Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Ein wenig Leben by Hanya Yanagihara

457 reviews

challenging dark emotional reflective 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: Complicated

Wow. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book with such brilliant character development. I found myself reacting out loud (ex: “No!” or gasping) and getting tears in my eyes on multiple occasions. And, even though I attempted to prepare myself for the ending, I still sobbed. This is a really heavy book with a variety of distressing topics; survivors of all forms of trauma should check out the trigger warnings. 

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adventurous challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I’ve never read a book with so many trigger warnings. It was gut wrenching, yet beautifully written. Story of Jude, a man whose soul and body are tortured by inconceivable abuse throughout his childhood and adolescence. Yet he is able to build a new life for himself upon foundational friendships of the men he meets in college who will change his life in dramatic ways. Despite his professional success as an attorney, he remains detached from romantic relationships until well into adulthood.  Eventually he decides to try to forge a connection, despite the demons he still wrestles with from his dark past who tell him he is worthless, broken and unlovable. Ultimately there are redemptive relationships which teach him he can give and receive love. There are many tender moments that show the  minutiae of what makes up daily moments of a relationship. Yet Jude’s struggles with darkness are always present. 
There are many graphic depictions of self-harm and abuse. It is a very long, heartbreaking book  Readers should definitely check trigger warnings before reading. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The unrelenting trauma and disaster was beyond the point of belief. It challenged you to think about what a person could endure and when they deserve to stop. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
dark emotional sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Every criticism you've heard about this book is absolutely correct. Still, I'm the curious type, and people love to discuss this book on the internet, so I had to check it out.

I would absolutely not recommend this book to anyone with any kind of self-harm, eating disorder, or suicidal history. You will be triggered to hell and back. Skip it, for the sake of your mental health. I'm serious. Skip. It. This book needs every single content warning there is. 

If you have ever loved someone who is so severely struggling with their mental health that you fear for their life, the characters in this book will resonate with you. My God will it resonate with you. 

However, the book was extremely and unnecessarily graphic and the amount of trauma was also maturely cartoonist, if that makes any sense, and also unnecessary for the story wanting to be told. We also don't need a heaping serving of trauma to tell the story of deep love that defies romantic expectations. 

I will say that, despite the many shortcomings of the book, there was enough snippets of something worth saying and a curiosity for what the lives of these men would turn into that I kept wanting to come back to the book.... Until I had about 25% left of the book and I started to lose interest. With such little of the book left, I sludged onward, but the last quarter of the book was poor compared to the rest. This could have probably been easily condensed into a 500 page book had the gruesome descriptions of pain been removed and the ending tightened up.

Overall, I WOULD NOT recommend this book to most people. There are better books that touch on some of the same themes that this one does without further stigmatizing seeking mental health help and glamorizing codependent relationships. 


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challenging dark emotional funny 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

ouch. thanks

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

A series of Heartbreaks. Beautifully written. Completely absorbing. Left me in tears, heartbroken.

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

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