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buzzard'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
0.5
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cancer, Cursing, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment
Minor: Bullying, Infidelity, and Vomit
sinjinsladle'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: Ableism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Religious bigotry, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racism, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Lesbophobia, and Toxic friendship
ficteon'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: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Cancer, Violence, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail
uhjoa'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
2.5
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, 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, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Outing, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
mariethebibliophile's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria
DO NOT READ UNTIL YOU HAVE A GOOD UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT YOU ARE GETTING INTObooksjessreads'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
I liked elements of this book, and at the end, I did cry (which is unusual for me as I don't cry at books at all.) When I say that this book will take you through perhaps every emotion imaginable, I mean it. I was honestly bored for the first 150-200 pages, I was happy when the characters were, I was sad, angry, anxious, confused and in despair when they were too. The writing was for the most part, so vivid I felt like I was there with them, experiencing these events, emotions, conversations etc. with them. Every emotion.
Willem and Harold, as well as wanting a good outcome and recovery for Jude, perhaps were my main reasons for staying with the book was these two (as well as Malcolm or JB to be honest
Naturally, my heart went out to Jude as he has put up with a gratuitous amount of trauma in this novel. The way that he behaves only reflects the stress and torture his character was made to put up with. This brings me onto one of the points that I really disliked about this book, the fact that the trauma feels so aggressively enforced upon these characters that it is, to me, quite unrealistic. I daresay that there are people in the world that have gone through what Jude has been through, but his persistent torture, coupled with other events and certain characters, just makes it seem illusory.
This is then leading me onto my next point, that the trauma entrenched in this book is not specific to A Little Life, but it appears (I haven't read her other books, but know enough about her others to know this applies) that this trauma is particularly aggressive towards the LGBTQIA+ characters in her other works. This furthers my issue in that Yanagihara is a straight woman, writing particularly in-depth, graphic and intricate stories of gay men. I feel here, she should have passed the mic and let gay men's voices be heard. Furthermore, her performance of trauma amongst her LGBTQIA+ folk is only contributing to associating queerness with trauma. There is raising awareness of LGBTQIA+ trauma, but this goes too far - there is also having power over the course of your characters lives, denying them the joy they well and truly deserve.
So overall, mixed thoughts. Don't get me wrong, the writing in this is honestly beautiful. Her writing has warmth and kindness, its respectable to the situation, its really creates a vivid picture of the events that occur in the book. It goes without saying that trigger warnings must be checked before you delve into this as the language used throughout this novel is extremely graphic, so much so that you feel as though you are physically there, watching it all unfold.
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cancer, Drug use, Eating disorder, Car accident, and Alcohol
aksvokuz'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
4.5
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Body horror, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Infertility, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
breadwitchery's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Biphobia, Cancer, Child death, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racism, Vomit, Dementia, Death of parent, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Pregnancy
kersley's review against another edition
- 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
3.25
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
masha__me'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: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Eating disorder, Dementia, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment
Minor: Cancer, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Terminal illness, Vomit, and Death of parent