You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Suicide attempt
It was a book that dealt in extremes: an impossibly perfect adult life to provide the highest contrast with Jude's horrific childhood, and his tragic foray back into victimhood with Caleb. I read an interview in which Hanya Yanagihara said she wanted to write a characters that was beyond saving; I think she failed to do this. The most painful thing about the story is how very saveable Jude seems to be; it is the many, many moments with people who care deeply for him in which, if he or they had made a different choice than they had in that moment, things might have gone differently for him—he might have opened up and found some release, he might have allowed himself to heal, he might, he might, if only, if only....
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Medical content, Trafficking, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Dysphoria
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Abandonment
Moderate: Car accident
the good:
i did cry. while its not really that hard to make me cry, it does require a certain degree of competence from the author, so i have to give credit where its due here. this book was beautifully written, most of the time, and by the end i truly felt connected to some of the characters and i think thats admirable
the bad:
its so fucking long. it didnt need to be that long. i knew right away that there was a truly gratuitous amount of detail. for example, i left myself a note asking my future self if the detailed descriptions of JB's studio mates that we get in the beginning chapters would end up being relevant at all (answer: it sure doesnt!) and there's a lot of stuff like that. just pages and pages of shit that doesnt really matter or add much. again, this shit did not need to be that long. this is coming from someone who has read wheel of time and the stormlight archive and other long drawn out books so i think i have the authority to say this.
the ugly:
my primary qualm is that the depiction of self harm did not need to be so frequent and so descriptive. it just didnt. i did not need to read over and over about the techniques, the sensations, the visuals, etc. this is not to say that i think that books shouldn't depict self harm, or cutting, or anything like that. i think its a real life thing that should be present in stories about real life, but jesus christ this was the most triggering thing i think ive ever read. and im doing a bit of research on the author, and just pulled this quote from an interview with her:
"But I don’t believe in it — talk therapy, I should specify — myself. One of the things that makes me most suspicious about the field is its insistence that life is always the answer. Every other medical specialty devoted to the care of the seriously ill recognizes that at some point, the doctor’s job is to help the patient die; that there are points at which death is preferable to life."
and that just pissed me off so bad. to think that way is one thing, i understand how a person can think that. but to decry therapy and recovery so publicly, when you're writing a book like this, just feels so ... gross.
similarly, i found the whole caleb incident to be so transparently just for the sake of making jude suffer that it was distracting. we get a brief potential explanation for caleb’s behavior, that he hates seeing weakness because he watched his parents weaken after they got sick, but like …. this doesnt feel like a concrete reason for why he acted that way? this successful public figure would risk a murder charge just for that? obviously i understand abusers are gonna abuse but i kind of find the novel's reasoning for it hard to believe and so it just seems like a shallow attempt at characterization
i think most of qualms with this novel can be summed up with the word gratuitous. it was so, so gratuitous in every way
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Trafficking, Grief, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, Car accident
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Trafficking, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Trafficking, Grief, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Suicide