Reviews tagging 'Infidelity'

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

146 reviews

mal__ori's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

alomie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-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

5.0

This book is a really rough read, it took me a long time to read and I needed to take lots of breaks as it was relentlessly emotional, a kick to the gut, as bad as things are they just get worse.

I can't really recommend this book to anyone and I think this is a super dangerous book to be all over booktube/booktok. Before you read this please do check the trigger warnings as the descriptions are graphic, slow and detailed. 

I found this harrowing to read, and deeply upsetting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

jocedonahue'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: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria

annabunce's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

This book is so sad and so well written and 1800 pages is ridiculous but I don't think anything less than 1400 would have sufficed to actually tell the story in a way that would have been respectful. But I would only recommend this book in RARE occasions. Those occasions being (but not limited to):

1) Someone you know and love is refusing to seek help for trauma and you don't understand

2) If you are a therapist trying to understand trauma (I'd actually strongly recommend this book if that was the case)

3) If you need to have a good cry and think it'll take you 1800 pages to do it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Infidelity

Minor: Biphobia and Abandonment

edm's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Infidelity

jacks_beloved's review against another edition

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

4.75

This book was a long, long journey (1st April- 18th May, 2022), the degrees of pain it made me experience was incomparable, but in the end, it was worth it. I can clearly see why 'A Little Life' is called a modern classic because goddamnit. In the beginning, it seemed to drag on forever, the writing was absolutely meh, the only notable aspects were the characters of Jude and Willem, but Hanya Yanagihara took the inital ordinariness and created something so incredibly extraordinary in the latter half. (*SPOILER-  Their romance sent butterflies flying through my stomach and Willem's death shattered my heart to the extent that it can never be whole again. The worst part about that was the details, like I genuinely did NOT want to learn how the only thing that made me believe in humanity was crushed from existence. I had to read the part following that at midnight, when I'm practically completely numb otherwise, but I cried twice then too. Now, it's a constant thorn in my side. I'll be going about my day and the sheer reality of Jude and Willem's story comes to mind and it kills me a little every time. I don't know how Jude survived those three years because I wanted to follow after Willem. *) 
This book became a sort of unconventional home for me, naturally, since I spent so long with it. The familiarity of Jude and Willem became my comfort and I can't understand how I'm expected to live normally henceforth. I connect with them on a level it's impossible for even me to comprehend. They are integrated into my very soul. I would sacrifice myself to save them. 
I don't think I'll ever, in my life, pick up this book again because it'll break everything in me forever. This was raw, real, memorable, too damn traumatic to be out on the loose in this world. I've said a lot and still the second-out sufferage this book handed to me is explicable. I could never recommend this to someone because I would never want anyone to go through what I did, but it was definitely a masterpiece I'll always cherish. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Infidelity and Outing

Extremely explicit so do not read if you're even remotely triggered by any of these.

ginadapooh'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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

jessica_serra's review against another edition

emotional sad slow-paced

• 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: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

isaac_salle's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

li_reading'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Soul-crushing. 

Through an in-depth exploration of trauma, Yanagihara shines light upon the ever-present struggles that underpin the human experience. 

With characters so wonderful yet deeply flawed, you cannot help but invest your heart in their stories. Even in the stark, bleak depiction of lives abundant with trauma, Yanagihara is able to extract emotion so inherent to humanity, that it will resonate with any reader. 

A Little Life is simultaneously mortifying and strangely, reassuring in its ability to draw out the most visceral emotion. It is unlike anything I have ever experienced, with lines so poignant that you will be thinking about them for years to come. 

I have never read a book so profoundly moving. 

(End Note: This book, while incredible, takes a physical and mental toll to read. The topics dealt with, and the detail and abundance in which they are described, are severe. I would strongly advise readers to research the content prior to reading, and to avoid reading this book if in a negative headspace)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail