Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Ein wenig Leben by Hanya Yanagihara

16 reviews

leahhateshardbacks's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

God... what to say? I purposefully hadn't picked this book up for about 3 years because I was scared by everyone's reviews and genuinely thought reading it would send me into a breakdown. (If you have any triggers, it's probably best not to read this, it really is a Pokémon gotta catch em all situation.) But I'm glad to report that while this is an incredibly sad story, it also focuses on love, friendship, and trickier emotions like jealousy and anger. 
•••
This is about so much, it would be impossible to summarise effectively in a mere few paragraphs, but I would say at its heart it's about trauma and healing. Sometimes it's happy, sometimes it's sad, and sometimes it's horrifically disturbing. It's about the never-ending aftershocks of trauma, their (irreversible?) influence, and what this looks like both emotionally and physically. I found it quite philosophical, and throughout was offered a handful of events/choices/opinions which made me think in a way I never have before. There are lots of complex and complicated emotions and concepts in here - loving someone without understanding them, the sometimes utter incorrectness of self-worth (both ways), and what friendship and loyalty means.
•••
My life will feel a little bit emptier over the next coming days - I've dedicated a lot of time to these characters over the last week or so and I am sad to have to say goodbye to them. Shout out my man Andy I think he was my fav. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Sexual assault, and Self harm

Moderate: Mental illness, Addiction, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Drug use, Vomit, and Sexism

f1yh1gh's review against another edition

dark emotional funny sad tense 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Death of parent, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Sexual harassment, Torture, and Vomit

waynethelibrarian's review against another edition

This novel falls into a pattern of repetitive trauma and triggers that slightly escalate at each occurrence to the point they become unbelievable. I was buddy reading this book with my boyfriend. After he completed the book before me and we discussed up to the point I had reached, I realized by his description most of my qualms with the story up to this point only proceed to become more pronounced as the novel continues. I would HIGHLY caution  anyone from picking up this book unless you are equipped to deal with the sheer quantity of trauma this novel dumps on you. I’d advise looking through the content warnings and taking them seriously. If I had to give an overall rating, I’d say it warrants a 2/5. My qualms with the plot and characters doesn’t fully overshadow Hanya Yanagihara’s beautiful writing.

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Content Warnings

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

ninaliebtschokolade's review

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit

buckys_plum's review against another edition

challenging 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? It's complicated

5.0

i had not known sadness and pain since before that book
hardest 2 weeks of my life

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body shaming, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, Cancer, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Rape, Racism, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Vomit, and Violence

kelceypeds's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

the best book i’ve ever read 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Ableism, Addiction, Blood, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexism, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Car accident, Chronic illness, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Grief, Gore, Eating disorder, and Death of parent

read trigger warnings first, be prepared to cry a lot