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mary_do_12'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
4.0
i cried 13 times in the span of reading this book and i feel like a piece of my heart has been torn out of my chest. i feel helpless and ashamed and deeply moved for jude.
coming to talk of all the great things this book offered, i do have to mention a few other things. first of all, the chapters were SO LONG. i told myself each night, i’m gonna read one chapter and then — even though i did only read one chapter — i ended up staying awake at least one more hour.
i loved all the characters in this book, though by the 3rd or 4th part i found some dissatisfaction with the plot. i can’t really explain it but ever since willem and jude started dating, the setting felt a little off. but i have nothing to back that with, so i understand that i can’t really argue.
overall though, this book was very rewarding — with tears, knowledge, and a new perspective on life.
Graphic: Chronic illness, Cursing, Medical trauma, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Vomit, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Medical content, Mental illness, Rape, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Death, Eating disorder, Torture, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Child abuse, Body shaming, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, and Self harm
atlas_shruggs's review against another edition
- 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
1.0
Don't get me wrong, the prose is beautiful and the character creation was spectacular but it truly does just read like ~800 pages of trauma porn. The overly graphic descriptions of Jude's self harm made me gag more than once and the fact that this is at least the second work from Yanagihara that features graphic sexual violence against children is alarming to say the least.
I did absolutely adore Willem and the chapters from his point of view were amazing, but it just couldn't save the book as a whole.
Graphic: Vomit, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Gore, Blood, Cursing, Pedophilia, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Rape, Kidnapping, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Medical content, Eating disorder, Car accident, Self harm, Violence, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Forced institutionalization, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, and Chronic illness
cowardlyteaman'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
I absolutely love the way these characters are built, to be honest. They all got on my nerves at different points, but I still cherished all of them. I really like it when flawed characters.🫶
Willem is wonderful, of course, but not perfect? He makes mistakes! He's selfish, even. Delusional, at points.
Jude has been through — more than most, to say the least. And to be completely frank, it gets old after a while. I get tired of hearing about his problems, and I get tired of reading about him falling into the same patterns over and over again. However, I'm sure he's just as tired as I am. Or far more, probably. When I realised this, it became easier to empathise with his character.
JB is such a wonderfully flawed character. He made me wince with second hand ... not even embarrassment, just pain. I love him, even if he's a crown dick at multiple points during the book.
Malcolm is just there, honestly. Emotional support architect. But I do love a homosexual who never manages to admit it.
However, there comes the problem ... that there is no plot. There is no plot whatsoever. There is no end goal, no ambition the characters have for the future. They just are.
Hadn't it been for the fact that I annotated and analysed this book (just for hobby), then I might have quickly discarded it...
The events are short and repetitive, and soon become extremely predictable.
Moving on to something slightly more off-track... the names.
Jude St. Francis is such a great name for a character. I love it so much. Fits him so well.
Willem Ragnarsson, however. Eh. As a Nordic person myself, I have to say that I'm a bit confused. He has a Danish mother and an Icelandic father who gave their son a Dutch name? It's by no means impossible, but William or Vilhjálmur or Wilhelm would've just made more sense? Don't even get me started on the fact that these two Swedish-speaking parents named their severely disabled son Hemming. In Norwegian (which in all honesty is not much different from Swedish), «hemming» means handicap. Hämning /hem-ning/ in Swedish. While I'm sure the author had no intention of this, it jus seems absolutely ridiculous of them to name their child eith cerebral palsy Hemming. Not to mention that no-one's fucking named that in Denmark, Sweden, or Iceland.
That was my rant. It was worth it, despite the occasional drags of COMPLETELY irrelevant information.
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Medical content, Mental illness, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Blood, Body shaming, Grief, Ableism, Child abuse, Dysphoria, Medical trauma, Eating disorder, Murder, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Sexual content, Violence, Car accident, Death, Domestic abuse, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Rape, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Terminal illness, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Racism and Racial slurs
ireyes50's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Bullying, Car accident, Medical trauma, Self harm, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Medical content, Torture, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Child abuse, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
sarahmorgan125's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Blood, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Death, Rape, Self harm, Cursing, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault
queerhoney'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, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Rape, Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Self harm, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Gore, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual harassment, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Body horror, Body shaming, Gun violence, Medical content, Sexual violence, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Cancer
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
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
baggy_taster's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Self harm, Sexual assault, Body shaming, Grief, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Child death, Gaslighting, Rape, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Child abuse, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Torture, Vomit, and Ableism
xiumillion'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
Please check trigger warnings before you read this book. If you have a trigger, it is probably in here
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Trafficking, Vomit, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Ableism, Car accident, Confinement, Eating disorder, Addiction, Gore, Sexual content, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Torture, Violence, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Infidelity, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, and Suicide