Reviews tagging 'Infertility'

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

16 reviews

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

chr_car's review against another edition

Yes, I DNFed "A Little Life"! And for one reason in particular: the impact it had on my mental health. I thought I was prepared going into this book. But OMG did I underestimate the effect the story could have on my mental health. Before delving into this a bit more, I'd like to say that the book itself is beautifully written and contains characters felshed out in a way that I haven't seen/ read anywhere else. However, as you spend more and more time in Jude's head, it can have a tremendous (!) effect on your own mental health as well as your reading experience of the book. I read approximately 70% of the book, so I'd gotten relatively far into the story and read some of the most gut- and heart-wrenching scenes of my entire life. I felt especially repulsed (yes, repulsed!) when the meaning of the book title was revealed. I also found some of the relatively detailed self-harm scenes hard to digest. What I also found frustrating after a while was the fact that there was no improvement of Jude's mental health, even when he was in his happy years. Yes, I know that this is supposed to show that even if you have a strong and loving support system around that you and your mental health won't necessarily get better, as this has to come from within. But because of this, your reading experience feels more like an incessant downward spiral than (finally) coming up for fresh air to release some of those negative emotions. And those few moments of levity provide very little comic relief. Maybe I'll pick up this book some time in the future. But for now, I have to put it down and start the new year with something more light-hearted.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

luciejzql's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad 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

J’ai reposé et recommencé trois fois le livre parce que je n’arrivais pas à dépasser la 2eme partie. 
Pendant la première moitié du livre, j’ai été complètement emportée par l’histoire de ces personnages, par leur manière de fonctionner ensemble et seuls, et intriguée par Jude et son passé. Et puis au milieu du livre, après quelque premiers récits d’horreurs, j’ai compris que le reste du roman irait de mal en pis. C’est tellement complaisant dans la douleur, dans la souffrance, dans l’incapacité à changer que ça en devient gerbant. Jude m’a été insupportable dans le dernier tiers et j’avais hâte de finir le livre pour enfin pouvoir passer à autre chose. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Incest, Infertility, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

parkerjm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Infertility, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Alcohol

paulinskiii's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

4.75

The book is incredibly written but sometimes boarders at trauma-porn. It shows everything and is sometimes frustrating to read because you love the characters and they struggle so much. All that is just because it is such a moving story and so well written. I kinda hate and love Hanya Yanagihara because she definitely did not make me cry „a little“ but multiple times. She created characters you can only care about and learn a lot from. That said it’s not for the faint hearted and I only recommend readying it when you’re emotionally stable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Abandonment

Minor: Infertility and Infidelity

lozbot27's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Infertility, 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, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

atridie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

1.0

The worst book I’ve ever read. 

Sometimes it’s easy to confuse shock value with good writing; and in this case, there’s shock value on top of shock value on top of shock value, and for no other purpose than shocking, to the point where it’s almost funny. 

It’s a pathetic attempt to induce feelings in a way that feels forced and artificial. I admit that it made me cry, but mostly I was just angry at how awful the book is. And side note: as a person with a history of self-harm, the book felt like a spit in the face. 

“The book follows the story of four friends…” no it does not? Malcolm dissapears pretty quickly. JB only comes back when it’s convenient, in order to push Jude’s story forward. Speaking of, I really don’t care about Jude. He feels like a cardboard cutout of a person. I don’t even know why any of them are friends.

“The writing is gorgeous though” it’s very mediocre.

I will never complain about a book ever again because there’s no way I can find something worse than this. I don’t understand why it’s so praised, or why it was published in the first place. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Confinement, Infertility, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Cancer, Dementia, and Death of parent

cloud_animals's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Eating disorder, Vomit, and Trafficking

Minor: Cancer, Homophobia, Infertility, Transphobia, and Lesbophobia

soumya_singhal's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Acephobia/Arophobia, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

xyloblue's review against another edition

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail