3.72k reviews for:

Vers le paradis

Hanya Yanagihara

3.79 AVERAGE

orlagal's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Deportation

nams92's review against another edition

3.0

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3 1/2 stars. Not really sure what to make of this. Can’t say I liked it, and it was SO long. But, it was different than anything I’ve ever read and was super thought provoking!

bobriggeman's review against another edition

3.5

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

hellsfiresfade's review against another edition

2.0

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I'm very frustrated by this book and if I wasn't reading it for a book club I probably would have opted not to finish instead of hate-reading the final 200 pages

swaggirlemdog's review against another edition

2.5

dark mysterious sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

l3x13's review against another edition

4.0

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Slight difficult to follow with the multiple generations with similar if not the same names being reused. I do love the various stories how they weave together and what you see as the common thing. The ending had me broken. I need to know what happened to charlie

slp25's review against another edition

4.0

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Exceptional writing.

renzoisi's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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The book is not always an easy read, some passages could have been shorter, so come prepared. However, it has the power to draw you in and leave you in a hazy state of mind once finished.

It consists of three chapters, set in late 19th, late 20th and late 21st century. I found the first and third chapters more engaging, while the second was more difficult to read, with passages that dragged on for too long.

The end of each chapter leaves you wondering about the characters and the fates they might have truly met, enhancing the “lingering power” of each story as you transition to the next. “Paradise” is only mentioned at the end of each chapter and in the book’s title. Beyond its common meaning, it would have been interesting to explore what the concept signifies for each character and storyline.

The use of the same names (Charles/Charlie, Edward, and David) in each chapter is a great touch, almost reinforcing the themes of reincarnation, redemption of past iterations.

My favorite chapter was the last one, with its interweaving of two storylines set decades apart.

sophiejoannasays's review against another edition

2.0

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Struggling to see the purpose of this... The first part was enjoyable, the second part was ok, if a little slow. The final part however, which makes up 50% of the book, just didn't do it for me. A wierd take on a depressing future is not what I wanted or was expecting. The whole book lacked cohesion and I'm not sure why there were three parts as they don't link.

haudurn's review against another edition

1.0

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DNF. I made it through the first of three stories, but the second story was hard to engage with as it felt repetitive to the themes of the first story and the characters were lackluster. This is a long book and a lot of the detail just goes nowhere.