Reviews tagging 'Excrement'

Una vita come tante by Hanya Yanagihara

50 reviews

gigireadswithkiki's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

1.0

This book is absolutely wretched (derogatory), for a plethora of reasons. In no particular order and to varying degrees of fucking awfulness: 

• The fatphobia: this book constantly ridicules fat persons, both in the language that is used to craft their existence, or in the way that these characters are treated by others (see: JB). 
• The transphobia: in one scene, a side character is having, what is presumed to be, a transitioning party. At no point within the text does the author nor the characters switch their use of pronouns after learning this. 
• The friendships: I've heard people talk MANY times about how this book is such a good marker of friendship. It is not. The friendships in this book are unhealthy, borderline abusive. The characters hold their friends on pedestals, refusing to see any flaws from their friends. The OTHER OPTION is that the characters view their friends suffering and flat out, selfishly refuse to see past it, as if nothing is wrong.
• The depiction of queer relationships: Yanagihara disgusts me. The constant depiction of MLM relationships as something "wrong", as something "disgusting" eventually culminating to Queer tragedy felt so utterly wrong. She did not handle Queer issues with any grace, instead choosing to force trauma upon trauma upon Queer characters
• The trauma: at a certain point in the book, I started to roll my eyes at the amount that Jude suffered. Not because he deserved it, but because each time the reader thinks things might get to a place that is okay, Yanagihara thrusts something in the readers faces, as if to say "NO! LOOK! LOOK! ACTUALLY IT"S JUST BAD!" I don't fucking care that she intended this book to be a reflection of cherishing life's happy moments. What came across was horrendous. 
• The self harm: after a number of repetitions, the self harm in the book felt so fucking blasè. Yes we know this character is harming themselves. why the fuck did you feel the need to detail every single tiny detail of it. every. single. time. To what purpose does this serve but to the author's disgusting twisted sense of shock value. 

I don't know why i finished this book. I truly don't. I'm reevaluating the last couple days of my life and the use of my free time. Don't read this book. If you're looking for depictions of trauma on a similar scale but with ACTUAL meaning and purpose within a story, just read The Poppy War for christssake. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body shaming, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Abandonment, Ableism, Addiction, Car accident, Child abuse, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Biphobia, Acephobia/Arophobia, Stalking, Torture, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Outing, Body horror, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Transphobia, Fatphobia, Bullying, Grief, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Pedophilia, Dysphoria, Excrement, Gaslighting, and Gore

melisayasilem's review against another edition

dark sad 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

You could say that none of the characters -who you become very much attached to by the way- deserve what happens to them. You feel what they feel, go through what they go through. I knew what I was getting myself into before I began reading this book, but it still hits you hard. I didn't find myself as affected as others whom I've seen their reviews saying nobody should read this book because it is f'ed up- and this could be because I read this over a period of months instead of a couple days or even weeks. Regardless, it still succeeded to leave a deep impact.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Medical content, Medical trauma, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Addiction, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Ableism, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Vomit, Abandonment, Child death, Death, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Alcohol, Biphobia, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Blood, Cursing, Dementia, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Hate crime, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic relationship, and Excrement

Minor: Classism, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Car accident, Confinement, Excrement, and Outing

This book is not for the weak, it gets very graphic in some chapters and you might have to put it down for a bit. But it also makes you want to continue reading because you get very attached to the characters. Sexual assault and suicidal thoughts are very much present, to the point where you sometimes have to think hard to understand why the character thinks that way.

introverted_reads'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? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Ableism, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Blood, Car accident, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Vomit

Moderate: Acephobia/Arophobia, Outing, Stalking, Transphobia, Biphobia, and Excrement

michelareadsbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Blood, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Excrement, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Vomit

soumya_singhal's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Acephobia/Arophobia, Addiction, Colonisation, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Animal death, Cancer, Death, Dysphoria, Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, Ableism, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Antisemitism, Biphobia, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cannibalism, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Murder, Outing, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Rape, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Violence, Vomit, Xenophobia, Physical abuse, Racism, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, and Toxic friendship

sinnabeanz's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.75

Part of me wants to give this 0 because of certain things that felt unnecessary and overkill in terms of the trauma and "bad things" we have described to us. In the end though the reading experience was something I rarely experience, where I am wholly immersed, feeling what the characters feel, being sad, crying, getting angry and even nauseous at times. This book isn't something to pick up lightly just as a fun read it is traumatising an scarring and a small part of me wishes I could unread certain parts. In the end  though it's the books that are profound in their ability to make me feel, whether that be feeling devastated or giddy with joy I will always respect and appreciate a book written well enough to make me feel things on the level that I did. It isn't a 5 cause 1% of me says 0 and hated it cause of certain things I felt were not needed but the other 99% says oh my god 5 that was amazing I felt so many things the writing was incredible and the characters were so real, so fleshed out and the choice of making time go by through major life events really just sealed it for me it added this extra focus on he characters in a way I've never seen an author use a different form of time going by to shine more light on the fact that this is a character driven book. Overall I say read the trigger warnings, read reviews, watching reading vlogs, go in informed and not completely blind cause it is triggering.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Violence, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Terminal illness, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Gore, Eating disorder, Death of parent, Death, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, and Ableism

Moderate: Child death, Homophobia, Hate crime, Racism, Vomit, Addiction, Bullying, Car accident, Drug use, and Gaslighting

Minor: Excrement and Hate crime

golden_like_dior's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense fast-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: Abandonment, Blood, Cancer, Car accident, Chronic illness, Dysphoria, Self harm, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, Kidnapping, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Vomit, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Addiction, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Outing, Physical abuse, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Suicide attempt, Torture, Violence, Body shaming, Death, Dementia, Drug use, Eating disorder, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Rape, and Suicide

fairyribs's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Acephobia/Arophobia, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Death, Child death, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, Ableism, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Car accident, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Torture, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Drug abuse, Drug use, Dysphoria, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Violence, and Vomit

amelianotthepilot's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

what a book
i simultaneously want everyone to read this and want no one to read it

an 800 page epic of a story detailing a life lived. Hanya Yanagihara has such a beautiful way of detailing daily life and it’s ebs and flows in such a mundane but entrancing way. Time is fluid as she jumps from present to past to future in the way someone tells a story to their friends. It changes perspective a few times which i found slightly confusing being that almost all the characters are male.

all on little lispenard

I enjoyed how a lot of the characters were queer in some way but in a casual and nonchalant way.
I enjoyed the diversity of representation: mental health, physical disability, queerness

However there are so many triggers in this book it is sorta ridiculous

TW for the following: chronic illness, sibling death, sexual abuse, rape, physical abuse, mental abuse, abusive partner, abusive parent, child abuse, sexual assault, self harm, suicide, suicidal thoughts, medical trauma, abduction, kid napping, ptsd, partner death, death, abandonment, addiction, adult/minor relationship, alcoholism, alcohol, drug use, blood, body dysmorphia, body shaming, bullying, car accident, confinement, domestic abuse, dysphoria, eating disorder, emotional abuse, vomit, fire, fire injury, amputation, forced institutionalization, grief, gore, medical trauma, gaslighting, pedophilia, grooming, injury detail, medical content, mental illness, panic attacks, sexual content, sexual violence, stalking, suicide attempt, terminal illness, torture, toxic relationship

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Terminal illness, Suicide, Child death, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic friendship, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, Grief, Eating disorder, Drug use, Confinement, Ableism, Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Gore, Excrement, Alcohol, Addiction, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, Cursing, Chronic illness, Alcoholism, Torture, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Self harm, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Fire/Fire injury, Emotional abuse, Dysphoria, Car accident, Bullying, Body shaming, Body horror, Blood, and Abandonment

kirsty_irwin'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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dysphoria, Drug use, Body horror, Addiction, Ableism, Abandonment, Stalking, Racism, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Cursing, Body shaming, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, Drug abuse, Domestic abuse, Blood, Vomit, Trafficking, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Outing, Injury/Injury detail, Chronic illness, Child death, Alcohol, Bullying, Dementia, Violence, Torture, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Slavery, Rape, Child abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Self harm, Medical content, Homophobia, Death, Sexual content, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Hate crime, Grief, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Death of parent, Car accident, Biphobia, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Cursing, Acephobia/Arophobia, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, and Drug abuse

Minor: Dementia, Incest, Miscarriage, Car accident, Outing, Cancer, and Child death