Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

478 reviews

freadsy's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

lunanireads's review

4.5

there is… a lot to unpack here. i’ve heard a lot of things about this book, some good, some bad. i also am aware that the author is very ignorant when it comes to mental health and it shows up at times in her writing but i wanted to read this book because no matter how many articles i read or youtube videos i watched on the topic of this book essentially spoiling the whole story for me, i couldn't get it out of my mind. i knew i had to read it so my brain would quiet. and i don't regret my decision. now, i have a lot of opinions on this book. it's going to be a bit messy, basically just a blurb of my thoughts but lets start first where my problems lie with this book.

firstly, as i said before, hanya yanagihara is very ignorant when it comes to mental health and even a bit pretentious from what i’ve seen in interviews. she has stated openly that she believes talk therapy does not work and that therapists should encourage suicide despite never having participated in talk therapy herself, which is an absolutely disgusting view on mental illness and therapy. she's basically implying that some people are completely unfixable and the only way to fix some people is to end their own life. i highly disagree with this, as most would. some people may not want to be fixed but that doesn't mean that they are unfixable. talk therapy does work and it is a team effort.

i also don't care for the way hanya yanagihara talks about queerness. there's one line in the book about an unnamed female character “turning lesbian” which i didn't appreciate very much. now as for willem, i understand the confusion with his own sexuality — trust me, i get it, as a queer person myself. but the fact that it was implied that he HAD to pick between gay or straight irked me. it's okay to be bisexual. that doesn't just go for willem but for anyone else reading this too. it's okay to be attracted to more than one gender.

now, i know a lot of people don't like this book because most consider its constant tragedy to be “trauma porn”. it can be heavy and hard to read and just downright tragic. not everyone wants to kick back with a book like that, to read about constant dispair and i totally understand that. especially considering the great detail some of these tragedies are described, specifically jude’s sexual abuse and self harming.

speaking of jude’s self harming, i’ve heard a lot of people think it's harmful that jude was written this way, that all depressed people are categorized into being only extremely sad, only ever wanting to inflict self harm all the time, and while i agree that not every depressed person is like this, some are. some have felt like jude. and while i do not agree with hanya yanagihara’s views of mental health and think she's extremely ignorant and close-minded, i do think she captures pain and grief very well in her writing.

now, i’m going to get into how i feel, personally, about the book. yes, i think at some points the detail is excruciating, especially the parts touching on jude’s adolescence but that aside, i actually really see myself in jude, in how he views himself and life, which is pretty damn bleak. pretty gloomy. at a lot of points in this book, when jude would get in his head, when he'd self destruct, it felt as though the words were taken right from my brain and put on paper. not only this but i loved jude and willem’s dynamic. it wasn't always healthy, but sometimes i wish i had someone like willem for myself. someone who made waking up every day worth it.

so, to put it simply, i found comfort (as wild as it may seem) in a lot of parts in this book. even though jude isn't real, i know some people relate to the way he views life and knowing i’m not alone in my own struggle with mental health is very validating.

i’ve heard some didn't like the ending but i personally did. i think the way it ended in harold’s point of view (W harold, by the way. best dad ever) was the perfect touch. i like the way the reader sees jude through harold’s eyes, as someone who loved jude unconditionally.

i’m giving the book 4.5 stars because i found myself feeling more heard and comforted than heartbroken. even if the book is not perfect, i still enjoyed it, my views on the author aside.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Self harm, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Homophobia

biggbean's review against another edition

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Trafficking, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

kait815's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Grief, and Suicide attempt

readingnightingale's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Homophobia, Infertility, Racism, Toxic friendship, and Classism

_yush's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

• 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? Yes

4.75

Everything you've heard about the darkness is true and then some!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

shirewitchreads's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

3.0

Fuck this book. It’s the fact that the app won’t let me list all the warnings. This book is a hate crime. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Car accident, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

marnj's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

cleotheo's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

4.5

brutal and gentle
heavy and delicate
sad and beautiful 
I listened to the audiobook on 1x speed for the most part. It was beautifully written and very very long. 
Do yourself a favour and pick the abridged version (I read unabridged) and take the content warnings seriossly!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use, Stalking, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Outing

Minor: Cancer, Homophobia, Infidelity, Dementia, and Abortion

diabro87's review against another edition

slow-paced

• 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail