Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

470 reviews

themrshedrick816'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

From the reviews I’ve read you either love this book or you hate it. Hate is a strong word, but I really didn’t like this book. It was traumatic and sad and every time you thought it was looking up and happy things were happening, nope, sad and traumatic again. I read another review that said the Author was intentionally giving the main character an awful life and that was the point of the book. I don’t think I would have loved it if there had been a happy ending but the self-sabotage and heartbreak throughout was just too much for me. If you like sad emotional reads, give it a try but I recommend anyone who reads this to look up and read the trigger warnings because there’s is a lot of them and they go into a lot of detail. I considered putting this on my DNF list and I regret that didn’t just quit because it wasn’t worth it for me. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

charlotte12345's review against another edition

tense medium-paced

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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Terminal illness, Blood, and Suicide attempt

xosevenusagbadan'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

4.5

What would compel someone to write such a horrific book. once you think it can’t get worse, cannot get sadder, the impossible happens 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

fbarros's review

challenging 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

3.25

This book is beautifully written. You get caught up in the characters' lives and feel for them. I loved following the characters through their trials and tribulations and being able to see how they grow older.

However, I feel like the author made very unlikely things happen to the characters just for shock value, and it made me bored, more or less, in the final two parts because of it. It all felt too artificially designed to make you feel something, and it ended up making me feel nothing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Homophobia, 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, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

shelbygibbs's review against another edition

challenging 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

thednfdarling's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.75

I felt like I had been holding in tears, so I knew it was time to read my household copy of A Little Life. I enjoyed the character development (even though some characters were not likable in my opinion), the plot, and the writing style of this book. One of the elements of the book that I really enjoyed was that it showed how friendships grow, evolve, and shift over time. I believe it is so important that we form community outside of the nuclear family structure and I felt that this book did a beautiful job illustrating what building, maintaining, and sustaining a community of loved ones looks like over a lifetime. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

anyatindale's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

does every trauma victim have the ability to recover? to what extent can the love of others heal self-loathing and disgust? can anyone ever heal entirely? what happens to a traumatised person when life does not exclude them from loss and suffering that hurts more than the trauma they once faced? 

a true depiction of the immense unfairness of life, and the love that must exist. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Grief, and Suicide attempt

kalynnar's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, 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, Trafficking, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Dementia, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Dysphoria

abby_grace04's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, 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, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

mvdd1's review

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, and Suicide attempt