Reviews

The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanagihara

irisdg's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad slow-paced

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

3.5

whatellisreadnext's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

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

5.0

I need to get my thoughts together because that ending, even though expected, was uncomfortable. But what a book this was. Hanya is a genius. 

caseyjayner's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

2.5

Superbly written and very interesting as a story. Honestly it would’ve been interstate and garnered more stars if he had simply slapped victor and there weren’t allegations or they were of physics abuse.  
That said, I think illuminating his thought process is oddly revelatory of rape within the context of someone known.  It seems unlikely that a pedophile would’ve had that many children and not been sexually abusive to more of them- it was perverse power, rage, love and hate.  It felt unnecessary to the overall story though and made me feel incredibly ill- why can’t he be perfectly unlikable without being obviously retched?! I actually find that more interesting.  


Also- I read other reviews so I skipped the last section and only read his thoughts just before and the last sentence. I strongly suggest to skip this book or skip that section too.  

gamecocksara's review against another edition

4.0

Other people's reviews do this book more justice than I can. Deeply unsettling, but masterfully crafted.

lenah9773's review

challenging dark medium-paced

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

5.0

quileee's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Rape, and Pedophilia

e_laura's review against another edition

adventurous emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.25

regancovert's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

ivyinthepages's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

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

1.0

 Rating: 1.5 leaves out of 5
-Characters: 1/5
-Story: 1/5
-Writing: 2.5/5
Genre: Contemporary, Fantasy, HisFic, Magical Realism
Type: Ebook
Worth?: No

Hated|Disliked|Meh|It Was Okay|Liked|Really Liked|Loved

You know I thought A Little Life was bad but I would happily take that over this any day of the week. I DNFed it but got close to 50% in and so I am doing a review.

This is the second book by Hanya and it is concerning what her subject is about... especially with children (boys) and men. I am not going to get deep into it, because it become more rant than anything.

The book in itself was boring as hell. I don't care about a horrible man and what he has to say. The only thing that had me going was the stories from the islands but everything else that takes place on that island with the people... hell no. I don't care. Just hell no. 

librovermo's review against another edition

It wasn’t even the subject matter - I just didn’t like the writing style or the concept of Ronald editing Norton’s memoir and adding in footnotes. It just wasn’t doing anything for me.