Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

1612 reviews

bee2792's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense 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

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Ableism and Addiction

Minor: Forced institutionalization

llayaz's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-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

2.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Addiction, Cancer, and Abandonment

gia0203's review against another edition

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

5.0

Wow. So I have a lot to say. There is so much to this book, and I feel like giving it a brief review wouldn't do it justice. Here I go!

A Little Life is an epic. It's length and density mean that the narrative has room to breathe. There are so many little details that give the book a certain realism. Not just the characters either, but the city, the buildings. Each house that Jude moves to is distinct and painstakingly described, every person he meets is given their own charms and flaws. Its these idiosyncracies which really make you feel like you're inside the book, rather than watching from the outside. It's this immersion that makes A Little Life even more relentless. You are not allowed simply to observe. You are a part of the world.

And nowhere is this style of writing more effective than when you are inside of Jude's mind. Jude is a character who remains elusive to the people around him. Eventually, the people close to Jude are allowed to see parts of him, but it's only us, the reader, who truly understand how Jude thinks. Even Willem, who learns the most, doesn't see what we see. Jude's inner narrative, the true depth of his self loathing, it's known only to us.

But even we don't know everything. Every now and then Jude will elude to something we don't know about, and we are made to remember that there are things so terrible that Jude can't even confront them in his own mind. One of the main tragedies of the novel is that Jude cannot reveal his true self to anyone for so long. The lying, the hiding, it's part of his undoing.

A Little Life has become notorious for just how sad it is. Truly the saddest part is that

Jude gets a chance at happiness, and it is cruelly ripped away. For a moment he is as close to contentment as he ever has been. He has been seen by another person - he is held and safe. There is something very mean spirited about how Yanagihara shows us that Jude could heal, enough to live the rest of his life in an (albeit fragile) happiness, but he isn't allowed to. I think this is the reason the book has been labelled trauma porn. If it had ended with the continuation of Jude's recovery, as he lived happily with Willem, there would be no outrage or controversy. But this isn't how trauma works. 

I do, however, think that Willem's sudden accidental death has purpose. Yanagihara stated that this book was uncompromising, and the spectrum of human emotion to an extreme. And the sad reality is that some people's lives are like this. Sometimes, there is no happy ending. Jude states that he is the same person he was as a child, that he always ends up back how he was, and I think this is a poignant depiction of trauma and mental illness. Another book might have took a different course. But this is the route this one took. As cruel and unkind as it was, it was not without purpose.

Despite everything, I appreciated the moments of kindness and happiness  scattered throughout the book. There is so much love in this story, and there are moments where Jude gets to experience it. True love. It sometimes made the horror worth it. The way Willem curled around Jude every night... The thoughtful things Harold did for him... The way so many people tried to help him... And the way Jude constantly helped others too...

I felt like the themes of suicide and self harm in this book were treated with respect and accuracy. Often, Jude's thoughts were so strikingly similar to ones I had at the worst parts of my depression that I had to stop and breathe. While I couldn't relate to much of his experience, particularly with disability and sexual abuse, it didn't mean I couldn't empathise with him. He wanted an escape, a reprise, which I understood. The most graphic descriptions are of his self harm, illness and injury. At times they did feel too much; Jude's cutting in particular was difficult to get through. But  Yanagihara was unflinching, for better or for worse. It's so repetitive, so relentless, and yet this was Jude's life, and Yanagihara clearly wanted us to see it for what it was. This is the reality of trauma.

Plus, Yanagihara always knew when to zoom out, when to pull the curtain over our eyes. For all that this book is graphic, it never feels exploitative. The sexual abuse is vague and shadowy; descriptions focus on Jude's thoughts, rather than explicit details.

Jude's suicide, and Willem's death, are never described in detail.

. All of this makes me think that the explicit descriptions of self harm and injury were purposeful. Particularly the scene where

Caleb beats Jude

was extremely nauseating, but didn't it quickly pull us into reality, out of the hopeful life Jude was beginning to believe in? I feel like I'm rambling on about this as I'm trying to understand it.... Regardless, I don't think the bleakness of the book or how graphic it is is a bad thing.

In trying to help Jude, all of the characters made mistakes. The people who loved him the most were often the ones who hurt him the most. Their desperation and their longing to save him stripped him of his agency at times, yet also were what he needed at others. Willem, Andy, Harold, they all debated what was best. Should I force him to get help, and alienate him in the process? Should I go along with it to keep him close to me? Should I compromise? Was any of it even helping? I loved that there was no right answer. I loved how morally grey it all was. 

As I was reading this book, I immediately ordered Yanagihara's other books.  I thought her writing style was beautiful and I adored her thoughtfulness. The part that made me cry, and that I thought was the best part of the book, was Dear Comrade. The descriptions of grief; the way Jude uses objects to inspire memories; the way the characters feel like ghosts in the last part of the novel, trying to mimic their ordinary lives. It was beautiful and devastating and it's when I really, truly cried. I'm very excited to delve into the rest of the author's writing. I can't really bring myself to give A Little Life a rating of less than 5. Also, I will definitely be rereading it, and watching the play, and I've ordered the playbook too, so. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Eating disorder, Sexual violence, Blood, Medical content, and Grief

Minor: Addiction, Suicide, Vomit, Kidnapping, Car accident, and Death of parent

maiamorgue's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Evil evil evil book.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

eedle_cacleberry'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

if i even see hanya yanagihara it’s on sight. why would you write this book, what was your intention 😭

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Addiction, Chronic illness, Car accident, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death, Eating disorder, and Abandonment

chanpatton's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Addiction

saramgood's review against another edition

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

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Kidnapping, and Suicide attempt

mellii's review against another edition

challenging sad

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

1.0

What a shitshow. Hated every second of it, still bawled my eyes out at the end. Don't read this if you want to keep your sanity. Missing trigger warnings.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, Grief, Car accident, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Drug use, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Abandonment, and Dysphoria

Minor: Child death

cinn_vida's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

celery's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Homophobia, 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, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism