Reviews tagging 'Classism'

Ein wenig Leben by Hanya Yanagihara

49 reviews

denisescoffeebreak's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

5.0

This book broke me, but I knew what I was going to get from the get go and I think that’s where many people have trouble with this book.
I think it was written beautifully, at some point it wasn’t reading but almost like watching the scenes of a movie right before my eyes.
We know from the start of the book that Jude is such a troubled character and that really does make you affectionate to his character - he isn’t against recovery, he just can’t excuse it for himself, he grew up learning to only allow pain in his life and that itself it’s such a difficult thing to unlearn. 
There wasn’t any need for William to do a proper coming out, even his relationship with Jude didn’t really revolve around their sexuality but the respect and trust in each-other, so why is there a need to specify their sexuality? who cares. 
The book was indeed very very heavy on the subjects but in my opinion it was expected - I think it’s not a reason to bash the book, that’s low key what it is known for, it is not an easy read, which is why I (like many others) suggest you check the trigger warnings before reading. 
I sometimes had to put down the book to take a big breath but that’s what made me like it even more, it touched me enough to have a physical reaction lol.
One thing I didn’t like it’s yet another representation of a toxic gay love story, although again (sorry) expected in this book (that I know it’s not known for it’s”love story” though, which is good). 
Anyways five starts because it really touched me and I couldn’t put it down. :)

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Suicide, Body horror, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Blood, Car accident, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Fire/Fire injury, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Violence, Suicide attempt, Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Classism, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Medical trauma, and Trafficking

em1339's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Medical content, Medical trauma, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Trafficking, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Classism, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Body shaming, Bullying, Physical abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Slavery, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Violence, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Domestic abuse, Gore, and Rape

kayleighr's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective 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

---

Content Warnings

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

aliceelizabethb's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Addiction, Cursing, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Self harm, Pedophilia, Medical content, Child abuse, Classism, Sexual violence, Outing, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Gore, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Grief, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Torture, Terminal illness, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Car accident, Drug use, Rape, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, Death, Death of parent, Violence, Homophobia, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

grboph'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

3.5

Wow. I think it's going to take me a while to process this one. It was, without a doubt, one of the best-written books I've ever read, and I hardly ever feel emotions about stories and their characters as acutely and strongly as I did here. The characters were also incredibly well-thought-out and memorable. However, I do feel that most of its plot was just eight hundred pages of the most horrible, trauma-porn-y things imaginable happening to absolutely everybody involved. I definitely did not enjoy reading this book in the traditional sense - I finished it because I wanted it to be over, and knew the bad things were coming but couldn't stand not knowing exactly what they were. Even with this, the last hundred or so pages were the hardest to get through of the entire book because I knew exactly what was coming, and I almost wish it had stopped at the end of the "Dear Comrade" section because then things would have been a bit more ambiguous and I could have feasibly imagined that the book would end happily. In short, I'm not mad I read this book, and I know I'll be thinking about its characters for a long time to come. I'm also definitely going to read more of Yanagihara's books in the future because the strong emotions I felt while reading this book are really a testament to how amazing of a writer she is. However, I don't think I'll ever read this book again or recommend it to anyone else, just because I don't think I could put myself or anyone else through that degree of emotional pain again.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Suicide, Ableism, Eating disorder, Medical content, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Car accident, Chronic illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Bullying, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Child death, Addiction, Gore, Body horror, Death, Drug abuse, Child abuse, Grief, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Confinement

Moderate: Abandonment, Stalking, Alcohol, Cancer, Death of parent, Infidelity, Classism, and Terminal illness

Minor: Homophobia, Medical trauma, and Outing

ninireads_03'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

please check trigger warnings before reading :)

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Kidnapping, Abandonment, Self harm, Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Rape, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Ableism, Suicide attempt, Medical trauma, Fatphobia, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, Child death, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Violence, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Classism and Racism

Minor: Transphobia, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia

chomperpupper's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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? No

4.5

I wanted to be in so much pain that i couldn't even cry anymore . I wanted to know that it's okay that you'll never heal and you're still good enough you'll still be loved. At this heart of it it's about the sense of community that every wounded person needs .

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Blood, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Classism, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Acephobia/Arophobia, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Trafficking, Torture, Toxic relationship, Body horror, Medical trauma, Racism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, and Suicide attempt

fabycamurugy's review against another edition

challenging 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Pedophilia, Cursing, Dementia, Drug abuse, Dysphoria, Body horror, Death, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Classism, Child death, Chronic illness, Body shaming, Drug use, Child abuse, Addiction, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, and Torture

frootymeli's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad tense slow-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

what the fuck was that

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Fatphobia, Grief, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Trafficking, Violence, Child death, Chronic illness, Classism, Death, Vomit, Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Homophobia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Acephobia/Arophobia, Alcoholism, Blood, Body shaming, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Religious bigotry, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

litah's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

5.0

read if you want to cry

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Cultural appropriation, Confinement, Bullying, Blood, Alcoholism, Terminal illness, Sexual content, Racism, Racial slurs, Physical abuse, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Death, Classism, Child abuse, Car accident, Ableism, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Addiction, Hate crime, Grief, Gaslighting, Body shaming, Body horror, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Self harm, Rape, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Drug use, Abandonment, Vomit, Violence, Transphobia, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexism, Fire/Fire injury, Eating disorder, Drug abuse, and Domestic abuse