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gabiharvey's review against another edition
- 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
i finished this book on june twelfth. jude took his life, once and for all on june twelfth.
this book - i am completely and utterly speechless. even though i just finished it, i can tell, i know without a doubt, that this book has changed me. in what ways? i don't quite know yet, but i know it has.
"'my poor jude. my poor sweetheart.' and with that, he starts to cry, for no one has ever called him sweetheart..."
"'my sweetheart,' harold says again, and he wants him to stop; he wants him to never stop. 'my baby.' and he cries and cries..."
what's the most heartbreaking, is the inevitability of it all. from the start, jude's exit from this world via suicide was always obvious, always something that wouldn't come off as a surprise. and yet, being human, naturally i held onto some slight hope that he would find happiness in the end, that he would be okay. in the end, when his suicide was revealed, it was both a shock and not one, because for me personally, i just gaslit myself so hard, even though the truth was there in plain sight from page one.
it's utterly insane to me, how real this book has become. i swear jude st. francis, willem ragnarsson, and all the other characters are very real people. i don't know how yanagihara managed to do so, i just know she did.
having a main character who is disabled, abused both physically and emotionally, and consistently declining in overall health for the entire duration of the book is, like i mentioned earlier, a recipe for disaster. however, this also makes the book something beautiful in its tragedy, where as the reader, you know to appreciate the good moments, no matter how big or small. seeing jude achieve happiness with willem was something beyond rewarding to see, even though it was never necessarily "perfect", such as willem's choice of ignoring the fact that jude was miserable having sex, and resulted in jude burning himself, willem throwing a razor at him, and the entirety of that portion of the book. But, when they apolgized to one another, and talked, my heart ached and healed in a way words can't describe. seeing willem continue to accept jude as he tells his entire backstory, from the monastery to dr. traylor, was something i never thought would come to fruition. for jude to see that he was still loved after that, it was something beyond describing. without a doubt, the happy years was my favorite section of the book, especially after willem and jude's talk about his past. seeing willem worry incessantly for jude with his wounds, his staying at home as opposed to working, his comforting him with his nightmares, telling jude who he really is, his waking up and holding jude so tight when jude wanted to cut himself, his motivation for jude to take care of himself, his crying at jude's bed before the amputation operation (i broke so hard here), his being there as jude was put in a medically induced coma, his reassurance to jude that harold would never do what those clients did to him, his presence as jude learned to walk once again, or when he seized in bed (and willem thought that was it, poor baby :(), or tucked him in bed after noticing jude's dozing at the dinner table, or helping jude take his final walk with his real legs, or teaching jude how to dance in the bathroom, or touring that famous structure in europe together, or treating jude as nothing less than normal as he sat without his prothesis, or spending hours in the hospital with him, or taking a walk with jude even though it worried him, or attending jude's work party, in which jude came practically running (i know he actually can't but as close as he could, i'm sure) to willem when he saw willem tug on his left ear.
Graphic: Blood, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Rape, Torture, Emotional abuse, Grief, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Violence, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Trafficking, Adult/minor relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Chronic illness, Medical content, Pedophilia, Death, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Confinement, Slavery, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Cursing, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Kidnapping, Addiction, Body horror, Car accident, and Body shaming
Minor: Vomit and Death of parent
saturnreturns's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
5.0
There's never a day that goes by that I have never thought of Jude after finishing this book. Safe to say, this has scarred me for life but I loved every bit of it.
Graphic: Abandonment, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Rape, Self harm, Gore, Sexual harassment, and Pedophilia
fbarros's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
However, I feel like the author made very unlikely things happen to the characters just for shock value, and it made me bored, more or less, in the final two parts because of it. It all felt too artificially designed to make you feel something, and it ended up making me feel nothing.
Graphic: Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Child abuse, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Rape, Grief, Death of parent, Death, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Torture, Self harm, Pedophilia, Terminal illness, Stalking, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Medical content, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Gore, Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Alcoholism, Drug use, Car accident, Adult/minor relationship, and Abandonment
payson's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Violence, Chronic illness, Confinement, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Car accident, Child death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Drug use, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Suicide, Gore, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
theverycraftyvegan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Hanya Yanagihara is an immensely talented author. This book is beautifully written, and you will feel strong emotions about all the characters, be it love or hate. Unfortunately, that means the ones you love will also break your heart, over and over and over.
The story follows four friends from college and the people they meet along the way—the things they’ve lived through, their successes, their struggles, the things they can’t overcome. Please take care of yourself while reading this book and know that you are loved.
Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Sexual content, Bullying, Car accident, Pedophilia, Self harm, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Body horror, Chronic illness, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gaslighting, Gore, Medical trauma, Suicide, Rape, Violence, Ableism, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, Death, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Vomit
Moderate: Cursing and Infidelity
abby_grace04's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Eating disorder, Blood, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Addiction, Grief, Medical content, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Torture, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Domestic abuse, Chronic illness, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Gore, Rape, Terminal illness, Body shaming, Physical abuse, Vomit, Violence, Sexual violence, and Adult/minor relationship
tazch1701's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
With regards to Jude, I wish there was more of an exploration of his thoughts and how his adverse childhood shaped his self worth as an adult. It was easy to extrapolate the fact that what happened to him as a child is what makes him act the way he does as an adult, but I specifically would have liked to have seen an explanation of that in his own words/ inner monologue.
I have a major issue with the end. It could have been a brilliant way to explore how choosing to take the steps to recover doesn't always mean you will recover. Or the fact that recovery is not linear, that normal is different or almost has no meaning at all when your childhood has been so wrought with strife. An aspect of mental health I think is ill explored is the very real risk of actually not seeing improvement despite leaning on a support system and taking steps to get better, if the book explored that it would have felt complete. Instead, it ended in a way that makes the book seem like its only purpose was to make Jude suffer physical abuse from either other or himself. Not to say Jude's ending didnt make sense, given what happened to Willem I fully understand why he did what he did. But it robbed readers of an ending that would have left us a little more enlightened and equally as heartbroken.
I still have to rate the book fairly highly despite how much I hated the ending because its taken up so much space in my mind and its taken me almost a year to properly articulate my thoughts on it.
Graphic: Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Child death, Death, Rape, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, Torture, Body shaming, Blood, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Classism, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Dysphoria, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Kidnapping, Alcoholism, Body horror, Trafficking, Sexual harassment, Violence, Ableism, Chronic illness, Medical content, Self harm, Mental illness, and Physical abuse
isis_wm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Body shaming, Chronic illness, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Addiction, Blood, Body horror, Self harm, Bullying, Death, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Drug use, Dysphoria, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Medical content, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Eating disorder, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Slavery, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, and Torture
cinn_vida's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Infidelity, Sexual content, Chronic illness, Classism, Cursing, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Alcohol, Body horror, Body shaming, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Drug use, Dysphoria, Gore, Grief, Medical trauma, Racial slurs, Racism, Cultural appropriation, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Vomit, Addiction, Cancer, Car accident, Death of parent, Medical content, and Mental illness
celery's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Suicide, Child abuse, Confinement, Sexual content, Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Stalking, Violence, Vomit, Body shaming, Car accident, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Drug use, Gore, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Addiction, Alcohol, Body horror, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Trafficking, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Abandonment, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Blood, Bullying, Grief, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Religious bigotry, and Toxic relationship