Reviews tagging 'Eating disorder'

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

2097 reviews

harrys96's review against another edition

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

realjordanjohnson's review against another edition

dark 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

This may be the most emotionally devastating book I’ve ever read. What makes it so truly heartbreaking and soul crushing is that the horrors and traumas are real, that they actually happen to people. The emotions are so palpable, so realistic, so savage that I had to physically put this down and just cry- and I cried often. The writing is beautiful. The depictions of friendship, love, and grief may be one of the best examples of writing I’ve ever read. I will truly think about this book for the rest of my life. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

katykate's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

goodolnicole's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Eating disorder, and Blood

Minor: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Sexual content

ellesbigworld's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

4.0

I FUCKING DID IT

I should have taken the fact that I found this book on the side of the road, beaten and bruised, as a sign that maybe I shouldn’t spend the next 2 months reading it. I feel like I am Alan Parrish when he found Jumanji in a construction site and now that curiosity killed the cat, I’m running through a grocery store fighting off Van Pelt with laundry detergent and a price-check scanner. In the same way, I felt determined to finish this book, reach Jumanji, and call out its name. This story will make your mind turn to mush, wish for illiteracy, and force you to fight off demons you didn’t even know you were running from. A Little Life forces an introspection of your own little life and the events that make you who you are. As much as they are insufferable, whiney babies, I think we can all find a place for Jude, Willem, Harold, JB, and Malcolm in our thoughts as we endure the epic poem that Hanya Yanagihara has chained us up in her basement with. I have gone through such a cycle of emotions carrying this book with me for all of 2025 so far and it has taught me two things. One of them being to not listen to people about book recommendations. And two being to listen to people about book recommendations. So many things can be true at once and through this book, I have witnessed a new meaning to the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. I feel simultaneously conflicted and secure in my opinion of this book being “do not read this pretentious trauma porn” as well as “step out of your comfort zone and read this pretensions trauma porn.” I can feel several mindless, one-dimensional books heading my way and I will absolutely not be fighting them off. As so many things can be true at once, I feel the need for something to ground me once again after being flung into a strange new world where things are not black and white OR a thousand shades of grey, but a new color palette entirely. I’m proud of myself for finishing, but I will not run this race again. Read the book, don’t read the book, I don’t care, but recommending this book to someone is crazier to me than reading it at all.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, 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 violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

poofymoi's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective 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

4.25

I’m not really sure how to rate this book yet so the stars remain untouched. 

I am left floored but the sheer levels of human atrocities that one author could think of, not to mention the visceral gore, pain, and bodily horror that came from these pages. But they were also showered in the most dedicated, gut wrenching, purest forms of love as well. To love someone so unconditionally that you know may continue to harm you, frighten you, and lead you down life’s darkest paths. No character in this novel runs from these melancholic, sadistic truths of life, which makes it all the more painful and challenging to read. I don’t know if I come away from the book thinking “it’s all worth it in the end,” but then again, how can I not? To love someone with such intensity and fervor and dedication and devotion, to me, is one of the few purest treasures in life. No one who ever loved Jude (really loved Jude) ever left him, even when they knew he would ultimately wreck them. If only he had one ounce of that love and forgiveness for himself. But I guess that’s the point, isn’t it? Sometimes, even loving someone with such intensity cannot make up for those who have harmed them worse. Trust is a fragile, tenuous thing. May we all be lucky enough to find it and recognize it and hold it and believe it. What a fucking horror story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

matheo_ghostz'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? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, and Rape

adeleodette's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

miri_ktz's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, 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 content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

sfkeavy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore

Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Cancer, Child death, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Racism, and Forced institutionalization