Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

Małe życie by Hanya Yanagihara

1792 reviews

lulu_pero's review against another edition

5.0

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt

abhess's review against another edition

2.0

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

---

I am giving this 2 stars for the very few moments where I felt genuinely touched, because most of the time it just felt like grotesquely horrible trauma being thrown to the main character for the sake of creating an emotional (?) story - but for what? It felt like an exploitative and unnecessarily excessive depiction of trauma and abuse, given that the final overall take could have very easily been delivered without such vivid imagery. 

Tragedy does not equal a deeper meaning and I felt as if this book lacked purpose.

Daniel Mendelsohn described it perfectly: “the abuse that Yanagihara heaps on her protagonist is neither just from a human point of view nor necessary from an artistic one (…) Yanagihara’s novel has duped many into confusing anguish and ecstasy, pleasure and pain”.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, 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, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment

Moderate: Vomit

og_algae13's review against another edition

5.0

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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt

lanimatilda's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Vomit

paigelewis's review against another edition

3.5

dark 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: Yes

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use

madelinebooks1's review against another edition

4.75

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

---

devastating and beautiful and compelling and heart wrenching. jude is one of my favourite literary characters ever 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt

beechtree's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Grief, Car accident

amyisland's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional 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

---

All I can say is WOW. This novel will take you on an emotional roller coaster and if you are not in a good mental spot just skip this book until you are.. or all together. I am somewhat surprised that people are even recommending this novel so recklessly. I don't even recommend this novel. I tell people about it and I am honest about what kind of novel this is. With that being said, this is still a five star novel. The writing is beautiful. Phenomenal even... It's my new favorite. I almost don't want to call it my favorite but I have such an immense appreciation for what Hanya Yanagihara was able to do with those 814 pages. There were times I needed to put the book down and reflect on what I read. I have never read anything that has touched me more than this novel. I know that others would disagree and say that this novel was unnecessary. I don't share that sentiment. A Little Life is important. There are people that have lived lives as sad as what was written. I feel for those people. I hope that those people find peace. Sometimes we get so comfortable in our own bubbles that we forget there are people living unimaginably depressing lives in the worst way. We don't need to forget about those people and because of A Little Life I never will.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Abandonment, Dysphoria

I have never read a book that so accurately depicts what it's like when you are at your lowest and darkest. If you have ever had thoughts of suicide or a history of self harm I highly discourage reading this novel. I have Bipolar 1 disorder and it was a difficult read for me. I just want to let others know that it is a-okay to skip this novel if it means avoiding triggers.

mariacalvo's review against another edition

4.75

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

"it isn't only that he died, or how he died; it is what he died believing. and so i try to be kind to everything i see, and in everything i see, i see him."

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, 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, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria

suggi's review against another edition

4.75

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt