Reviews tagging 'Eating disorder'

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

2100 reviews

amberjkw's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring 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

Max amount of stars possible. Loved this book. Definitely a hard read.. as you can see by the content warnings included, but such a good one that pulled at your heart strings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

studywitmeh's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

2.5

Oh god where do I begin?? I love a lot of dark books, gloomy or dark plots are something I’m not unfamiliar with reading. Yes I found this book from tik tok, decided I needed a pick me up (ironic ik) and added this book into my cart deciding I needed a good cry based on those tik tok videos. Did I cry? No. I got pissed off. 

Spoiler: the book focuses on Jude, a man who has been through a long list of trauma and deals with it through self harm. All the people in his life love him clearly, and they are more or less used to progress Jude’s plot, BUT NOT CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. There are moments where you think FINALLY there is relief, real joy and actual healthy growth before it is stripped from you like an eclipse. It’s so painfully well written, you feel like a bystander watching a crime and constantly wondering where the hell the police and judicial systems are in the story which is ironic because JUDE IS A WELL RENOWNED LAWYER. 

This book glorifies dysfunction. It makes it seem that Jude, if real, with all his trauma and not getting any mental or physical intervention would still become as successful as he is or even have this many people let him continue this cycle. I was so upset when he began to romantically be involved with William and nothing came out of it other than more lack of accountability. They are all bad friends to Jude because none of them developed the frontal lobe to realize that without stepping in he would not be a functioning human. It’s no realistic (speaking from someone with severe depression and tried to function with it untreated). No person can endure this much for that long and especially with “friends” who are meant to love them not taking notice and calling it out. It was a well written crime report to make people sob or consider this a healthy idea of male friendship with an author who has said in interviews they don’t believe in therapy. Yea go figure, cause Jude desperately needed that and then some.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Hate crime, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria

hannahzeeklein's review against another edition

challenging 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This novel is exceptionally well-written, though certain plot points and emotional arcs are a bit belabored. At 814 pages, very little actually happens, so prospective readers should only pick this up if they crave a nuanced, painfully detailed character study that spends several decades. Readers beware: this book contains graphic descriptions of self harm and an incredible amount of suicidal ideation. It’s also almost entirely void of nuanced female characters.  (Every woman in A LITTLE LIFE is predominantly defined as a wife or girlfriend or mother).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Toxic relationship, and Trafficking

Minor: Homophobia, Vomit, and Medical content

wreadaptation's review against another edition

dark emotional sad

I don’t know how to rate this book. 

I feel like the first 49% of the book could have been skipped or eliminated. 

What happens after 50% was brutal, sad, and really terrible. I was angry. Then at 80% I got super sad then at 92% I cried bad. 

Anyone else felt this way?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Fire/Fire injury

ellareads1's review against another edition

challenging dark inspiring 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Gore, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

pink3e's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Suicide attempt

shanamertenz's review against another edition

challenging 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

rexjoi's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.0

There are triggering topics mentioned in this book so take care of yourself if you decide to read this book. 

This book tore me up. I hadn’t imagined friendships lasting for that long and being so caring for your friendships almost to a fault. I wish it ended differently than it did. My heart goes out to all of the characters.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Grief, and Abandonment

ellagrady's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

I put off reading this book, leaving it on my shelf for years, terrified to start because of what everyone says. It completely lived up to my expectations. I couldn’t put it down, forcing myself to stop at night and spending hours thinking about what could happen in the next chapter. Following the lives of these men was devastating and endearing. Every high and low they went through I felt with them, so engrossed in their lives. Following their friendships, their relationships, their love, and care truly had me enraptured in the pages. I cried my way through the second half of the book, feeling their pain and loss so deeply. It was by no means an easy read, or one I’d recommend freely but it was incredible. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Vomit, Medical content, and Abandonment

death of a loved one

miageigerr's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

This read will stick with me for the rest of my life. I have never cried so much nor felt so connected to a literary work— what a depiction of love and friendship and trauma and everything in between.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Medical trauma, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Addiction