Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

Ein wenig Leben by Hanya Yanagihara

1387 reviews

megmahoney1's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

My heart is in a million tiny pieces.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Blood, Body shaming, Car accident, Child death, Gaslighting, Gore, Self harm, Sexual assault, Stalking, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Medical content, Rape, Religious bigotry, Drug abuse, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Racism, Sexual harassment, Trafficking, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Cursing, Addiction, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, and Grief

sapphoxes's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

As sad and traumatic as everyone says it is. Can ramble on at times, but not in a way that’s detrimental to the book. The kind of story where you’ll have to put it down and take breaks. It was described to me as an essential gay read, but I didn’t see it that way. 

The story, to me, was largely about abuse and how it can bleed out from what happens to one person throughout their life and into the lives of the people around them; how it can spread. Yes, I believe abuse to be a part of the queer community in a way that historically it is not in the straight community (speaking as a queer woman), but I do not think of abuse as the sole most important aspect of queerness or even queer history. This is all to say that yes, the characters are queer, and yes, abuse is prevalent,  but a story about queer people being abused does not automatically define it as a book about queerness. If anything, I found it to be more about the abuse of the disabled, be that mentally or physically, and how abuse in childhood will inevitably follow a person into not just their adult life but the lives of everyone they keep close. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Medical content, Ableism, Hate crime, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Chronic illness, Gore, Trafficking, Domestic abuse, Grief, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Drug use, Rape, Child death, Cursing, Death, Dysphoria, Medical trauma, Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Confinement, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Be careful while reading. Take breaks.

nrougely's review against another edition

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

3.5

Im devastated and grateful to have read it

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Content Warnings

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

missmethven's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Death, Blood, and Grief

Minor: Drug abuse, Child death, Drug use, and Vomit

katiemichaele's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Suicide, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Drug abuse, and Self harm

sage_3's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

i tried so hard to not read this book. to never pick it up. i couldnt :). and now after finishing it i feel so empty from inside. i cried a lot while reading the last 3 chapters. i cried at the ending of it. and now i wanna cry again at the thought that i cant read more of it because i finished it but there are no more tears left in me. i would be sobbing on the floor right now if i could get my tears to form. but alas. i cant in good conscience recommend this to anyone because i think no one should ever read this book. if you decide to read it still just know that when people were telling you it’s heavy and were crying on the internet because of it, it wasnt a marketing strategy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Vomit, Abandonment, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Ableism, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Body horror, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Drug use, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Torture, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Car accident, Sexual content, Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Self harm, and Trafficking

i beg you dont try reading this. if you do please proceed with extreme caution

shakedown1994's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Gore, Self harm, Suicide, Body shaming, Car accident, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Vomit, Drug use, Grief, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Violence, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Pedophilia

ellenravioli's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Suicide, Confinement, Child abuse, Gore, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Fire/Fire injury, Death, Grief, Kidnapping, Rape, Drug abuse, Pedophilia, and Mental illness

kgraham23's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Addiction, Blood, Child abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Torture, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Chronic illness, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Body shaming, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Cursing, Vomit, Death, and Kidnapping

Minor: Drug abuse, Child death, and Car accident

stephanieelyse's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This book is certainly thought provoking in that I have a lot of thoughts…

How is JB the only one who had a drug addiction? 
That is certainly a lot of villains in one persons life.
The Dr Traylor section felt like part of a horror novel.
Being a top litigator defending big pharma…and still being a sympathetic character…is certainly a testament to good writing. 
Did that need to be included?
Did THAT need to be included? 
Did I need to read that, really?
I have heard the author has some…opinions…on therapy, but I feel like this is a strong argument for making therapy more accessible to be able to support survivors early and throughout…

It’s a book I don’t feel I could ever recommend to anyone, I feel like there are much less traumatising character studies that are just as impactful, if not more so. 
The moments expanding and exploring the characters friendships and relationships were very well done and a true highlight. 
Harold was my favourite character by far.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Suicide, Grief, Suicide attempt, Ableism, Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, Drug abuse, Body shaming, Rape, Eating disorder, Death, Mental illness, and Physical abuse

Minor: Cancer