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seapotatohowisitalrtaken's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Medical content, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, Suicide, Drug use, Abandonment, Self harm, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, and Addiction
Moderate: Child death, Bullying, Outing, and Vomit
samlv's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Dysphoria, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Domestic abuse, Grief, Sexual content, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Blood, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Confinement, Cursing, Body horror, and Car accident
Minor: Confinement, Medical content, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, Medical trauma, Outing, Drug use, Body shaming, Alcohol, Bullying, Cursing, and Gaslighting
icarusandthesun's review against another edition
- 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
i can only describe how i feel.
one can find two different types of people in the review section of this book:
- type A: "this book is completely mental and tragedy porn and you shouldn't ever read it", and
- type B: "this book is completely mental and tragedy porn and you should absolutely read it",
(and of course the impartial "i love it but would never ever recommend it to anyone").
so i was curious which type i'd end up being.
answer: type B. because i loved it.
of course it was tragic, and traumatic, and bloody, and cold and crazy. but it was also lovely, tender and warm.
maybe i'm just a whole other level of delulu and mental, but i found a little life strangely comforting. when i feel down, i feel this urge to pick it up, to drown in this world yanagihara has created. i want to read about the lives of all these people i've had the pleasure of meeting—jude and willem and harold and julia and malcolm and jb, and and and.
one of the reviewers on the back of the cover said something along the lines of "i wish this book was longer" and at first i thought this person insane. but now, ... my god, this person's right. i find myself wishing i could just pick it up and continue reading. this feeling is especially strong when i'm feeling down—comfort book and all that.
720 pages, and i want to re-read it. actually, i just want to never stop reading it.
originally, i didn't want to rate this book at all, because that would be like rating a sad, trauma-dumping (auto)biography; it feels wrong somehow.
but i can't really stop thinking about it, and that's always THE sign that tells me that i really, really enjoyed a book. so i want to give it a good rating.
so yeah. type B.
do check out the trigger warnings (there's a lot of them), but if you're okay with all of them, i want you to read it. forget that "i would never recommend it to anyone because it's so sad"-stuff. i'm telling you to read it. because it's good.
it's a good book.
Graphic: Physical abuse, Mental illness, Violence, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, Suicide, Grief, Death, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Blood, Ableism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Rape, Medical content, Emotional abuse, Child death, Pedophilia, and Torture
Moderate: Infidelity, Outing, Vomit, Drug abuse, Terminal illness, Addiction, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, and Car accident
minimimi's review against another edition
DONT FALL INTO SUNKEN COST FALLACY JUST BECAUSE THE BOOK IS LONG DOESNT MEAN YOUR REDEMPTION OR CATHARSIS IS COMING—because it’s not.
Graphic: Gore, Addiction, Rape, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Mental illness, Homophobia, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Medical trauma, Drug use, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Grief, Cursing, Chronic illness, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Violence, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Outing, Fire/Fire injury, and Emotional abuse
danpeachey's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Trafficking, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Hate crime, Mental illness, Death, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Bullying, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide, and Vomit
Moderate: Body shaming, Car accident, Chronic illness, Addiction, Blood, Cursing, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Infidelity, Ableism, Medical content, Outing, Abandonment, and Child death
manishasahota's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Violence, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Sexual assault, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Body horror, Child death, Self harm, Adult/minor relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Addiction, Blood, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Grief, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Vomit, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Gore, Medical trauma, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Death of parent, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Outing
Minor: Abortion and Cancer
rileyhawkins's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Abandonment, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Dysphoria, Trafficking, Torture, Pedophilia, Grief, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Stalking, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Self harm, Racism, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical trauma, Kidnapping, Medical content, Hate crime, Alcohol, Outing, Mental illness, Infidelity, Gaslighting, and Forced institutionalization
prawdziwki's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.5
Graphic: Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Mental illness, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Death, Chronic illness, Ableism, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Acephobia/Arophobia, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Biphobia, Transphobia, Homophobia, Vomit, and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Drug use, Eating disorder, Outing, Addiction, Drug abuse, Medical content, Classism, Racism, and Grief
dairyfreemozzarella's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
on a seperate note i think the back cover should reflect more of the pure agony of this book OR there should be a list of trigger warnings in the begining. i was not prepared!
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Medical trauma, Ableism, Blood, Grief, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Trafficking, Violence, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Medical content, Mental illness, Torture, Drug use, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Body horror, Car accident, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Drug abuse, Excrement, Kidnapping, Stalking, Eating disorder, Outing, Religious bigotry, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, Vomit, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Cursing, and Dementia
helena_sp_07's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Blood, Body shaming, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Excrement, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Addiction, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, Ableism, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic friendship, Outing, Eating disorder, Drug use, and Alcohol
Minor: Dementia, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Cancer, Hate crime, and Torture