Reviews tagging 'Rape'

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

3329 reviews

unpetitchat's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.0

Saddest book I’ve ever read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, 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, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

remy716's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

luciejzql's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.5

J’ai reposé et recommencé trois fois le livre parce que je n’arrivais pas à dépasser la 2eme partie. 
Pendant la première moitié du livre, j’ai été complètement emportée par l’histoire de ces personnages, par leur manière de fonctionner ensemble et seuls, et intriguée par Jude et son passé. Et puis au milieu du livre, après quelque premiers récits d’horreurs, j’ai compris que le reste du roman irait de mal en pis. C’est tellement complaisant dans la douleur, dans la souffrance, dans l’incapacité à changer que ça en devient gerbant. Jude m’a été insupportable dans le dernier tiers et j’avais hâte de finir le livre pour enfin pouvoir passer à autre chose. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Incest, Infertility, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

mvegag's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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

5.0

Without spoilers I do have to say this was a complete journey on friendship and human relationships, everything that is said about the book is true, it has amazing writing, complex characters and it is very sad but I still think not sadness as conveyed just being sad and towards the end just a feeling of this is how life is.
All this to say, highly important to read trigger warnings this book is not for everyone and although I would love to recommend it to everyone I know as an amazing study on relationships in life, complex emotions, communication, love and affection, this is a very tough book that will have you feeling sad, hopeless, in despair, angry and touches basically all potentially triggering topics in detail. Reading it in the incorrect mindset I’m sure could lead to DNF’ing it and just having a bad experience and spiraling even further into whatever you might be going through.
If you feel like you need to be hit by life, to have your truths be told and feel exposed, guilty, sad and angry whilst following some extreme situations then by all means go for it and I’m sure you will “enjoy” it.
5 stars for the amazing journey it was, how complex relationships and emotions are handled and how it doesn’t care for any kind of expectations you might have, this is raw life, no sugar coating.

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Content Warnings

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

_paigejennings_'s review against another edition

challenging 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

annaavaa's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child 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, Medical content, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

hullabalyew's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This book was so well written. Yanagihara evokes so many emotions from guilt, shame, and fear to joy, pride and love. “A Little Life” encapsulates the complexities of existing, of living. While many will never suffer even a fraction of what Jude has, we can still relate to the insecurities that we’re not good enough for our friends or our job or our family. This book was so powerful, and in many ways, I think the twists and turns and painful and sad bits are what makes it so good. For some, life is full of loss, but they still chug along and keep living. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Medical trauma, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Addiction, Car accident, and Gaslighting

panger97's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad 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

Read this through as a book club book with friends! It honestly took me a bit to get going with this book. The prose is beautiful, but the book does use a somewhat unconventional story telling style, as it mixes flashbacks, a bit of POV shifts and more.

The story begins with 4 boys, Jude, Malcolm, JB and Willem, just fresh out of college and trying to make it in NY. 
Malcom is an architect, Jude is a lawyer, Willem is an actor and JB is an artist. The book starts off a bit slow, but that’s because it does spend some time developing their backgrounds. However, and not really a spoiler, Jude is the most mysterious of them.

I overall enjoyed it, but I did find some parts of it to be quite unrealistic or over the top. I also found that what were main characters kind of took a backseat roll later. Not a critique per se as life happens like that, but I do wish they were developed more. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Medical trauma, and Car accident

alastair_james's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

Wow. Yeah so it ended the way I thought it would. Still frickin sad, though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

neen_bean's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail