Reviews tagging 'Car accident'

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

1719 reviews

abception'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? It's complicated

5.0

#1 victim of the zillennial need to morally indict anything that makes them even slightly uncomfortable

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Drug abuse, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, and Abandonment

Minor: Bullying, Cancer, Drug use, and Death of parent

hannahmontanareading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad fast-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

4.5

I think this will be my first and only time reading a little life because that was so hauntingly beautiful, I don't think I'll forget it. I love a book that genuinely immerses me, through emotional response, or just as a page turner. This was both of those things. I found it so engaging and I was desperate to know all I could about that little life!! The way hanya depicts mindsets, and a varied assortment of such mindsets as well, is truly fascinating. I could just be super nosey, but I found the varied perspectives and opinions given to be one of the books most enthralling factors.

I think the author represents a lot of flaws in everyone - I do think perhaps it could be sending a message that one will never recover from trauma, but quite frankly it also creates a platform that viscerally shows the realities of existing with such trauma, possibly quite validating for victims. As the representation contradicts historical notions of insanity etc. associated with trauma and mental illness - Jude is capable of happiness, but perhaps never fully? Not sure where I sit on the ethics of it all... 

Heartbroken but so happy to have read it (I would love to see the play version of it too)

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Content Warnings

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

findingtimeforreading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.0

Am I okay because I didn’t feel devastated at the end? 

A Little Life details the very traumatic life of Jude from childhood to adulthood. We are carried through all of the traumatic life events he has experienced with interspersed viewpoints from the people surrounding Jude in life.

I am in two minds about this book. Firstly, it’s an incredibly powerful story about a horridly traumatic and painful life, and delves into how trauma can completely change how a brain develops. Yanagihara paints Jude as

“too far gone” to heal

, and conveys every person in Jude’s life as utterly imperfect. This is an incredibly important viewpoint in literature as it is important that empathy and stories are not solely focussed on those that did everything correctly. A Little Life allows us to embrace the imperfection of every character and continuously feel empathy because it is deserved even for those who were not perfect.

On the other hand, this did not evoke the emotion I was expecting. The combination of third-person narration and categorically descriptive writing style created a story that was very hard to immerse yourself within. It felt much more like a descriptive essay of Jude’s trauma than a story meant to portray suffering and dejection.

Due to this, I was unable to truly feel devastated at the end of this book.

I am giving A Little Life a solid 3 stars for a story that deserves to be told, but deserved better narration to evoke the emotion this type of story is worthy of.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Medical content, Trafficking, Medical trauma, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Death

Minor: Toxic relationship, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

mungbean's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

snigd_ha's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Chronic illness, Car accident, and Death of parent

carlotta25'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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Bullying, Chronic illness, Cursing, Infidelity, Torture, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting

shannonwebbb27's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

5.0

I can only describe this book simply as emotional. This book made me feel so many things, and made me feel them so deeply that my heart hurt and I needed to take a break. I do understand some of the criticism for this book, but for me I love it when a book makes me think about things I normally wouldnt, puts life into perspective and sticks with me for a long time. In fact, I think this book will stay with me forever. I wish I could read this for the first time all over again. Truely an incredible book!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

cannesi's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Honestly I debated 5 stars because some of it was so tough to get through. My main point of issue was how it didn’t ever explicitly say whose pov it was. I liked that you could tell the characters were successful but not in an obnoxious way. It really gave the story life so see these friends from 20-50 and the different paths people take. I find it much more believable with how things turned out because Jude stayed true to his character the entire time. Even when people tried to tell him how much he mattered, it was never enough. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Fire/Fire injury

jani_mcgonagall's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

klaratoll'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

I don't even know what to say. It's currently 4.30 in the morning and I just spent the last six or so hours finishing this book and most of the last four in a state ranging from slightly sniffling to outright sobbing. I'm not sure I can rate this book, certainly not at the moment, but I might have a hard time doing it later too. There were many things I loved about it, the characters, the writing, and most of all the exploration of all the different relationships between the characters. But then there are also some things that I'm not certain how to feel about just yet. I think I need to sit with it for a while to be able to collect my thoughts properly. I wouldn't say it's a book I would ever feel comfortable recommending to anyone lightly, but it is a book that will probably stay with me for a long time. 

Update: 
Okay, it's been a few days since I finished it and I think I've collected my thoughts enough to discuss some of my feelings about this novel. To say it shortly: I think I love it. Some of my thoughts below this point will probably contain spoilers so do read ahead with caution. 

The first thing I was unsure about as I finished the book was the message it potentially sends. I've seen a lot of the more negative-leaning reviews saying that the message is that some people are too broken to be helped and we should basically just give up on them and let them die. I think it's quite difficult to write a book that deals with suicide and not make it potentially carry the this message, but I don't think that books containing suicide should not be written. I hate to bring the argument of realism into this, but I will anyway. Saying that the message is that some people are too broken to help kind of ignores that people do commit suicide. Even people who are deeply, deeply loved. Even people who have recieved help and treatment. Representing this in fiction does not equate that we should give up on people. I have to say that right after finishing the book a part of me thought: "So what was the point then? Did nothing of it matter in the end?" But after having thought about it for a while I refuse to define the point of a life by how it ends, and I refuse to say that kind acts, love and friendship do not matter even if they might not be enough. Are love and moments of happiness not of any consequence just because they do not last? 

There was so much about the novel that I found hard-hitting and thought-provoking. Something that really stood out to me was how the characters were constantly wondering if they were making the right choices in relation to Jude and his traumas. Do I push this? Will I break something if i do? What happens if I don't? If I had done something differently, would things have been different? Better? I think this is quite a realistic depiction of being close to someone who is suffering in some kind of way. 

I also need to say something more elaborate on the book as a whole. It's a slow read, at times perhaps a bit too slow I thought. But in the end I think the slowness adds to the impact of it all, I don't think I would have cared as much about the character had it not been so in depth. The relationships that are explored and the the understanding and attachment I felt for all the characters is extraordinary. 

As I mentioned the novel was truly devastating, throughout to be honest, but especially the last hundred pages or so were a sob-fest for me. The excruciating thing was that I thought I had worked out what was going to happen, at least the broad strokes of it, and when I was fundamentally wrong about one thing that I had been absolutely certain of it pulled the rug right out from under me. However painful this was, it was masterfully done.

I understood that Jude was going to be dead by the end of the novel. I understood this quite early on as Harolds chapters spoke of him in past tense. I was also assured that as I understood that the letters were addressed to Willem, he was going to out-live Jude. When this was not the case I was absolutely shocked and distraught, both becuase it was a character that I loved and because of the implications Willems death had for Jude and the remainder of the story. The reason why I think this was brilliantly done is because is puts us as readers in Judes position. Jude never thought there would be even the slightest possibility of him out-living Willem, and neither did we. We experience the same shock as Jude does. This is what makes it so heartbreaking.

I do not argue with anyone who finds this book exploitative or harmful, I think it can be if read in the wrong state of mind. But I do think that there are many other things to take away from this read and a lot of them are hauntingly beautiful and reflect the many facets, ugly and beautiful, of what it is to be human. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Drug abuse, Vomit, Medical content, and Fire/Fire injury