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jennaa219's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Addiction, Hate crime, Homophobia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Rape, Self harm, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, and Mental illness
helena_sp_07's review against another edition
- 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
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
proe's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Addiction, Blood, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Hate crime, Child abuse, Eating disorder, and Self harm
queerloras's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Addiction, Car accident, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Blood, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Body shaming, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Medical content, Rape, and Self harm
It's heavy and I can't in all honesty recommend it but God, I loved it. I absolutely loved it and hated it at the same time. I cared so much and so deeply about these characters and they're so masterfully drawn - it was brilliant.floralfading's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Body shaming, Pedophilia, Rape, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Car accident, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, and Child abuse
alisonannk's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Violence, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Car accident, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Dysphoria, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Terminal illness, Blood, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Child death, Chronic illness, Gore, Outing, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Trafficking
Moderate: Dementia, Alcoholism, Fatphobia, Religious bigotry, Addiction, Alcohol, Racism, Cancer, and Vomit
julianareynolds's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
Graphic: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Self harm, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Body shaming, Child abuse, Rape, Toxic friendship, Grief, Addiction, Alcohol, Body horror, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Hate crime, Drug use, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Car accident, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Alcoholism, Classism, Ableism, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Drug abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, and Pedophilia
asphodel04's review against another edition
This book is trauma porn. I don't even agree with that phrase as a concept because of how it gets used to criticize survivors. But as one, this is trauma porn. There is a difference between writing a book that does not have a happy ending, and that reflects the often-true reality of living with a disability, with PTSD and other assorted mental health issues, with not being okay, and with writing a book that exists solely to torture not just its characters, but its readers.
Yanagihara is also not someone who should have written this book. Quoting here another review [@ellereadsomebooks on GoodReads (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3529182954) and Instagram, who provides a much more in-depth, less angry review]:
"• yanagihara does not believe in trigger warnings. she believes that it is “very dangerous to isolate oneself from information or art or history or news because the subject is painful”. trigger warnings are there so people do not experience severe mood/mind altering trauma when abruptly encountering something they are affected by. and in a little life, there is a plethora of things to be triggered by.
• she also does not believe in therapy. this led me to wonder if there is a connection between this fact and that one of the worst villains in the novel is a psychiatrist. i believe there is.
• she stated she did not research the psychological background or trauma responses of jude, the main and most traumatized character, at all. she said that “jude came to her fully formed”."
I highly recommend reading Elle's full review, but I also want to respond to this, which she wrote in the same review:
"one cannot be so reckless when writing subject matter like this. because these are real problems for real people. just because they are fictional characters doesn't make it any less real. writing about child sexual abuse or suicidal thoughts should come with responsibility[...] what is her message out there to readers, real, living, breathing people, who are survivors of similar if not the same things as jude? what is the greater meaning? yanagihara said herself that she wanted to write a character who never gets better. there you have it. it is the reader that suffers the most." (emphasis my own)
What I got out of my 100 pages I tolerated of A Little Life is that Yanagihara simply does not acknowledge the lives of real, living, breathing people who are can understand Jude on a chilling and horrific level. In a Guardian interview with Tim Adams, she responded to a question regarding the photographic inspiration for the book by saying: “Photography is always a kind of stealing,” she says. “A theft from the subject. Artists are assaulters in a lot of ways and the viewer is complicit in that assault. In the same way with the book. I hope readers feel a sense of entanglement in these lives; they are bearing witness to them but there is also something quite intrusive about that.” Not only does this flat-out confirm that it was Yanagihara intended to make her readers suffer, it (along with the rest of the interview) shows the morbid way she views and depicts the lives of real people's suffering: as a tool for her art.
TL;DR: Fuck this book. Don't read it. It's exploitative trauma porn. Content note/trigger warning: Yes. Everything. The warnings I have listed on this review are only the ones I read or know for a fact appear.
Graphic: Abandonment, Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Body shaming, Child abuse, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Gaslighting, Grief, and Medical content
riella_reads's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Car accident, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Abandonment, Addiction, Blood, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Drug abuse, Rape, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Bullying, Cancer, Chronic illness, Grief, Hate crime, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Self harm, Child death, Homophobia, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual violence, Stalking, and Suicide
madgoosie's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Rape, Racism, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Mental illness, Self harm, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Sexual harassment, and Sexual assault