Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Małe życie by Hanya Yanagihara

935 reviews

lousielou's review against another edition

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too heavy, too graphic, seek sorrow

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thewritetofight's review against another edition

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I couldn’t finish the book because of how much trauma was in it. There was so much trauma that Jude went through to a point where it was comical. I was getting tired of every flashback introducing more vile happenings, it was so stupid. Like as if every man he met molested him like Jesus, there comes a point where you just got to stop. This whole book is just trauma porn under the guise of rich male friendship (which is a lie, Malcolm and JB hardly have any part in the 2nd half of the book). 

Also, the fact that Jude is so annoyingly untrusting. “Oh they hate me” no dummy, they’re literally adopting you. Shut up.

This book is just so unrealistic. Waste your money somewhere else.

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blakeisik's review against another edition

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challenging 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? It's complicated

3.5

Very difficult to pinpoint how i feel about this book. Beautifully written, but full of trauma-porn.

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floord1's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

Too much. Not enjoyable. Why would you read this? Why would you write this?

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rowy148's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring 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

4.75


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stefs1974's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective 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? No

4.5

The tragedy in this book is extremely intense.  Not an easy read at all because of the content.  Get your tissues out!

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brennsteez's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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
I feel ill. 

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flowersophia's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Insert every trigger warning ever, but no book has made me feel as hard as this one does. There’s a lot of valid critiques on the severity of the content, but it’s so innovatively written; the story-telling is incredible. It definitely helps to remind yourself that it’s fiction, but that didn’t stop me from sobbing several times. I can’t say I recommend it to anyone, but it is extremely impactful. 

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ottolee's review against another edition

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I have had to rewrite this review repeatedly to succinctly gather my thoughts on why this book is one of the worst I have ever experienced. I listened to this book on CD while driving and have chosen to drop it at around the halfway point following a double whammy
of a suicide attempt and an overly long description of child sexual abuse
because a quick Google search confirmed for me that it would not only not get any better, that it would only get worse.

Plain and simple, this novel is an exercise in endurance, not simply because it is incredibly long, but because Hanya Yanagihara seems to be into repeatedly and brutally abusing her main character and forcing the reader to witness the almost comical lengths to which she chooses to hurt him. There are increasingly infrequent sections of the novel breaking up the increasingly frequent and drawn out depictions of physical and violence against an ambiguously gay, ambiguously ethnic, disabled man. 

This is what causes the book to be as long as it is; it is the literary equivalent of Yanagihara strapping the reader to a table and drawing increasingly large quantities of blood out of them to see what they can stand, giving them cookies and Gatorade in between each draw just so the next one can be bigger. The reader hopes that, at some point, she will get what she came for, finish the experiment and give you back what you gave up. But she doesn't. She just wants to watch you bleed.

I think Yanagihara explains herself best. 
"I wanted A Little Life... to begin healthy (or appear so), and end sick — both the main character, Jude, and the plot itself." (https://www.vulture.com/2015/04/how-hanya-yanagihara-wrote-a-little-life.html#_ga=2.58977709.1601876994.1578809567-1295422479.1578809567)


And so it does. And I, personally want to vomit.

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ghostpuppy's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
I hate this book and i love this book. 

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