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reader_in_the_meadow's review against another edition
- 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
The plot revolves mainly around Jude, the main character of the story, who is such a broken person, having experienced so many horrors in his childhood and teen years. Since their isn't more special going on, I'd say that this book is mainly character-driven.
As the reader we get continually told of the characters live, often switching the point of view and or the time setting via retrospects. By also occassionally changing from third to first person, we get even better insight of the feelings of the characters.
The cast of characters is very diverse. There is LGBTQ+ rep, disabled rep and BIPOC rep. As I am not disabled nor a person of color myself, I will only say, that the representation of LGBTQ+ individuals was very well executed and there were many sides of that coin shown.
I have to say that the characters were also very different from one another and every one was developed very precise and I had fun reading about them and their lives, because they were really interesting designed.
The writing was lovely and simple to read in my opinion. Although very wordsy there weren't any words I didn't know. I loved that the author used much time to describe anything into details which made it very easy to build up the atmosphere.
I liked that the autor made it as clear as possible about what you as reader should feel and conveyed that perfectly.
A thing I didn't like that much was that at some points the book was very sluggish and I really had to push myself to get through those parts.
In conclusion, I can definitely say that I enjoyed this book very much and it even made me shed some tears. which doesn't happen that often while reading. But I really advice anyone wnating to read this book to chek the content warnings because there are definitely a lot! But I can still recommend it to anyone who has the emotional capability to read it.
Graphic: Abandonment, Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Alcohol, Biphobia, Body shaming, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Medical content, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Transphobia, Violence, and Vomit
mariacalvo'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
4.75
Graphic: Abandonment, Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Car accident, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Gore, Homophobia, Biphobia, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, and Violence
nanna_ea's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Biphobia, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Car accident, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence
aquakerwitch's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Biphobia, Blood, Body shaming, Car accident, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Self harm, Rape, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, and Domestic abuse
ava20064's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Blood, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Violence
Moderate: Biphobia, Body horror, Blood, Body shaming, Car accident, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Violence
Minor: Addiction and Vomit
nadiana's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Graphic: Abandonment, Ableism, Acephobia/Arophobia, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Biphobia, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Torture, Trafficking, and Violence
mostlyliterate'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
4.75
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, and Violence
Moderate: Abandonment, Biphobia, Death, Racism, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Infidelity and Vomit
joobke's review against another edition
Graphic: Ableism, Biphobia, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Mental illness, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Drug use
blymanor'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
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpZF7O0jezg
I was moved by this book, something that books don't often do for me, inspiring my initial five star review. However, this review I watched pointed out that Yanagihara did not sufficiently research the sensitive topics she presented. She also includes graphic depictions of self harm that could be harmful if read by the wrong people.
Overall, I am still impressed with this book stylistically and narratively, writing a novel this long that keeps people engaged is no small feat, but the author should perhaps have spent some more time questioning her own biases and seeking outside perspectives before dedicating 720 pages to such a triggering topic.
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Car accident, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Chronic illness, Death, and Medical content
Minor: Biphobia
emmalouisepip's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, and Violence