Reviews tagging 'Dementia'

Ein wenig Leben by Hanya Yanagihara

130 reviews

readwithsara's review against another edition

3.0

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail

jbpearl's review against another edition

5.0

challenging 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: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Outing, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail

nrougely's review against another edition

3.5

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: Yes

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Im devastated and grateful to have read it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Classism

amandaantonitti's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Pedophilia, Dementia, Car accident

rebeccaalice93's review against another edition

5.0

challenging emotional reflective sad fast-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: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt

kalynnar's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, 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, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Dementia, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Dysphoria

lqne's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark 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: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail

neontulips's review against another edition

3.0

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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I'm furious. The craft of this book was so excellent, asides from what I would say amount to some planning and character writing issues that begin about the final quarter of the book, that it bothers me immensely that every lesson in the book emanates such a pessimism, that they all amount essentially to a bleak miserable world that does not do much to fight Jude's contention that his life is not worth living. Around the point in the book where I began to think, wow, Yanagihara really understands that the only way to really go on living is to submit to the mortifying ordeal of being known, she created a false world in which it was impossible to allow oneself that relief,

and concluded a story which purports essentially that the people around Jude should have let him go, as a man only fifty, because his life was so hard

. To treat such violence as inevitable is to put that violence into the world. This book is beautiful and miserly and irresponsible. I hated giving it a rating for this purpose.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, 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, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Acephobia/Arophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail

hollynewton's review against another edition

2.0

challenging dark emotional 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: Complicated

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This book navigates adult friendships, aging, career paths, addiction, romantic relationships, and family is the most insightful and beautiful way I have ever read. Unfortunately, this all ends around a third of the way in, when the book focuses on one character’s extremely traumatic life. <spoilers> The graphic and excessive descriptions of child rape, self harm and domestic abuse left me desensitised, an effect that I think is harmful to the reader and one that I hope the author did not intend. I understand that Jude’s suffering is the foundation of his character, but Yanagihara’s rendering of his abuse feels sensationalist and in my opinion trauma porn. Whilst a full recovery and happy ending for Jude would have been unrealistic, the sheer volume of physical, psychological, sexual abuse he experiences is so extreme that it feels pointless. Yes, everything that happens to Jude happens to real people, but does it all ever happen to one singular person? Jude is abandoned in an alley as a baby, a child prostitute raped almost daily, a double amputee, has an eating disorder, performs serious self harm almost daily, and loses the love of his life in a car accident. But also, he’s a vastly wealthy and successful lawyer, an exquisite singer of Schubert’s lieder, a professional-grade baker, incredibly good-looking, is adopted as an adult by his ex professor and falls in love with his best friend of 30 years. <spoilers> The result is that the book feels preachy without actually being clear as to what it is preaching; are we to feel guilty that such horrors occur in the world? Empathy for this fictitious anomaly of a person who experiences it all? Grateful for our own normal struggles in life? I’m not sure, but this book was painful to read and without many benefits for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail

abwilli's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark emotional 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury