Reviews tagging 'Car accident'

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

1921 reviews

sleepyaquarius's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

1.5

The more I think about this book, the more I fucking hate it.

Technically, it’s great. The writing is in and of itself very good; the author is a very talented writer, the characters voices are distinct, and the prose is great. Hence the half star.

EVERYTHING ELSE IS AWFUL.

This book is the definition of torture and trauma porn. Not just any kind of torture/trauma porn, either; it’s a heterosexual woman throwing an almost comical amount of trauma and abuse at her queer male characters. Not only that, but JB and Malcolm (the only two black characters in the book) are thrown away at the drop of a hat to give Willem and Jude more time--as if over 800 pages isn't enough to give each character an equal amount of development and attention. But if that were the case, how could she possibly fit in all of the torture for Jude?

So, we have a book that continuously torments queer men and tosses aside black men for… what, exactly? Shock value? To make TikTok book reviewers cry on camera and boost sales?

I felt bad for Jude for about the first 2/3 of the book, but eventually I got so fucking tired of him. I also got tired of everyone in his life because they’re all enablers. Someone (SPECIFICALLY Andy, who is a fucking DOCTOR) should have had Jude’s ass institutionalized solely for the amount of self-harm he does. As someone who used to self-harm, the amount of fucking self-harm in this book is obscene. Jude puts every single Tumblr-era emo kid in the world combined to shame. A review done in Vulture by Andrea Long Chu says it all: “The first time [Jude] cuts himself, you are horrified; the 600th time, you wish he would aim.”

Yanagihara has said in interviews that she does not believe in therapy, and thinks that some people are beyond help and that’s what she wanted to write about: someone who is so broken mentally and physically that they are beyond fixing. It is pure ableism. She does not understand victims of assault or trafficking, disabled people, people with PTSD, or queer people, all of which are topics that should be handled with extreme grace (ESPECIALLY if the author is not part of those communities, which Yanagihara is not), and none of it was.

Trigger warning for literally anything you can think of. I do not recommend this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

readingnightingale's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic 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, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Homophobia, Infertility, Racism, Toxic friendship, and Classism

oboejess's review against another edition

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 feel like the alternate title of this book should be Just When You Think It Can’t Get Worse, It Does.

Having said that, this is one of the best books I’ve read.  I just wanted to hug Jude and take care of him.  The things he endured, the things he accomplished, and the people he surrounded himself with kept me in the story.  

There is one point where I threw the book across the room.  There are several points where I had to set the book aside for a period of time before picking it back up.  So, take care of yourself as you read this.  But, man, what a fantastic piece of literature!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Trafficking, Car accident, and Suicide attempt

wssh221's review against another edition

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Grief, and Gaslighting

_yush's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

Everything you've heard about the darkness is true and then some!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Classism

priscillamalea's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

shirewitchreads'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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Fuck this book. It’s the fact that the app won’t let me list all the warnings. This book is a hate crime. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Car accident, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

kieragiles's review

challenging dark emotional sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Death, Eating disorder, Forced institutionalization, Car accident, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

billie_the_raccoon's review

emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

A roller-coaster of emotions. Willem was an angel. Jude deserved such a nicer life. Harold and Julia are just so nice. I wish I could see JB's paintings and Malcolm's structures. This book was hard to read but so well written <3

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, 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, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

marnj's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail