Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

Een klein leven by Hanya Yanagihara

181 reviews

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

laner's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Vomit, Dementia, Kidnapping, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, and Outing

Minor: Cancer and Alcohol

jjjorddd's review against another edition

challenging 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

This book made me cry so many times I lost count. So dark and sad yet I couldn’t put it down.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

krijemseoddusana's review against another edition

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

rmb_books's review against another edition

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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Medical content, and Abandonment

brookey_logan's review against another edition

challenging 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

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Content Warnings

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

charlymeyer's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

This is the first time I’ve cried at a book in a while. It was really great, but honestly but too slow paced for my liking. That’s just my personal preference though. I kept having to put down because of how frustrated or shocked I got at times. Overall a very moving but challenging book. Contains lots of TWs and very graphic at times.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

lildairy's review against another edition

sad medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, 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 violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail