Reviews tagging 'Dementia'

Ein wenig Leben by Hanya Yanagihara

130 reviews

alyxandrathegr8's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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: Yes

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Horrifically tragic. Trama porn. Don’t read if you are not in a good place.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug 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, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail

Horrifically tragic. Trama porn. Don’t read if you are not in a good place.

cleotheo's review against another edition

4.5

dark emotional reflective sad 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

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brutal and gentle
heavy and delicate
sad and beautiful 
I listened to the audiobook on 1x speed for the most part. It was beautifully written and very very long. 
Do yourself a favour and pick the abridged version (I read unabridged) and take the content warnings seriossly!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug 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, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use, Stalking, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Outing

Minor: Cancer, Homophobia, Infidelity, Dementia, Abortion

geoneo2001's review against another edition

4.75

challenging dark sad medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail

horrorfan37's review against another edition

3.0

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Dementia, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail

jkrap's review against another edition

4.75

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail

punkrockbenji's review against another edition

2.0

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Really, really well written, but devastatingly sad. Most characters remain mostly unchanged throughout the story, especially being over a 30 or more year time span. It felt like it was traumatic just for the sake of being traumatic, without any resolution or reprieve. Ending was totally expected and very much unwelcome. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail

breckee's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

marionmarzipan's review against another edition

4.75

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail

tinypear's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional 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: Yes

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“And so I try to be kind to everything I see, and in everything I see, I see him.”

I genuinely thought I was going to get through this without crying until I reached 'Dear Comrade'. I have never sobbed so hard whilst reading a book. The last 100 pages of this book ripped my heart out and trampled on it.

I loved A Little Life more than I can express in one review. I could not put this book down and I found the characters to be captivating, their development well fleshed-out and their lives so beautifully intertwined with each other. The story is heart-wrenching and agonising to read, especially towards the middle and the end of the book, and one that I expect to stay with me for a long time. The topics were raw and difficult but so amazingly written that I felt completely immersed in a multitude of scenes. 

Before reading this book, ensure you are comfortable with the content warnings. This book is so graphic that I had to step back a couple of times and recollect my thoughts. It's also a slow one that takes a little build-up at the beginning to get going. 🌙

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Dysphoria

victaphone's review against another edition

0.25

dark sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Every accusation of this being unnecessary trauma porn is true. It claims to be about the lives and friendships of 4 men, but not even half way through the book it's made very clear that this is all about Jude and all the awful situations the authour revels in putting him through. The heavy-handedness when it comes to Judes suffering takes away a lot of whatever impact the authour thought she was making. The few moments Jude *isn't* being abused are way more interesting, as we actually get a hint of his actual personality (what little there is of it), rather than being Yanagiharas punching bag. Jude is clearly written to be the main character, but the author doesn't give him much character to begin with, so all talk about him being "post racial" just feels like lack of commitment, rather than whatever radical thing the authour thought she was doing with that. Don't even get me started on the horrible representation of gay men, this is *not* "the great gay novel" and whoever said that needs their head checked (although they'd probably share Yanagiharas views on how therapy doesn't work). Overall, this was a waste of over 700 pages. Even though queer representation in books could be better, a book written by a straight woman where most if not all of the gay sex is rape and most of the "gay men" are just pedos should not be met with this much acclaim.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment

Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Death of parent

Minor: Addiction, Cursing, Eating disorder, Terminal illness, Dementia, Car accident, Acephobia/Arophobia