Reviews tagging 'Excrement'

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

47 reviews

dairyfreemozzarella's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

i don't know how to rate this so im giving it a 2.5 for fairly in the middle.

on a seperate note i think the back cover should reflect more of the pure agony of this book OR there should be a list of trigger warnings in the begining. i was not prepared!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Medical trauma, Ableism, Blood, Grief, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Trafficking, Violence, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Medical content, Mental illness, Torture, Drug use, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Body horror, Car accident, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Drug abuse, Excrement, Kidnapping, Stalking, Eating disorder, Outing, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Vomit, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Cursing, and Dementia

sibbee's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective 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

5.0

Have you ever read a book so beautiful, so painful and so unnervingly sad that the only consolation you can give yourself is that it's a fake, a fictional, made up story with fake, fictional people? Because I just did. This is that.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, Child abuse, Death, Grief, Medical content, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Body shaming, Physical abuse, Car accident, Death of parent, Excrement, Gore, Mental illness, Rape, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood

madamelacy'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? It's complicated

3.75

The story is set primarily in New York and centres on one character in particular. 

I feel very torn with this book. It was beautifully written but painfully slow. I felt like it gave incredible insight into the repercussions on someone’s adult life following abuse as a child. It made for very difficult reading at times. I really felt for the main character, but he was quite narcissistic, so I’m struggling to understand how he got and kept so many loyal friends!! 

I found the sections on self harm incredibly, disturbingly well-written; Jude’s thought processes and urges to self-harm were so insightful. 

Jude and Willem’s characters were well-developed.  Poor Malcolm only got a look-in when he was useful as a plot vehicle and as a conduit between JB and the other two. He didn’t seem vital to the friendship group a lot of the time. 

There are so many trigger warnings with this book! Buyer beware!  You need to be in a good place mentally to cope with this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Racism, Child abuse, Child death, Drug use, Dysphoria, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Car accident, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Death, Gaslighting, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, Body shaming, Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Violence, and Vomit

Minor: Excrement

helena_sp_07's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad

• 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: Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Blood, Body shaming, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Excrement, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Ableism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Vomit

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, Outing, Eating disorder, Drug use, and Alcohol

Minor: Dementia, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Cancer, Hate crime, and Torture

elviolet's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Medical content, Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, Self harm, Blood, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Suicide, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Ableism and Body shaming

lozbot27's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Fatphobia, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Suicide, Car accident, Classism, Death, Drug abuse, Dementia, Infertility, Self harm, Torture, Toxic friendship, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Chronic illness, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Excrement, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Trafficking, Addiction, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Kidnapping, and Physical abuse

midnightmarauder's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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 book is one of the most challenging books I've ever read. Jude, the protagonist, is someone who has lived such a terrible life that the way his story ended didn't even surprise me. But, that doesn't mean it was any less harrowing. 

In the beginning, I found myself very frustrated with Jude, my gripe lying mainly with his stubbornness and unwillingness to try to get better. He was someone that was fully aware that something was wrong with him, yet constantly ignored the people around him—the people that loved him—and their advice to seek help. But, as I continued to read, I reprimanded myself. 

As the book reveals the severity of Jude's trauma, it becomes clear that he is beyond saving. I held onto hope,

watched how long he had lived

, how happy he had been with Willem and his job and his friends and family. But, although he had so much love and support, it was never enough.

And it just wasn't enough in the very end.

Hanya Yanagihara's portrayal of Jude is both beautiful and heartbreaking. She tells a story of a broken boy who you'd hope would come out on the other end a healthy, well-rounded man. In a way, he did, but there was always a part of him that would remain broken, no matter how well things around him became. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gaslighting, Vomit, Suicide, Sexual assault, Eating disorder, Rape, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Blood, Dysphoria, Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Violence, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Abandonment, Ableism, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Confinement, and Death

Moderate: Vomit and Excrement

Minor: Car accident, Child death, Cursing, and Drug use

gigireadswithkiki's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

1.0

This book is absolutely wretched (derogatory), for a plethora of reasons. In no particular order and to varying degrees of fucking awfulness: 

• The fatphobia: this book constantly ridicules fat persons, both in the language that is used to craft their existence, or in the way that these characters are treated by others (see: JB). 
• The transphobia: in one scene, a side character is having, what is presumed to be, a transitioning party. At no point within the text does the author nor the characters switch their use of pronouns after learning this. 
• The friendships: I've heard people talk MANY times about how this book is such a good marker of friendship. It is not. The friendships in this book are unhealthy, borderline abusive. The characters hold their friends on pedestals, refusing to see any flaws from their friends. The OTHER OPTION is that the characters view their friends suffering and flat out, selfishly refuse to see past it, as if nothing is wrong.
• The depiction of queer relationships: Yanagihara disgusts me. The constant depiction of MLM relationships as something "wrong", as something "disgusting" eventually culminating to Queer tragedy felt so utterly wrong. She did not handle Queer issues with any grace, instead choosing to force trauma upon trauma upon Queer characters
• The trauma: at a certain point in the book, I started to roll my eyes at the amount that Jude suffered. Not because he deserved it, but because each time the reader thinks things might get to a place that is okay, Yanagihara thrusts something in the readers faces, as if to say "NO! LOOK! LOOK! ACTUALLY IT"S JUST BAD!" I don't fucking care that she intended this book to be a reflection of cherishing life's happy moments. What came across was horrendous. 
• The self harm: after a number of repetitions, the self harm in the book felt so fucking blasè. Yes we know this character is harming themselves. why the fuck did you feel the need to detail every single tiny detail of it. every. single. time. To what purpose does this serve but to the author's disgusting twisted sense of shock value. 

I don't know why i finished this book. I truly don't. I'm reevaluating the last couple days of my life and the use of my free time. Don't read this book. If you're looking for depictions of trauma on a similar scale but with ACTUAL meaning and purpose within a story, just read The Poppy War for christssake. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body shaming, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Abandonment, Ableism, Addiction, Car accident, Child abuse, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Biphobia, Acephobia/Arophobia, Stalking, Torture, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Outing, Body horror, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Transphobia, Fatphobia, Bullying, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Pedophilia, Dysphoria, Excrement, Gaslighting, and Gore

melisayasilem's review against another edition

dark sad medium-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

You could say that none of the characters -who you become very much attached to by the way- deserve what happens to them. You feel what they feel, go through what they go through. I knew what I was getting myself into before I began reading this book, but it still hits you hard. I didn't find myself as affected as others whom I've seen their reviews saying nobody should read this book because it is f'ed up- and this could be because I read this over a period of months instead of a couple days or even weeks. Regardless, it still succeeded to leave a deep impact.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Addiction, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Ableism, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Vomit, Abandonment, Child death, Death, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Alcohol, Biphobia, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Blood, Cursing, Dementia, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Hate crime, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, and Excrement

Minor: Classism, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Car accident, Confinement, Excrement, and Outing

This book is not for the weak, it gets very graphic in some chapters and you might have to put it down for a bit. But it also makes you want to continue reading because you get very attached to the characters. Sexual assault and suicidal thoughts are very much present, to the point where you sometimes have to think hard to understand why the character thinks that way.

introverted_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Ableism, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Blood, Car accident, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Vomit

Moderate: Acephobia/Arophobia, Outing, Stalking, Transphobia, Biphobia, and Excrement