Reviews tagging 'Blood'

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

1701 reviews

glorioes901's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

4.75

A little life is by far at the top of my favorite books ever. I never thought I’d enjoy it as much as I did. This book definitely needs trigger warnings and for anyone who’d like to read to get a summary of what it entails. Though in the midst of all the grief, I found the friendships to be the most beautiful, genuine and real depiction of friendships. How they evolve over time, how they’re messy and rooted in complexity. I constantly had the urge to hug the main character and hold them tightly. This book is real, raw, sad and more than anything, honest. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Car accident

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

3.0

A Little Life accomplishes what it sets out to do: to make the reader question the value of life and also to question what makes life worth (or not worth) living. Yanagihara is particularly good at weaving together storylines that have parallels and relevant themes  so that the entire book feels cohesive and overall satisfying. 

That being said, I think I could cut 200-300 pages and end up with a book that is just as deeply impactful and far less boring. There is a lot of detail that does little to actually flesh out characters or add atmosphere, that just make the story drag. Despite the other literary feats that are accomplished, there is just too much slog. 

The last section,

from the perspective of Harold speaking to Willam,

is the perfect way to end the book, wrapping the novel up masterfully. I did cry, which given my attitude towards the rest of the story while I was reading, did surprise me. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Child death, Suicide, Blood, and Kidnapping

Minor: Addiction and Vomit

cleotheo's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

brutal and gentle
heavy and delicate
sad and beautiful 
I listened to the audiobook on 1x speed for the most part. It was beautifully written and very very long. 
Do yourself a favour and pick the abridged version (I read unabridged) and take the content warnings seriossly!!!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug 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, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Drug use, Stalking, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Outing

Minor: Cancer, Homophobia, Infidelity, Dementia, and Abortion

allymac303's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

1.0

Unrealistic portrayal of the manifestations of severe trauma. Felt like it was written by someone who has never experienced trauma. Also needed to be edited. It was way too long and there were at least 300 useless boring pages that added nothing to the story. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Suicide attempt

Waste of time!

mrs_sharp'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

5.0

This book will stay with me forever. Despite that, I will never recommend it to anyone, due to the nature of the content. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

kt_schutte's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative 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? It's complicated

4.5

Heartwrenching. The most painful book I've ever read. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria

kayak77'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

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Death, Drug use, Suicide, Blood, and Abandonment

jadealyssa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, and Suicide attempt

jennnareads333's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-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: Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Drug abuse and Drug use

Minor: Addiction and Car accident

azulmuller's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail