Reviews tagging 'Racism'

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

206 reviews

queerhoney's review against another edition

challenging emotional 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? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, 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, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

malace0's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Trafficking, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Eating disorder and Racism

Minor: Transphobia, Lesbophobia, and Abandonment

luce98's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-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

5.0

One of the hardest reads I’ve ever completed. So sad and filled with trauma.
The characters are so well fleshed out. I feel like I know them as friends. 
Jude St Francis will stay will me for a very very long time. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, 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, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

rileyhawkins's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Outing, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

bananachip868's review against another edition

challenging 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? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death

adamparrishlover's review

challenging dark emotional sad 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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, and Acephobia/Arophobia

avamccluer's review against another edition

sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

never been so connected and in love with characters in a book, never once have i cried about a book or its ending until a little life. i found myself thinking about jude and willem all the time, i feel like i have seen their whole lives, i know them. heartbroken by this book, it was incredible.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Vomit, and Suicide attempt

joongarten's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

edie_falk'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

This was a full bodied, full soiled, five star book for me. This is the definition of a modern classic. I can see myself reading this at different stages of my life, and I know that every time I will cry when

Harold wraps adult Jude in a hug when he’s acting out and simply says ‘sweetheart.

. I am so thankful for my family. 

Not a lot of books have made me cry. I sobbed for probably the last 50 or 60 pages of this one. I know some of the emotions Jude felt, though my life has been so different from mine. 

That’s the core of what I love about this book. Every single one of the characters feels so intensely human that the reader can identify with them somehow. 
I hope most people don’t identify with Jude, though. 

What to even say about Jude’s character? I loved him. I loved watching him grow, and try, and love. I loved watching him stay especially close with Willem. I loved rooting for him. My heart aches for him. 

Above all, that’s the power of this book. It will break your heart. Fully and completely. You will undoubtedly ache. You will be reminded of your humanity. And that is beautiful. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

howlchemy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

EDITED: it's been however long after reading this and i have new opinions.
i'm not taking back my 5* rating, because i (unfortunately?) really enjoyed this book and there are certain aspects to which i relate to but, after months of pondering, i cannot recommend this book anymore. and i am very sorry to the people i have recommended this to.

a really good way to start this is by letting you guys read this article by andrea long chu for the vulture: https://www.vulture.com/article/hanya-yanagihara-review.html.
or also, a youtube video:
https://youtu.be/JpZF7O0jezg?si=pWTZBw6LiELRv7Tz

it took so long, but i finally opened up my eyes to the writing style, plot and to the author herself. for a really long time, i did not believe that were people were saying that hanya loves to write gay characters suffering but oh my god, she really does. it's some weird, f*cked up fetishising view on gay people, specially men who seem to be the focus of her books. she's always writing about the most stereotypical things about gay man (like having aids, being victims of SA and/or physical abuse, etc) and some of us have fallen the tiktok rabbit hole of eating this sh*t up.
in a lot of ways, i relate to jude, hence why i have loved this book and i always backed up my opinion by saying jude is the personification of so many people (as if he's the bearer of all the possibly bad things that can happen to a human being), but i simply CAN'T agree with myself. hanya yanagihara just loves writing about weak, sickly young gay men being tortured beyond comprehension. there's never a happy ending, and i know it doesn't have to, but yanagihara probably gets off on seeing miserable people.
not to mention that she is so uncultured, to an extent that made ME feel uncultured. the things that went over my head because she, quite literally, triggered me so much to the point of sobbing on my couch at 10 am finishing this godforsaken book. i think it gave me trauma. this woman has done zero research about the queer community, about therapy, about mental health - all topics she has mentioned over and over and over again in her book(s). she quite literally believes that, if you're so miserable, just k*ll yourself! .... anyway, bold of her to think that way when she coddles her characters so badly, she makes them suffer, nurses them back to health, to put them again at the brink of death, just to repeat the process all over again, until it's time to push them off the edge.
another note i'd like to make, related to my last point, is that "a little life" is just your average ikea manual instructions on how to self-harm. this was brought to my attention in the video i have linked above, and i think it's absolutely mental the amount of times yanagihara writes detailed, gore filed, vomit inducing passages of self-harm. as someone who struggles with that, at first, i felt seen but it came to a point that i couldn't fathom why the depictions had to become more and more disturbing as time went on.

to finish my thoughts, i leave you with my favourite quote from the article by andrea:
"The first time he cuts himself, you are horrified; the 600th time, you wish he would aim."

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

Moderate: Eating disorder, Racism, Vomit, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Drug abuse, Drug use, Transphobia, and Lesbophobia