Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

142 reviews

punkrockbenji's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

2.0

Really, really well written, but devastatingly sad. Most characters remain mostly unchanged throughout the story, especially being over a 30 or more year time span. It felt like it was traumatic just for the sake of being traumatic, without any resolution or reprieve. Ending was totally expected and very much unwelcome. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

franciscoinsf's review against another edition

dark 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? N/A

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Trafficking, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

chr_car's review against another edition

Yes, I DNFed "A Little Life"! And for one reason in particular: the impact it had on my mental health. I thought I was prepared going into this book. But OMG did I underestimate the effect the story could have on my mental health. Before delving into this a bit more, I'd like to say that the book itself is beautifully written and contains characters felshed out in a way that I haven't seen/ read anywhere else. However, as you spend more and more time in Jude's head, it can have a tremendous (!) effect on your own mental health as well as your reading experience of the book. I read approximately 70% of the book, so I'd gotten relatively far into the story and read some of the most gut- and heart-wrenching scenes of my entire life. I felt especially repulsed (yes, repulsed!) when the meaning of the book title was revealed. I also found some of the relatively detailed self-harm scenes hard to digest. What I also found frustrating after a while was the fact that there was no improvement of Jude's mental health, even when he was in his happy years. Yes, I know that this is supposed to show that even if you have a strong and loving support system around that you and your mental health won't necessarily get better, as this has to come from within. But because of this, your reading experience feels more like an incessant downward spiral than (finally) coming up for fresh air to release some of those negative emotions. And those few moments of levity provide very little comic relief. Maybe I'll pick up this book some time in the future. But for now, I have to put it down and start the new year with something more light-hearted.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

sunnymushroom'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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Trafficking, Grief, and Stalking

pikkumarja's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

Tunnen ristiriitaisesti tästä kirjasta. Proosa Pienessä elämässä on kaunista. Se on yksityiskohdissaan pyörteilevää ja jotenkin kiusallisen tarkkanäköistä. Tunsin oloni epämukavaksi, koska halusin jatkaa lukemista, vaikka se tuntui tirkistelyltä. Rakastin ihmissuhteiden kuvauksia ja erityisesti Willemiä ja Juliaa. Näiden asioiden takia matalampi arvosana ei tunnu oikeutetulta, mutta on sanottava, että jo aloittaessani lukemista olin kriittisenä liikenteessä.

Mutta onhan tämä vähän liikaa. Yksityiskohtaiset kuvaukset itsetuhoisuudesta, tuhon graafisuus ja ylipäätään queerihmisten kärsimys oli turhan mittavaa. Yksittäisenä kirjana queerkärsimys vielä menisi, mutta laajempana ilmiönä (ja koska tämäkin kirja on osa laajempaa kirjallisuuden kokonaisuutta ja kulttuuria) queerit saavat kärsiä liikaa. Ei tämä silti ole ansainnut syytöksiä traumapornosta tai epäuskottavalla trauman määrällä. Maailma ei ole reilu ja jotkut ihmiset joutuvat kärsimään enemmän kuin on inhimillisesti mahdollista. Kehotan todella lukemaan sisältövaroitukset ajan kanssa, jos et kestä joitain teemoja.

Yanagihara onnistuu luomaan todella painavan tunnelman kerronnallaan. Kirja jää varmasti elämään mielen perukoille pitkäksi aikaa monestakin syystä.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, 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, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

selimhannah's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Drug use, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

ryoung23's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

I think this is going to hold the title for my favorite book of 2024. It was heartbreaking and all so beautiful. It ended in the way I expected, but had some shocking things happen from beginning to end that I didn't expect. Jude deserved all the love he ever received in a life full of hate. I am so thankful that I finally read this book. I don't know if I'll ever read another book like it. 

There are A LOT of trigger warnings in the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, and Dysphoria

Minor: Addiction and Gaslighting

gabriel_dingle's review

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

A Little Life is a profound and brutal novel about childhood trauma and its lifelong consequences. Although slow, detailed, and lengthy, this novel will leave you yearning for more, and hesitant to leave the characters, which you got to know so intimately, behind, and your heart feeling as though it has been squished in a hydraulic press. This has easily become one of my favourite novels of all time, and is truly a modern classic, a necessary read.

P.S. please make sure to check content warnings from reviewers. The content warnings on the main StoryGraph page for this novel are lacking, and many people understate just how upsetting this novel can be.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Torture, Medical content, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Car accident, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Child death, Vomit, Stalking, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Acts of self-harm and suicide attempts are described in detail, often, with little respite. Descriptions of rape and child abuse are described in painful detail and are designed to make you angry. This novel is not for the faint of heart or those in a bad state of mind.

paigehf'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? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Addiction, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Abandonment, and Alcohol