hated all four of the main characters at points - most of all Jude of course - who we are all made to be infatuated and infuriated by endlessly. 

Certainly things I didn't like or feel weren't as successful in the novel so it's not a 5 star for me, but it was incredibly impacted and I know will be staying with me for a long while 

If you need a good cry, read this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, and Violence

ccoffeeapparently'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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual assault, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Rape, Toxic relationship, and Violence

thewritetofight's review against another edition

I couldn’t finish the book because of how much trauma was in it. There was so much trauma that Jude went through to a point where it was comical. I was getting tired of every flashback introducing more vile happenings, it was so stupid. Like as if every man he met molested him like Jesus, there comes a point where you just got to stop. This whole book is just trauma porn under the guise of rich male friendship (which is a lie, Malcolm and JB hardly have any part in the 2nd half of the book). 

Also, the fact that Jude is so annoyingly untrusting. “Oh they hate me” no dummy, they’re literally adopting you. Shut up.

This book is just so unrealistic. Waste your money somewhere else.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Mental illness, Violence, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Chronic illness, Car accident, Alcohol, Death, and Blood

floord1's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

2.25

Too much. Not enjoyable. Why would you read this? Why would you write this?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Trafficking, Toxic friendship, Ableism, Terminal illness, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Chronic illness, Medical content, Blood, Suicide attempt, Body shaming, Forced institutionalization, and Pedophilia

lilymaexx's review against another edition

challenging 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? It's complicated

5.0

Absolutely beautiful book, so moving and gripping. Some trigger warnings required, very graphic book in a lot of ways. Such a devasting story line but so well written. I think about this book a lot

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Self harm, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, and Sexual assault

annelvogel's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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

This book is definitely in my top 10 books ever. It was so hard to read and at some points I really couldn’t read further. Even though I know it’s fiction, this story could be true and probably is a lived experience for many people. 
With that being said it’s also a beautiful and real depiction of friendship, love and chosen family. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Trafficking, Sexual violence, Violence, Self harm, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

arthurwjones's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Ableism, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Cursing, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Chronic illness, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Grief

Moderate: Death of parent, Medical content, Blood, Medical trauma, and Vomit

stefs1974's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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? No

4.5

The tragedy in this book is extremely intense.  Not an easy read at all because of the content.  Get your tissues out!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Self harm, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Violence

stephaniemm95's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.5

I think the author was so close to having this be the kind of book that sticks with you in profound way. Instead I'm left with the kind of book that makes you want to just stare at a wall feeling empty afterwards. 

I thought it was one chapter too long. I'm not saying that everything has to have a happy ending but after all Jude went through I thought that he deserved a better ending. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Self harm, Violence, and Child abuse