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Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

997 reviews

elsiesanchez's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Es crudo y no tan alejado de la realidad que viven muchas personas aunque sea duro, triste y difícil de aceptar,pero un excelente redacción de hechos y momentos, descripciones tan detalladas que te hacen tener la viva imagen de como son los lugares y hasta del olor de ciertos personajes 

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musicmagician823's review against another edition

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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? Yes

5.0


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luciaeve's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense 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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izy112121's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad 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

I have never cried so hard over a group of fictional characters. This story is as beautiful as it is devastating.

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rachel_emily22's review against another edition

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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


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ammonsmp's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad 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

5.0

NOT for the faint of heart, but powerful and beautifully written. This shit is so tough and real, like life is. 

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team_worm's review against another edition

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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? Yes
I was warned. Beautifully written, couldn’t put it down. I don’t regret reading it per se but I will not be recommending it to anyone. I found the characters intensely real, however I feel the author breaks the covenant between reader and writer.

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karkei's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Where does one start with this book? 

I can hardly conceive that life can be so harsh to one person. My heart goes out to Jude. He’s a character that you constantly want to protect. How privileged we are that most of us may never truly understand the full depths of what Jude has gone through. 

I will not pretend to be an angel though. There were many points that I got frustrated at Jude, like “Can’t you see how you are hurting the people you love? Can’t you see how much they are doing for you?” But then, I come back to myself and I feel guilty - I’m no better than JB, all self centered and discounting Jude in his entirety. Or maybe worse, because JB doesn’t actually know what happened to Jude and I do 🥲

I like to think that just with the people who love him though, loving someone is taking all of them. I love Jude and I care for him and hence, I wanted him to see himself as worthy and I wanted him to survive and be happy. 

What I originally thought was a story about Jude, however, ends up being a story about Willem. And where do I start with this? 

Willem, you are the most patient, kind, loving character.
I did not see that accident coming and I truly mourned for you.
You gave Jude so much love and were so understanding. Most people couldn’t have done what you did. 

To Harold and Andy, you also have a special place in my heart. 

A Little Life was a book I was scared to pick up because all I heard about it was that it was highly traumatic. While there was trauma, however, this book went way beyond that for me. It is a reminder of how unforgiving but beautiful life can be and how fortunate we should all be for our little lives ❤️ 

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cerysvy's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad 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? No

5.0


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rea_195's review against another edition

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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? Yes

4.75

There is a lot to say about this book, so I'll start with the things that i didn't like and end with the things that I did.

Didn't like: 
1) First thing that I disliked was how much trauma Jude has gone throught and how it ruined the realism of the book.
When Jude escaped the home and we find out everything that has happened to him, it just made me sad, confused and pissed. Hasn't he been through enough, what was the point and why did the author decide to do that, because as much as it hurt me, it took me out od the story those parts just felt too unrealistic. It is impossible that in 16 years of his life he hasn't ran into someone decent enough to help him, someone who is not a pedophile and a rapist.


2) Repetitiveness. I know that is the whole point, but some Judes thoughts felt a little too repetitive in the end. It was okay at first, but coming close to the end of the book it was too much for me. We already know Jude, we know how much his work means to him and the way he feels like a whole person there, so I think that those thoughts were a bit unnecessery and the only reason i put this here was because I feel like it would be better to remove some of those parts and replace them with a story of another character.

3) And here is the last part that I didn't like and it's connected with part 2) which is lack of another charachters stories. When the book started, we were immediately introduced to JB, Malcolm and Willem. And through the book that gets lost, we do get more of Willem though, but what about JB and Malcom!!!
I was really invested in JBs addiction story and when that part ended he wasn't mentioned anymore that deeply, also we get a brief moments for Malcom and him not being sure about his sexuality and him deciding if he wants to get married, but that's all.


Liked:
I really liked the characters and how complex they were. From the very beginning it feels like they are real people and that you are indeed reading about someones life, someones thoughts, beliefs, dreams and doubts. Because of that, the book feels so raw and real(if you ignore the happy years, chapter 2). 

And in the end I was so devastated, because of the way it ended and that it ended, meaning that I won't get to read more about the people, characters I fell in love with and just for that reason I know that I'll hold a lot of them near to my heart. 

Another thing that stood out to me was the pacing and the unknowns of the time. Time wasn't determined by days, years but with events, seasons and holidays. The writing was immaculate, I loved the way the author explained emotions and explored characters. There were a lot of parts that hit very hard and you feel it deeply, but there are also funny moments that make you laugh and some parts that you can relate to.

Considering that the book is so long I never felt bored reading it or not wanting to pick it up, I don't know how that's possible, but somehow it is.

For me the title represents all lives, because after sometime no one will remember you and it will be like you have never existed at all, but that is not the point, to be remembered, the point is that you got through the bad times and lived your life to the fullest, it was indeed little, but its yours and you should cherish it.

Overall I loved the book and I will never forget it.

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