Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

117 reviews

cloud_animals's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Drug use, Sexual content, Medical trauma, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Terminal illness, Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Car accident, Drug abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Chronic illness, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Grief, Ableism, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Eating disorder, Vomit, and Trafficking

Minor: Cancer, Homophobia, Transphobia, Infertility, and Lesbophobia

emtk2118's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Suicide, Self harm, Child abuse, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Car accident, Eating disorder, Grief, Rape, Addiction, and Death

Minor: Cancer

staceyinthesticks's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Eating disorder, Fire/Fire injury, Medical content, Chronic illness, and Grief

Minor: Suicide, Terminal illness, Abandonment, and Cancer

purpleshamrock's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Cancer, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Violence, Car accident, Confinement, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Drug use, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Abandonment, Addiction, Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, Blood, Bullying, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Suicide, Child death, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Vomit, and Physical abuse

cjblates's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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: Gaslighting, Alcohol, Body shaming, Drug use, Eating disorder, Cancer, Child death, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Physical abuse, Blood, Trafficking, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Terminal illness, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Sexual assault, Bullying, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Torture, Ableism, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Vomit

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

clevelandbookgirl's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Medical content, Suicide, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Violence, Ableism, Child abuse, Grief, Islamophobia, Medical trauma, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Torture, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Child death, Cursing, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Vomit, Cancer, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, and Trafficking

Moderate: Terminal illness

Minor: Biphobia, Alcohol, and Homophobia

szucker6's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.0

This is obviously not a book one “enjoys,” but it wasn’t until the last third of the book that I felt immense appreciation for the story and truly drawn in. At times I wanted to rate it two stars, but the end was so strong so I’m going to say 3 for now. Still processing…

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Car accident, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Abandonment, Addiction, Blood, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Violence, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Ableism, Body horror, Sexual violence, Eating disorder, Grief, Medical content, Self harm, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Death of parent, Dementia, and Fatphobia

Minor: Infidelity and Cancer

I have never selected so many trigger warnings for one book

backfromthestacks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Car accident

Minor: Cancer

bubblegum_or_books's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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: Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Suicide, Vomit, Blood, Body shaming, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Medical content, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Abandonment, Cancer, Child death, and Car accident