Take a photo of a barcode or cover
I was validated by this book in ways that healed me. but I respect the fact that this book is not for everyone, it is deeply disturbing. so do approach it with caution
there are so many passages in this book that reflect on so many things, ranging from parenthood, grief, trauma, love, friendship and philosophy. and that is why I love it, people say it's only a book about trauma and shock factor, but it truly is so so much more.
this book altered my brain chemistry in the best (and worst) ways possible.
be kind, you never know what someone is going through, we feel so much for the characters here because we got to know them and their stories, but that won't happen for all the people we meet in our lives, the least we can do is be kind.
as Harold said, "And so I try to be kind to everything I see, and in everything I see, I see him."
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment
This book has changed something in me though, I'd say for the better and I'm glad I read it.
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Suicide attempt
Moderate: Grief, Abandonment
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
I would absolutely not recommend this book to anyone with any kind of self-harm, eating disorder, or suicidal history. You will be triggered to hell and back. Skip it, for the sake of your mental health. I'm serious. Skip. It. This book needs every single content warning there is.
If you have ever loved someone who is so severely struggling with their mental health that you fear for their life, the characters in this book will resonate with you. My God will it resonate with you.
However, the book was extremely and unnecessarily graphic and the amount of trauma was also maturely cartoonist, if that makes any sense, and also unnecessary for the story wanting to be told. We also don't need a heaping serving of trauma to tell the story of deep love that defies romantic expectations.
I will say that, despite the many shortcomings of the book, there was enough snippets of something worth saying and a curiosity for what the lives of these men would turn into that I kept wanting to come back to the book.... Until I had about 25% left of the book and I started to lose interest. With such little of the book left, I sludged onward, but the last quarter of the book was poor compared to the rest. This could have probably been easily condensed into a 500 page book had the gruesome descriptions of pain been removed and the ending tightened up.
Overall, I WOULD NOT recommend this book to most people. There are better books that touch on some of the same themes that this one does without further stigmatizing seeking mental health help and glamorizing codependent relationships.
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship
The Tragedy is one of the oldest forms or storytelling we have and surrounded as we are by the sensationalisation of real-life crimes, the amount of fame and power we grant perpetrators of horrifying acts and the exploitation of actual victim's pain for monetary gain by "True Crime" content creators, fictional stories are not the "morally questionable" media you have to have ethical qualms about.
that being said, I personally don't feel I have to gain anything by finishing this at this point in time. maybe I will come back to it one day but right now, forcing myself through this feels a lot like self-sabotage and an attempt of punishing myself for "forgetting how bad it was" as I am Healing.
Godspeed to you psychos out there tho. Please go to therapy.
Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Rape, Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Car accident
Minor: Cursing, Fatphobia
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Toxic friendship, Alcohol
Minor: Homophobia, Abandonment
But at the same time, it gets so dark and in so. much. detail. Does the writing deserve above my rating, five stars even? Yes. But is it a book I'd ever recommend to anyone? No. It's like recommending Requiem for A Dream—it's well done, but you'd be a total asshole to the other person by telling them to read/watch it.
I'm not a wuss when it comes to sad stories. I love them. I'm on a constant hunt for the next devastating book, movie, or TV show. But in A Little Life, I not only met my match, I was absolutely destroyed. Even I had to at one point say: "Enough. You've made your point that things are awful and hopeless. Move on." It's not difficult to finish because it's boring (it's not), it's soul-crushing. And in a sadistic way that often feels like it wasn't necessary.
So, read at your own discretion.
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism