Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

Ein wenig Leben by Hanya Yanagihara

169 reviews

caitlynhm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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: Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Gore, Blood, Body shaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Ableism, Child death, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Physical abuse, Vomit, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Abandonment, Addiction, Eating disorder, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Fatphobia, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia

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

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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

pellepanda'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? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Ableism, Kidnapping, Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Car accident, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, and Religious bigotry

leakaroo's review against another edition

dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

People who recommend this book casually are INSANE!! Unrated because i am constantly switching between loving and hating this book.

I have so many problems with this book and I could go on forever, but I'll just point out the things that I don't think enough people talk:

1. Willem and Jude's relationship. God where do I start. I really love how Willem supported Jude as a friend, but it should've stopped at friendship. I started to dislike Willem's character in the end, because he has sex with Jude KNOWING Jude probably suffered SA/trauma in the past (Idk which page it was, but theres a part where Willem acknowledges he knows that Jude doesn't want to have sex with him, however the desires in him override that concern. (This is BEFORE Jude opens up about his childhood)). The sexual aspect of their relationship was so uncomfortable and frustrating and made me feel sick. Idk. I wish Yanagihara researched asexuality (which Jude obviously was) and bisexuality (which Willem probably was), because it left me frustrated that they were not properly addressed/discussed.

2. Everyone's negligence of Jude. Andy, Harold and Willem clearly supported Jude, but were still being extremely negligent towards Jude. Andy threatens multiple times that he would have Jude committed into a psych ward.... so um.... why didn't he? I fail to understand why Andy continued to allow Jude to self harm, plus even after his suicide attempt, he was allowed to just go back home after he got physically better. HE NEEDED A THERAPIST PLEASEEEEEEE!!!! Andy and Harold are lowkey villains but the book and readers refuse to call it out.

3. Lastly, if EVERY SINGLE thing in this book stayed the same EXCEPT that Jude was a woman, this book would not be loved so much. I am CONVINCED the only reason A Little Life is THIS popular, is because the disgusting, heavy trauma is being inflicted on a "gay" man. This is not so much a critique of the book rather than a critique of the readers who refuse to see the hypocrisy.

I would never recommend this book, but I admit I still enjoyed reading it (???) as it's truly unlike anything I've ever read. It's torturous on another level. The writing is beautiful and Jude's character is insanely fleshed out. I just wish this was like written by a gay man or that Yanagihara was not so opposed to therapy, because the fact that this book is written by a straight woman seriously disturbs me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Biphobia, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Drug abuse, Dysphoria, Grief, Rape, Body shaming, Death, Suicide attempt, Trafficking, Eating disorder, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Racism

novajhops's review against another edition

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

4.75/5 (rounded up)

This book has been the subject of significant controversy, with readers either absolutely loving it or absolutely hating it which of course, made me decide to take it on as a challenge. I personally really liked this book.

I have heard many people, especially book reviewers on Youtube, say this book is too horrific and disturbing to read at all and I would have to disagree. I'm convinced that those who are encouraging people not to read it because it is too disturbing to even imagine are people who have never experienced the SERIOUS mental illness that Jude does. This is not to say that they have not had mental health struggles, just that they have not experienced the thought processes and mindset that Jude did in this novel.

As someone who has had some of the same thoughts about myself as Jude did in this book, it made me feel, frankly, a little less crazy. Many of the things he said, no matter how sad and horrific, are things that I have thought before and it really made me feel seen and that there are others who struggle in a similar manner. Though I've never experienced anything close to the trauma Jude did, I definitely feel empathy for the things he was thinking and saying.

This book is definitely disturbing, difficult to read and heart-breaking but that does not mean it should not be read and experienced by people. It is not a book for everyone, that is for sure, but don't let other readers deter the intrigue you have to read this book.

CHECK THE TRIGGERS WARNINGS BECAUSE THERE ARE MANY. But this is a great book, a little slow at times which is my only reason for knocking off a star because it is a very long book, but an understanding one for many of us who struggle with serious mental illness.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Abandonment, Body horror, Car accident, Child abuse, Confinement, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Ableism, Car accident, Drug abuse, and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Cursing and Vomit

cm1922's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

Why would anyone write this. I threw the book across my room twice cause I couldn’t look at it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body shaming, Car accident, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Violence, and Vomit

fictionlostandfound's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Body shaming, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, and Toxic relationship

viviireads's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Car accident, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Hate crime, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Ableism, Child abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Pedophilia, Torture, and Trafficking

abigailhot's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

4.75

Wow.  So freakin good.  Beginning was very slow, but soooo worth it once you get past it.  Beautiful writing style that kept me drawn in, but wasn’t too bold.  Very easy to read.  Don’t be intimidated by the page count!  LOVEEEE the character development.  Only kind of “flaw” (not even really a flaw) is that you can kinda predict what’s gonna happen at the end, but that’s what makes it even better.  You see this beautiful character development, yet you subconsciously know what’s gonna happen at the end. Loved this book a lot.  One of the best I’ve ever read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Suicide

Moderate: Grief, Toxic relationship, Torture, Adult/minor relationship, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Gore, Emotional abuse, Death, Cursing, and Chronic illness

Minor: Ableism, Religious bigotry, Terminal illness, Car accident, Blood, Body shaming, and Body horror

emicrk's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Blood, Child death, Chronic illness, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Cursing, Death of parent, Abandonment, Death, Dysphoria, Eating disorder, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Body horror, Body shaming, Cancer, Car accident, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Trafficking, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Medical content, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Drug use, Drug abuse, and Child death