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brennsteez'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
Graphic: Child abuse, Medical content, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Trafficking, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Eating disorder, and Domestic abuse
megkinghorn'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? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Rape, Trafficking, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Ableism, Self harm, Addiction, Death, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Pedophilia, and Mental illness
ottolee's review against another edition
Plain and simple, this novel is an exercise in endurance, not simply because it is incredibly long, but because Hanya Yanagihara seems to be into repeatedly and brutally abusing her main character and forcing the reader to witness the almost comical lengths to which she chooses to hurt him. There are increasingly infrequent sections of the novel breaking up the increasingly frequent and drawn out depictions of physical and violence against an ambiguously gay, ambiguously ethnic, disabled man.
This is what causes the book to be as long as it is; it is the literary equivalent of Yanagihara strapping the reader to a table and drawing increasingly large quantities of blood out of them to see what they can stand, giving them cookies and Gatorade in between each draw just so the next one can be bigger. The reader hopes that, at some point, she will get what she came for, finish the experiment and give you back what you gave up. But she doesn't. She just wants to watch you bleed.
I think Yanagihara explains herself best.
"I wanted A Little Life... to begin healthy (or appear so), and end sick — both the main character, Jude, and the plot itself." (https://www.vulture.com/2015/04/how-hanya-yanagihara-wrote-a-little-life.html#_ga=2.58977709.1601876994.1578809567-1295422479.1578809567)
And so it does. And I, personally want to vomit.
Graphic: Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic friendship, Violence, Addiction, Rape, Self harm, Ableism, Cursing, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Adult/minor relationship, Homophobia, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Bullying, Chronic illness, Confinement, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Trafficking, and Death
simonmartin's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Rape, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Suicide, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Self harm, Trafficking, Homophobia, Hate crime, and Adult/minor relationship
k_j_reads'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
4.0
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Rape, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, Trafficking, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, and Self harm
Moderate: Infidelity, Eating disorder, Car accident, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Medical content, and Addiction
ghostpuppy'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
Graphic: Sexual content, Vomit, Self harm, Sexual violence, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body shaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Kidnapping, Murder, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Car accident, Religious bigotry, Ableism, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Grief, Terminal illness, Addiction, Mental illness, Torture, Trafficking, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, and Suicidal thoughts
toochmarone's review against another edition
Graphic: Alcohol, Chronic illness, Death, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Body horror, Child death, Drug use, Rape, Suicide, Trafficking, Murder, Alcoholism, Bullying, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide attempt, Blood, Body shaming, Child abuse, Kidnapping, Addiction, Gore, Toxic friendship, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Eating disorder, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Self harm, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture
gebevafaye's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.25
Jude as the main character is so frustrating. He is always a bad friend, a bad partner, a bad person and everyone allows him to be. He’s an addict to his trauma and everyone enables him. And don’t even get me started on the misleading synopsis. None of the so-called friends are mentioned after the first fourth of the book.
The fact that I had to list like 50 trigger warnings with no real payoff is concerning.
I didn't find anything about this book appealing and I would not recommend it to anyone.
Graphic: Rape, Violence, Self harm, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Suicidal thoughts, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Child abuse, Car accident, Trafficking, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Torture, Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Domestic abuse, Death, and Chronic illness
keepcalm'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
3.5
Graphic: Child death, Addiction, Self harm, Child abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, Eating disorder, Chronic illness, Suicide attempt, Death, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Vomit, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, Violence, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, Grief, Emotional abuse, and Drug use
sahnve's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, and Vomit