Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

Ein wenig Leben by Hanya Yanagihara

123 reviews

lsdthoughts's review against another edition

challenging 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Self harm, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Abandonment, Dementia, Drug abuse, Ableism, Addiction, Sexual assault, Car accident, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Infidelity, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Toxic relationship

ombdrip's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

4.5

Read this while listening to Lingua Ignota's Caligula. Intense music for an intense book, but a very good fit.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Alcohol, Homophobia, Gaslighting, Death, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Rape, Grief, Car accident, Suicide, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, and Stalking

kayleighr's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

alaniii's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Toxic relationship, Torture, Terminal illness, Suicide, Ableism, Violence, Suicide attempt, Chronic illness, Abortion, Addiction, Abandonment, Alcohol, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Sexual content, Self harm, Rape, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Grief, Trafficking, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, and Mental illness

grboph's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

Wow. I think it's going to take me a while to process this one. It was, without a doubt, one of the best-written books I've ever read, and I hardly ever feel emotions about stories and their characters as acutely and strongly as I did here. The characters were also incredibly well-thought-out and memorable. However, I do feel that most of its plot was just eight hundred pages of the most horrible, trauma-porn-y things imaginable happening to absolutely everybody involved. I definitely did not enjoy reading this book in the traditional sense - I finished it because I wanted it to be over, and knew the bad things were coming but couldn't stand not knowing exactly what they were. Even with this, the last hundred or so pages were the hardest to get through of the entire book because I knew exactly what was coming, and I almost wish it had stopped at the end of the "Dear Comrade" section because then things would have been a bit more ambiguous and I could have feasibly imagined that the book would end happily. In short, I'm not mad I read this book, and I know I'll be thinking about its characters for a long time to come. I'm also definitely going to read more of Yanagihara's books in the future because the strong emotions I felt while reading this book are really a testament to how amazing of a writer she is. However, I don't think I'll ever read this book again or recommend it to anyone else, just because I don't think I could put myself or anyone else through that degree of emotional pain again.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Abandonment, Stalking, Alcohol, Cancer, Death of parent, Infidelity, Classism, and Terminal illness

Minor: Homophobia, Medical trauma, and Outing

avery_hutchinson's review against another edition

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

5.0

This book was haunting, beautiful, and utterly traumatic 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Torture, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Rape, Mental illness, Drug abuse, Gore, Vomit, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Self harm, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Homophobia, Violence, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Grief, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Stalking, Car accident, Racism, Addiction, Drug use, Gaslighting, Blood, Chronic illness, Medical content, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Death, and Panic attacks/disorders

art_emis's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Suicide, Sexual violence, Medical content, Car accident, Death, Suicide attempt, Religious bigotry, Injury/Injury detail, Trafficking, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Hate crime, Grief, Sexual assault, Self harm, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Rape, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Stalking and Confinement

gigireadswithkiki's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

This book is absolutely wretched (derogatory), for a plethora of reasons. In no particular order and to varying degrees of fucking awfulness: 

• The fatphobia: this book constantly ridicules fat persons, both in the language that is used to craft their existence, or in the way that these characters are treated by others (see: JB). 
• The transphobia: in one scene, a side character is having, what is presumed to be, a transitioning party. At no point within the text does the author nor the characters switch their use of pronouns after learning this. 
• The friendships: I've heard people talk MANY times about how this book is such a good marker of friendship. It is not. The friendships in this book are unhealthy, borderline abusive. The characters hold their friends on pedestals, refusing to see any flaws from their friends. The OTHER OPTION is that the characters view their friends suffering and flat out, selfishly refuse to see past it, as if nothing is wrong.
• The depiction of queer relationships: Yanagihara disgusts me. The constant depiction of MLM relationships as something "wrong", as something "disgusting" eventually culminating to Queer tragedy felt so utterly wrong. She did not handle Queer issues with any grace, instead choosing to force trauma upon trauma upon Queer characters
• The trauma: at a certain point in the book, I started to roll my eyes at the amount that Jude suffered. Not because he deserved it, but because each time the reader thinks things might get to a place that is okay, Yanagihara thrusts something in the readers faces, as if to say "NO! LOOK! LOOK! ACTUALLY IT"S JUST BAD!" I don't fucking care that she intended this book to be a reflection of cherishing life's happy moments. What came across was horrendous. 
• The self harm: after a number of repetitions, the self harm in the book felt so fucking blasè. Yes we know this character is harming themselves. why the fuck did you feel the need to detail every single tiny detail of it. every. single. time. To what purpose does this serve but to the author's disgusting twisted sense of shock value. 

I don't know why i finished this book. I truly don't. I'm reevaluating the last couple days of my life and the use of my free time. Don't read this book. If you're looking for depictions of trauma on a similar scale but with ACTUAL meaning and purpose within a story, just read The Poppy War for christssake. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body shaming, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Abandonment, Ableism, Addiction, Car accident, Child abuse, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Biphobia, Acephobia/Arophobia, Stalking, Torture, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Outing, Body horror, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Transphobia, Fatphobia, Bullying, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Pedophilia, Dysphoria, Excrement, Gaslighting, and Gore

sw317's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Self harm, Addiction, Alcohol, Biphobia, Body horror, Car accident, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Stalking, Alcoholism, Child death, Grief, Ableism, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Mental illness, Suicide, Murder, Physical abuse, Blood, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, and Vomit

cm1922's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? It's complicated

5.0

Why would anyone write this. I threw the book across my room twice cause I couldn’t look at it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body shaming, Car accident, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Vomit