Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

Een klein leven by Hanya Yanagihara

128 reviews

walskishere's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

Oh boy. I finally finished and I have a lot of thoughts.

First of all, I did not cry and I'm so proud! I'm an emotional person AND have the distinct pleasure of having gone through some of the traumas in the book, so not crying is truly astounding. I did tear up once, but they all managed to stay in my ducts.

The reasons I think that people don't like this book:

• character driven, rather than plot driven
• the main characters all have prominent flaws (except maybe Harold; we stan)
• they can't see the happiness and love; they only focus on the pain and suffering

A Little Life did a really great job of capturing several lives and how they intertwine. Yanagihara does a fantastic job of giving us each character's reactions to certain incidents. There are a few times that, for example, Jude thinks Willem is feeling or thinking one thing, then it's revealed that that's not what Willem was actually thinking.

I do wish that we had gotten more of Malcolm and JB, and maybe even Harold. I also wish we had more of them in college. I think that would help understand the bond of them more, and be more invested in the characters, especially Malcolm and JB. I think this is a major reason I didn't rate this higher. A small thing, but I wish the chapters were labeled with whose POV we were in, because that was hard to discern at the beginning.

To touch on the "trauma p*rn" categorization that some give it, I don't think that's accurate. I think the point of getting invested in the characters is to feel almost there with them. I think Hanya was trying to replicate the experience of living life with people you care about. I'm not sure if this is making sense, but these are real things that happen to people. Just because it doesn't or hasn't happened to you, doesn't mean it isn't a real experience or that it's exploitative. I've been through some of the stuff in the book and it's not fun, but that's life. The book tells a story of lives from their "start" to finish. It shows the love, and the pain, and the hardships, and the good times. That's how life is. This isn't to say that everyone should or can read this. I encourage everyone to research the content/trigger warnings prior to reading it.

Overall, I think this was a great portrayal of how complicated and intricated human lives and relationships are.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Child death, Eating disorder, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Kidnapping, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Drug use and Abandonment

bxnn13's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious 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: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

tigertheory's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Biphobia and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Bullying, Cancer, Transphobia, Religious bigotry, and Car accident

saighteen's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

This book isn't worth reading, it's pretty boring for the most part and its way too long, there are definitely parts that are beautifully written, but it's not worth your time.

I feel so awful for Harold he deserved a better ending

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, 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, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Vomit, and Death of parent

Minor: Racial slurs, Stalking, and Abandonment

annabelreading's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

cadzie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Giving 5 stars to a book that has made you cry is a strange thing. This book is devastating and I would not openly recommend it to anyone. If you choose to read this book, please read the list of triggers prior to buying to make sure you, yourself are emotionally and mentally in a place that can cope with the events that happen in the novel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, 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, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Stalking, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Vomit

dandiego_01's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-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

4.25

I felt a whirlwind of emotions when reading this book. As soon as something happy happened, right afterwards, the author had to crush your hopes and dreams for the character. I found it difficult to come to terms with the injustice and extreme abuse of Jude. Although this book was an extremely painful read, I still took some of the opinions expressed in the book and made them my own (for example, with Willem's opinion on therapy). I also find myself craving the way she wrote mundane scenes in an immersive, comfortable writing style but I definitely had to close the book a few times on more graphic scenes (painful).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, 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, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

angelapaulina's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

Minor: Car accident

pachelrooley's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

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

4.25

It's an incredible book but I wouldn't exactly recommend it - the prose is beautiful and the characters so alive to the reader that I couldn't stop reading, but even so I skipped some parts. It is at once beautiful and brutal, and whilst it is unquestionably a brilliant piece of art, I'm not sure it's one you 'need' to read as it is just unrelentingly bleak.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Stalking, and Suicide attempt

cjallen's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, 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, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Abandonment