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alexjones_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
also, I looked on loads of CW lists of this book and no one seemed to mention sex trafficking which was odd
Graphic: Sexual violence, Vomit, Rape, Self harm, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, and Torture
Moderate: Physical abuse, Body horror, Addiction, Blood, Pedophilia, Chronic illness, Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Eating disorder, Grief, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Child death, Dementia, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Car accident, Drug abuse, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Drug use, and Racial slurs
this is the longest time I've ever had to spend on a trigger warnings listcowardlyteaman's review against another edition
- 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
I absolutely love the way these characters are built, to be honest. They all got on my nerves at different points, but I still cherished all of them. I really like it when flawed characters.š«¶
Willem is wonderful, of course, but not perfect? He makes mistakes! He's selfish, even. Delusional, at points.
Jude has been through ā more than most, to say the least. And to be completely frank, it gets old after a while. I get tired of hearing about his problems, and I get tired of reading about him falling into the same patterns over and over again. However, I'm sure he's just as tired as I am. Or far more, probably. When I realised this, it became easier to empathise with his character.
JB is such a wonderfully flawed character. He made me wince with second hand ... not even embarrassment, just pain. I love him, even if he's a crown dick at multiple points during the book.
Malcolm is just there, honestly. Emotional support architect. But I do love a homosexual who never manages to admit it.
However, there comes the problem ... that there is no plot. There is no plot whatsoever. There is no end goal, no ambition the characters have for the future. They just are.
Hadn't it been for the fact that I annotated and analysed this book (just for hobby), then I might have quickly discarded it...
The events are short and repetitive, and soon become extremely predictable.
Moving on to something slightly more off-track... the names.
Jude St. Francis is such a great name for a character. I love it so much. Fits him so well.
Willem Ragnarsson, however. Eh. As a Nordic person myself, I have to say that I'm a bit confused. He has a Danish mother and an Icelandic father who gave their son a Dutch name? It's by no means impossible, but William or VilhjĆ”lmur or Wilhelm would've just made more sense? Don't even get me started on the fact that these two Swedish-speaking parents named their severely disabled son Hemming. In Norwegian (which in all honesty is not much different from Swedish), Ā«hemmingĀ» means handicap. HƤmning /hem-ning/ in Swedish. While I'm sure the author had no intention of this, it jus seems absolutely ridiculous of them to name their child eith cerebral palsy Hemming. Not to mention that no-one's fucking named that in Denmark, Sweden, or Iceland.
That was my rant. It was worth it, despite the occasional drags of COMPLETELY irrelevant information.
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Medical content, Mental illness, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Blood, Body shaming, Grief, Ableism, Child abuse, Dysphoria, Medical trauma, Eating disorder, Murder, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Sexual content, Violence, Car accident, Death, Domestic abuse, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Rape, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Terminal illness, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Racism and Racial slurs
addi_gurl's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Eating disorder, Suicide, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Child abuse, Suicide attempt, Racial slurs, Body shaming, Death, Hate crime, Trafficking, and Pedophilia
queerhoney's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Abandonment, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Rape, Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Self harm, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Gore, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual harassment, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Body horror, Body shaming, Gun violence, Medical content, Sexual violence, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Cancer
lady_of_the_ulla'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
3.75
Graphic: Kidnapping, Body shaming, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Medical content, Racial slurs, Drug use, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Violence, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Body horror, Mental illness, Self harm, Ableism, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
mercedes_bente'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
5.0
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Ableism, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Domestic abuse, Sexual content, Blood, Body shaming, Death, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, and Self harm
Moderate: Addiction, Drug use, and Death of parent
Minor: Homophobia, Hate crime, Racism, and Racial slurs
mari_vangberg's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Please look up the TWs for this book before reading it though, because there are a lot of them.
Graphic: Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Torture, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Abandonment, Medical content, Death, Kidnapping, Suicide, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Car accident, Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Drug use, Dysphoria, Grief, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Eating disorder, Rape, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Sexual content, Ableism, Chronic illness, and Death of parent
rosiejode's review against another edition
- 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
9 days later - I still feel empty and canāt stop thinking about this book š
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Racism, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Drug use, Eating disorder, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Torture, Addiction, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Grief, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicide, Gore, Racial slurs, Sexual harassment, Violence, and Sexual content
susannedeheer'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
5.0
A Little Life asks the question what stories are meant for. And it is a good story, but the moment it crosses some line is the moment the story loses its essence or goal. For me ( and i think for almost everyone) it is the too much trauma for one persons life. A turned around deus ex machina who comes out of nowhere. And of course life can be cruel and uncertain, but can we just believe or pretend to believe when weāre reading stories?
Iām sad to leave them behind, but it feels finished, rounded and so i can actually move on. Their whole lives are on paper (even though it felt like they never get older, and still stay 20-something. So i will definitely read it when iām older to see what the difference is)
I finished it just in time for the play by ITA. Very curious how they bring this cruel and beautiful life to the stage. It almost feels impossible, unreachable to bring these stories to life. The book is able to keep it at some distance, but iām sure the realness on stage will bring some new heaviness to it.
Graphic: Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Child abuse, Self harm, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Death of parent, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Rape, Racism, Violence, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Child death, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and Pedophilia
auburn_phoenix_15's review against another edition
Might go back to it later...
Graphic: Alcoholism, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Chronic illness, Suicidal thoughts, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Drug abuse, Medical content, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Rape, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Vomit, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, Adult/minor relationship, and Eating disorder