Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

1824 reviews

acgarci2's review against another edition

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

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

ayeshacincina's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

victaphone's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

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

0.25

Every accusation of this being unnecessary trauma porn is true. It claims to be about the lives and friendships of 4 men, but not even half way through the book it's made very clear that this is all about Jude and all the awful situations the authour revels in putting him through. The heavy-handedness when it comes to Judes suffering takes away a lot of whatever impact the authour thought she was making. The few moments Jude *isn't* being abused are way more interesting, as we actually get a hint of his actual personality (what little there is of it), rather than being Yanagiharas punching bag. Jude is clearly written to be the main character, but the author doesn't give him much character to begin with, so all talk about him being "post racial" just feels like lack of commitment, rather than whatever radical thing the authour thought she was doing with that. Don't even get me started on the horrible representation of gay men, this is *not* "the great gay novel" and whoever said that needs their head checked (although they'd probably share Yanagiharas views on how therapy doesn't work). Overall, this was a waste of over 700 pages. Even though queer representation in books could be better, a book written by a straight woman where most if not all of the gay sex is rape and most of the "gay men" are just pedos should not be met with this much acclaim.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, and Death of parent

Minor: Addiction, Cursing, Eating disorder, Terminal illness, Dementia, Car accident, and Acephobia/Arophobia

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

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.

alleywolf's review against another edition

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

The story of Jude and his friends tore me to shreds. It was beautiful and tragic. But the love from your chosen family is what saves us and I believe Yanagihara captured that perfectly in this story. I think about it on a daily basis, not kidding.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

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