Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Małe życie by Hanya Yanagihara

2997 reviews

acalla7'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

5.0

Read trigger warnings!! This book spans over 50-60 years of a very tormented persons life and the people surrounding him who also have their own traumas and struggles. These characters are deep and feel like real people that I now have known my whole life. I wish I could find Jude in real life to just hold him for days on end. </3 I think it's definitely going to stick with me for a long time but I feel like I learned a lot from it and that's all I can ask for. It's a book that represents many other peoples lives in many different ways. It's not for everybody but when you break it down, isn't that what all art is? For some, this is reality and not just an 800 page story and that's the awful truth of it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Child abuse, Self harm, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Death, Rape, Drug abuse, Racism, and Bullying

privatecaboose's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Kidnapping, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Grief, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Self harm, Trafficking, Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Violence, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, and Rape

alicedem'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? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

i have never felt more connected to characters in a book. they (and especially Jude) are such complex beings described by the author and experienced by the reader with a rawness and a closeness that filled me with very extremely opposite emotions. 
there is a crudeness to the author’s writing and how events slip themself in joyful or at unexpected moments. 
it is also a beautiful tale of male friendship and relationship. and a relation so pure and profound it  becomes something that both cannot live without. 

beware though that the book is not a light reading. i cried a lot and a lot was also very hard to read because of the violence that takes place.  and PLEASE check the Trigger Warnings, because there are a lot. 
but i would, without no doubt, read it all over again. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Death, Suicide, Eating disorder, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, and Rape

erindoublee's review against another edition

This book is absolutely too much for me, it’s too dark, too tragic and full of little to no redemption. It felt like Jude’s family and friends continued to abandon him. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Rape

canisand's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

effievee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Rape, Self harm, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Suicide attempt, Violence, Trafficking, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Blood, Child abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Pedophilia, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Toxic friendship, Addiction, Alcoholism, Religious bigotry, Vomit, Alcohol, Stalking, and Cursing

laia_reads's review against another edition

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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Self harm, Suicide, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Suicide attempt, and Car accident

izzygordon's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-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

5.0

The most upsetting book ever. Read at your own peril. Probably my favourite book though, no other book can compare to it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Medical content, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Rape, Violence, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Blood, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

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

0.25

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Kidnapping, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Car accident, Gaslighting, Medical content, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Trafficking

aaliyah_lomas15'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I was captivated in the first quarter of the book. It was beautifully written, I was interested in the characters who felt real, and enjoyed the exploration of their friendship, their own feelings and backgrounds. However, it becomes a novel that is entirely focused on Jude, and Willem to some extent. Malcolm and JB are basically there in the rest of the book to advance the plot in some way. I think the author didn't know how to continue with their lives and therefore essentially removed them from Jude's life in one way or another. 

Jude's backstory is tragic. As a result, he is deeply traumatised. I understand the effects of trauma, but what he does is so repetitive. I understand that's the point, the exploration of the cycle of abuse and how it affects him, but the author doesn't add anything new or nuanced to the conversation. It seems like they didn't research the effects of abuse on real life survivors, so they just kept repeating the same ones. 

I know this is a fictional novel, but the characters are unbelievable. Unlike others I do not perceive the extent of Jude's abuse as unbelievable, but I do view all of his talents and accomplishments as such. The main four friend group consists of people that are all incredibly successful in their careers and life in general. The only person who really fucks up is JB, but we barely hear from him afterwards which is such a shame as I think his story is personally the most interesting. JB is the only character in this novel who isn't explicitly good or bad. The author writes characters who are black or white (not racially), good or bad. There is no grey area for their characters. The only one who falls into that category is JB, and we don't get to explore his life more. We don't get to explore his feelings on being expelled from his friendship group. After the 200 page mark we only really see JB randomly, usually to advance the plot in terms of aggravating Jude and Willem, to point out how 'shallow' he is with his 'unserious' problems compared to what Jude has faced. 

Sure, Jude's childhood is hellish and he's working to deal with it throughout the book. But in his adult life he is surrounded by people who love him (and slightly enable him). All his friends love him; he's incredibly skilled in mathematics, baking, playing piano, etc; he gets a very well paying job in which he is completely idolised; he has a relationship with the perfect person; he is adopted by loving parents at the age of 30. My point is that despite his childhood, nothing goes wrong for him in adulthood (until the last 100 pages). His adult life is so unbelievable. Jude is focused on for basically the entire book, yet I don't think his character is truly explored. What he does is incredibly repetitive, and it's very boring as a reader. This book could easily have been edited down, probably even 200 pages down, and I think it would be more impactful. There are plenty of novels that have truly impacted me far more than this one has. Yes, it's traumatic and sad, but it could be so much more. The writing is beautiful; the characters could be so more nuanced and interesting; friendship could be properly explored (like the blurb promises). 

TLDR: This book has a lot of potential. The beginning is well written and fascinating, but it's too drawn out and repetitive. The first half and second half of the book feels completely disconnected from each other. It feels like the author decided to change their focus, and the novel truly suffers as a result. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Child abuse, Rape, Death, Car accident, Adult/minor relationship, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Chronic illness, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Blood, Ableism, Acephobia/Arophobia, Grief, Hate crime, Drug use, and Mental illness

Minor: Addiction, Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, Torture, and Abandonment