Reviews tagging 'Gore'

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

559 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

bookish2024'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

3.5

Not for the faint of heart. This book is very, very well written, but the depression you experience after it is real.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Grief, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Medical content, Kidnapping, and Car accident

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, and Death of parent

appalachianaltuntas's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

3.75

Beautiful writing and characters that will stick with me for years. However it could’ve been a good 300 pages shorter, and more importantly, I think the portrayal of trauma was not done in a sensitive way. It makes me think the author has not been through any of the things she explores in this book, because if she had, she would never describe it in these ways. But rather, she uses this heavy, graphic content to shock and further her plot rather than discuss honestly. It felt voyeuristic and sadistic, not a sensitive exploration of how trauma impacts someone and those around him. That being said, my heart breaks for Jude and I’ll think about him every day now ❤️ Impactful book, but I feel icky about the author and I think the story could’ve been executed in a much more beautiful and gentler way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Toxic friendship, 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

battlefieldpoet's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

Honestly, this book just adds on more and more trauma to the main character that I find it hard to believe. Even though I know real people suffer this much, this just pushed my belief suspension past its limits. It's also not as poetic as people seem to think it is, it's prose is fine, but not enchanting. If anything its disenchanting how graphic and detailed all the incidents are. 
I don't recommend this book, especially for anyone with a history of mental health struggles. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

zltrail's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

katlosee's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

5.0

Of course I loved this one. You fall in love with the characters over the course of their life and you grow with them. I would love to recommend this book to anyone and everyone, but because it's so heavy, I choose not to actually recommend. This is the one and only book thusfar to make me cry- because it's very sad, but also because I loved it so much. 
Yanagihara has a way of writing that really clicks with my brain. The author writes in the way that I think and I immediately connected with it. 
Overall, a great read, buckle up and emotionally prepare yourself, and then prepare yourself some more and it still won't be enough. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, and Car accident

freadsy's review against another edition

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

themisres's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

0.5

I wish Jude freedom from this author’s horrid imagination.
The way I look at this book changed drastically after I learned about Hanya Yanagihara’s opinions about therapy (how she thinks it’s not really useful and some people are fvcked beyond help) . At first I was fooled to think she had a point with this book but after hearing her talk for more than half a minute, I was quite convinced that she wasn’t capable of making any point. This book is long, boring, and sad just for the sake of it. I kept reading with hopes that it would pick up a little. But it didn’t. I paid a lot of money for this book in my country’s currency, and that was the only motivation I had to finish it.
Reminder for my future self: If a book has like 50 or so content warnings, maybe don’t read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail