Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

178 reviews

miaaa_lenaaa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

<<<SPOILERS>>>
first off totally 100% respect anyone who hated this
i feel like i would have if i hadnt skim read a lot of the bits of jude hating himself
A lot of the time it seemed like Yanagihara had found cool metaphors for jude hating himself and was just excited to use them
but there was also some relatable stuff (right??? other people thought that too right???) like 'He had never done it before and so he didnt know how sad and slow and difficult it was to end a friendship' OOF that was the bit that made me cry the most, as well of some other bits about like friendships and stuff and wanting to help someone/talk to them about something but not and being stressed to cause you love them and want to keep them safe but you dont want to cross their barriers :'(
I didnt really sob? like i knew jude was gonna die before i even met him and suspect willem for about 150 pgs before
did shed a couple tears at harold and julia listening to judes cd and harold talking to the painting of Willem

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, 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, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Acephobia/Arophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

mariethebibliophile'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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, 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, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria

DO NOT READ UNTIL YOU HAVE A GOOD UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT YOU ARE GETTING INTO

rrsood's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

coffeaiene's review against another edition

dark 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

I'm in pieces 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

lisakelly's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

Intense read. Be prepared to be ruined time and time again. Hanya Yanagihara is a master in creating authentic, raw, beautiful and challenged characters. I would spend a big life with them all again and again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

anika13k's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

christineboudriasroy's review against another edition

dark 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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

nickgalentine'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? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

My god. What a story, what a telling.

A Little Life follows four college friends and roommates – JB, Willem, Malcolm, and Jude – as they navigate their lives and relationships in New York City. The story centers on Jude St. Francis, whose tragic and mysterious past is unknown to his friends and is revealed throughout the book in a piecemeal fashion to the readers.

I knew going in that this story would be emotionally taxing and that it wouldn’t have a happy ending, both of which being typical of literary fiction. But I wasn’t prepared for how attached I’d become to Jude and Willem (and, to a lesser extent, the remainder of the cast of characters), and how profoundly their respective deaths would resonate with me.

A Little Life is a wonderful, sprawling, and wandering novel. It touches on quite a few triggers (see below), some more comprehensively than others. I’ve read reviews of this book that equate it to misery porn, but I didn’t find anything to be particularly gratuitous, as I did with Outlander and The Pillars of the Earth (what is it about long books?). Jude’s story was framed in extremes, but the fact remains that it’s an excellent commentary on the far-reaching effects of sexual abuse, regardless of how extreme the assault.

It’s also a commentary on the ripple effects of our own little lives, how each action we take, each decision we make, ripples throughout the little lives of others.

If you haven’t read A Little Life yet, I highly recommend it. A word of warning – check the triggers before you read.

This book contains:

Graphic sexual abuse, child exploitation and prostitution, domestic violence, general assault, able-ism, self-harm, kidnapping, and grooming and sex abuse of minors within the Catholic Church

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Kidnapping, and Religious bigotry

coolbitch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Dementia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria

odetojersey'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

5.0

The most beautiful and heart wrenching book I’ve ever read. Don’t think I’ll ever read it again but I know it will stick with me. Absolutely horrific and gut wrenching and beautiful and amazing and timeless. Yanagihara is an AMAZING author and deserves all the praise she gets. Definitely my new favorite. PLEASE CONSIDER TRIGGER WARNINGS AS IT IS AN INCREDIBLY INTENSE BOOK.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Eating disorder, and Car accident

Minor: Cursing