Reviews tagging 'Adult/minor relationship'

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

2130 reviews

iveyrenee's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

I lost track of how many times I cried reading this book so many emotions so sad so frustrated just so much only not 5 starts because I have to reread multiple parts because the random pov shifts caught me off guard sometimes

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Content Warnings

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

emmabellex's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Suicide attempt

its_afia's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad slow-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

What was the most heartbreaking about all of this is that Jude went on to actually have a beautiful life when you think about it but the horrors he had lived through kept him trapped, kept him from seeing all the love he was surrounded by. It just couldn’t get through to him. 
And my goodness Willem, talking about friendship… talking about breaking and exploring all the recesses of all that’s possible when you love someone…. And Harold, his unwavering steadfast commitment to Jude. 
What’s fucked about it all is how close this is to reality. I read somewhere about how the author said the love and  friendships that Jude had were fairytale; an ideal situation, and I  couldn’t agree more…. Because you almost don’t survive this level of pain and heartbreak in the real world. 
This is a terribly beautiful book, that captures the human condition under the most horrible circumstances ( I don’t think it could have been shorter) I wouldn’t recommend but maybe I would. I really don’t know.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Child abuse

Moderate: Child abuse

ophi_dprt's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

5.0

Where do I start?
I feel overwhelmed with emotions. I feel like I went through four, five, six different lifetimes. Jude’s, Willem’s, JB’s, Malcom’s, Harold’s, Andy’s…
I never felt as strong emotions as I felt while reading. And I felt everything. Happiness, sadness, exhaustion, despair, anxiety. Yanagihara managed to put the reader in the shoes of the characters and we FEEL for them, with them, as them.
Beautiful doesn’t begin to describe this book. It’s a metaphor of life. If it’s cruel sides but the beautiful ones as well. Of love, it’s complexities, but its greater beauty. Of loss, the pain far greater than anyone could imagine, no matter how they prepare for it. Of happiness, which blinds you and tricks you until life strikes again and you find yourself stranded, lost, back to a place you foolishly forgot.
This book taught me of the beauty of life, of love. It will stay with me, for a very, very, very long time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Kidnapping, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

miapecnik's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

i started reading this book expecting the worst. people called it boring, trauma-p*rn, said the main character was insufferable etc.
i couldn't disagree more. the writing is gorgeous, i struggled to put the book down, i fell in love with the characters and wept like a baby by the end of it. i cannot give the book any less than 5 stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

mjrawls418's review against another edition

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

2.5

First off, this book needs to come with some serious trigger warnings, and by some i mean all of them. Honestly, reading this book was exhausting and had me irritated consistently. I can completely empathize and understand where the MC struggled but I find it difficult to feel connected to a story when the character doesn’t want
To help themselves in the slightest. Glad to be done with this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Suicide attempt

linzygetslit's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Trafficking, Grief, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Car accident

or_angie's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Fire/Fire injury

kemia's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense 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

3.25

This is a HARD read. I feel like the author’s sole intent was to create the saddest book every chance they could get. Nothing could ever go right. There was everything you can think of within this book to make you not want to continue reading. This book was not made to make you feel happy. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Every abuse you can think. Every harmful thing to one person to themselves or another you can think of was in this book.

q_nel's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment