Reviews tagging 'Blood'

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

1528 reviews

unpetitchat's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes

4.0

Saddest book I’ve ever read

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, 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, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

luciejzql's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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

2.5

J’ai reposé et recommencé trois fois le livre parce que je n’arrivais pas à dépasser la 2eme partie. 
Pendant la première moitié du livre, j’ai été complètement emportée par l’histoire de ces personnages, par leur manière de fonctionner ensemble et seuls, et intriguée par Jude et son passé. Et puis au milieu du livre, après quelque premiers récits d’horreurs, j’ai compris que le reste du roman irait de mal en pis. C’est tellement complaisant dans la douleur, dans la souffrance, dans l’incapacité à changer que ça en devient gerbant. Jude m’a été insupportable dans le dernier tiers et j’avais hâte de finir le livre pour enfin pouvoir passer à autre chose. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Incest, Infertility, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

mvegag's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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? Yes

5.0

Without spoilers I do have to say this was a complete journey on friendship and human relationships, everything that is said about the book is true, it has amazing writing, complex characters and it is very sad but I still think not sadness as conveyed just being sad and towards the end just a feeling of this is how life is.
All this to say, highly important to read trigger warnings this book is not for everyone and although I would love to recommend it to everyone I know as an amazing study on relationships in life, complex emotions, communication, love and affection, this is a very tough book that will have you feeling sad, hopeless, in despair, angry and touches basically all potentially triggering topics in detail. Reading it in the incorrect mindset I’m sure could lead to DNF’ing it and just having a bad experience and spiraling even further into whatever you might be going through.
If you feel like you need to be hit by life, to have your truths be told and feel exposed, guilty, sad and angry whilst following some extreme situations then by all means go for it and I’m sure you will “enjoy” it.
5 stars for the amazing journey it was, how complex relationships and emotions are handled and how it doesn’t care for any kind of expectations you might have, this is raw life, no sugar coating.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

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

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

jwave08's review against another edition

emotional sad 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

4.5

 The truth is I just do not know what to say at this point after finishing this book and spending a few hours reflecting. A number more hours of reflections to come.

It took me a while to get into it, just over a third of the way. Almost giving up. I feel once Harold, oh sweet Harold took on narriorating I started gaining a brand new appreciation. Not to mention the final chapter.

And watching the evolution of Williem was beautiful - just a beautiful soul. Overshadowed slightly by Jude, whose subtle, but substantive growth is powerful.

Spending a lot of time reflecting on my own life. My decisions. Those I love. My friends. My wife.

The way I adore them.

The past failures and mistakes, and how I truly would not be here without them.

As another reviewer once said, I could not possibly recommend this book. But, yet, I still say, this is a must read. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Blood, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Sexual assault

anachlls's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

lmcneela728's review against another edition

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

This book is a difficult but beautiful read. The trauma shared is dark and debilitating yet I appreciate the detail and realness is which the author portrays it. Diving into the psyche of someone with severe trauma and trying to understand their emotions and relationships with others was approached with care and transparency. 

I found the relationships in this book to be realistic and endearing. The multiple POVs shared how one’s life and their value to the world can be seen so vastly different amongst others. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Abandonment

alastair_james's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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. Yeah so it ended the way I thought it would. Still frickin sad, though.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

neen_bean's review against another edition

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

2.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

yeldah_reedz'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

4.5

I want to start by saying that I would genuinely never recommend this book to anyone. Since everyone reacts to trauma in different ways I don’t want to be responsible for the way someone reacts while reading this book. A Little Life is a beautifully told story following a group of four best friends and their lives after college. I don’t want to say much more about the story since I believe it would be better to just jump in with little to no expectations. However, if you are planning to dive into this long story (over 800 pages), I will ask that you look up and read all the trigger warnings before opening the cover to the first page. 
I can fully say that some parts of this book were the most disturbing and disgusting things I have ever read and made me feel physically ill. There were points in the book where I had to set it down for a bit and take a break before continuing. Even though so much of this book is deeply tragic, it keeps the reader hoping for more and wishing for all the pain and suffering to end for some of the characters. There were happier parts and I did end up laughing while my eyes scanned through some of my favorite parts. The end of the book was bittersweet, tender and felt gratifying despite everything else that happened. The title means more after you read the whole book and the axiom of equality lives in my heart now. Sometimes you expect x from a book, but end up getting x. This book shows how x=x outside of mathematics. Hanya Yanagihara has written an exquisite story that tugs on the readers heartstrings in many more ways than expected. I see this story in the world around me and it feels like I have a fresh brain but in an older and wiser way. I’m not sure what else to say about this book since it left me nearly speechless the moment it ended.
I would just say, read it with caution and don’t read it when you’re in any kind of bad mood since the subjects it contains are quite dark/heavy. 
Woop! Woop! Tragic books for the win, am I right?

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment