Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

1193 reviews

fictional_meg'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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

bengami's review against another edition

challenging 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

5.0

I really don't understand people who dislike this book, but then again, I'm someone who had very similar life experiences to Jude St Francis. This book did not feel horribly dark to me, it felt honest, some people go through life holding the kind of secrets others can't even stand to read about. The love and grief in this book is palpable. You grieve for Jude's past and are sometimes overwhelmed and in awe by the love his friends have for him. There is love wrapped in every domestic moment, and honesty in all the roughest and darkest parts of this book. If you read this book, and find yourself irritated or disgusted by its darker themes. Just know that some people, like me, read this book, and saw their real life experiences reflected in it. This book and the people in it felt so alive, I'm so sad it's over. with all that said, please read the content warnings before reading this book.

Edit: I recently listened to some interviews of the author, and something she said really made this book click into place for me & made me love it more. She called it a fantasy, in that Jude’s childhood is cartoonishly horrific, his circumstances unimaginable, and yet he gets into an Ivy League college, becomes filthy rich & lives in unimaginable comfort with people who love him. Like an old storybook when the child in grim circumstances gets everything they’ve ever dreamed of. Yet, he can never accept it, because he never gets better & never truly escapes his childhood. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Abandonment

Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia

this book is EXTREMELY DETAILED in its descriptions of child sexual abuse.

it describes grooming in detail, from the eye and viewpoint of a child. I would say the most graphic descriptions are the ones of self-harm and of child sexual abuse, it is constant. there is also an extremely disturbing rape scene between two adults. The main character is asexual seemingly from his traumatic experiences, he doesn't really experience ace phobia from others but internally degrades himself for being asexual & forces himself to have sex at multiple points in the book when he does not want to.

andulkaw6's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

evasimonyi's review against another edition

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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This was a hard read, I should have put it down, multiple times, but I hate to DNF books, so I continued, but I have never read anything like this, so horrifying, very sad and traumatic. It still haunts me. How come there were no trigger warnings in the beginning? I honestly had no idea what this book was about. It was nicely written, but so disturbing, I wish I haven't read it. Too much for me to handle.

Here are the trigger warnings
https://www.booktriggerwarnings.com/A_Little_Life_by_Hanya_Yanagihara

Very graphic and in-detail description of these topics. Haunting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

chuseyin's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-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

3.0

A book of two halves: First section was a beautiful slow-paced novel about interesting artists living unconventional lives. The second half is dominated by horrific violence. It feels like the author was tearing apart the portraits of each character, and holding up the gory pieces for the audience to be shocked about. I didn’t think it was clever, or meaningful, just destructive. This is the first book which has haunted me due to the graphic violent content which is incredibly explicit and long.

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Content Warnings

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

Stop before chapter Axiom of Equality if you want to avoid the worst triggers.

kmyles12'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

Prepare to have your heart ripped to pieces, and instead of being put back together, ripped into tinnier pieces. Absolutely phenomenal. The writing style feels like a good friend is telling you a story. There is profound hurt and sadness, but also even more profound love and care. Top 3 favorite book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Medical trauma, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, and Grief

Minor: Drug use, Torture, and Injury/Injury detail

paigehf'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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Abandonment, and Alcohol

sarahvonzuben's review against another edition

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria

gartimar'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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

fivethirtypm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny 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

Deeply resonant as someone who lives with chronic pains and mental illness.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Car accident, and Suicide attempt