Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

142 reviews

lanel80's review against another edition

dark 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

mennaesque's review against another edition

slow-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

don’t read this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Classism

drkng31'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

5.0

Mi-a luat un pic peste o lună sa citesc cartea asta, și nu pentru că nu e bine scrisa, ba dimpotrivă, însă e greu sa ai drive sa te arunci in fiecare zi într-o poveste in care totul se învârte în jurul suferinței, și în care indiferent cât de bine se așează lucrurile în exterior, tot nu se găsește un echilibru. 
O recomand? Da!
Mi-a plăcut? Nu! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

Moderate: Eating disorder, Torture, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Addiction, Drug use, and Vomit

evieold's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Not a book I could recommend when people asked as it is full of every trauma you could ever imagine.  My heart breaks for all the characters throughout and I had to put it down towards the end (those who have read it will know the point I am talking about) to steel myself emotionally to finish.  However, it is the most comprehensive and deep character development I have ever read in a book and truly describes what it is to love and have lost,  and what I can only imagine it is like to live with such deep trauma.  

Not a fan of trauma for traumas sake as so many brand this genre and books like ‘My Year Of Rest And Relaxation’, but this does not compare as it has a deeper level of truth, of a real life.  

A true masterpiece of what to live a life is like, and the emotions, contradictions, and trauma which can come with it.  A book, although painful, I will read many times more, and that is saying something from someone who does not reread books often if at all. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Hate crime, 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, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

theresa_timber'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

Never has a book so utterly and completely shattered my heart. I simultaneously want to recommend this book to everyone capable of handling it, while also burying it deep inside a safe cushioned capsule where nothing bad will happen to the characters ever again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

rayinbooks'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? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Never read anything like this in my 24 years of existence. This is perhaps the only book which made me physically get up from my seat and take deep breaths before I could actually grasp the contents of the pages I had just read. Even though it moved me, I would probably not recommend it to anyone I know, considering how traumatic it gets as the book traverses.
That being said, if I could muster the strength to read it all over again, I would.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Torture, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Stalking, and Abandonment

birdghosting'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

4.5

This is a book that will stay with you for a very long time, for better or for worse. It seems you either love or hate this book, and I came out loving it (even though I ugly cried through over 20% of it—and it's a long book).

As someone who usually reads fantasy and not much set in the real world, I could not put this book down once I got past the introductory section. It was very easy for me to get attached to Jude, who the entire book revolves around (I didn't even realize when starting that this is mainly his story). I was rooting for him the entire way through, desperately wanting to know more about him at each turn as it would offer me something new as a treat.

The characters all felt like they lived real and true lives, and written to perfectly match how you're meant to feel about them in that moment. Even certain characters who I loved the whole way through made errors that I hated reading about, thought to myself that I wouldn't forgive someone doing that to me—and that's life. The relationships everyone has with each other, not just with Jude, are the strongest part of the book.

I'm not used to reading such long prose, but it was very enjoyable. I did have several moments where I would start reading one sentence and get lost among the different branching off thoughts and ideas the single sentence goes through, and I'd have to return to the beginning of the sentence to remember what it was meant to be about. This would also happen with chapters, which would sometimes go into a completely different topic than where we first started before finally circling back around. There was also a lot of academic and legal talk that made me wish I were going back to university, and I didn't have a good mind map of the locations and geography talked about, which makes me curious if someone who knows New York well would be able to picture it clearly.

I think about this story at least once a day.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Dysphoria

Minor: Fatphobia, Transphobia, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

abigaildolan's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

paulinskiii'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

4.75

The book is incredibly written but sometimes boarders at trauma-porn. It shows everything and is sometimes frustrating to read because you love the characters and they struggle so much. All that is just because it is such a moving story and so well written. I kinda hate and love Hanya Yanagihara because she definitely did not make me cry „a little“ but multiple times. She created characters you can only care about and learn a lot from. That said it’s not for the faint hearted and I only recommend readying it when you’re emotionally stable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Abandonment

Minor: Infertility and Infidelity

kenzielireads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

Please never read this book. It is beautifully written. So many characters are so full of love. But, dear reader, you do not deserve the pain. Please, please, do not harm yourself this way. Especially if you struggle with sexual trauma and/or self-harm. Please. Please do not read this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment