Reviews tagging 'Deadnaming'

The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanagihara

6 reviews

romewithlove's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Excrement, Animal death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, and Deadnaming

graecus_'s review

challenging dark reflective slow-paced

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

4.25

okay so this book took me an absolute hot minute to read but i feel like the more that this book sits with me the more i’ll end up liking it. i really like the way that the book was structured with the footnotes, and the postscript was actually wild. the writing was gorgeous (what else were we expecting from hanya yanagihara), and i fell like norton’s voice really added to the reading experience. overall the book was wild and i am a fan

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Colonisation, and Rape

msefinney's review

challenging dark medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Child abuse, Dementia, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

Moderate: Racism, Mental illness, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Colonisation, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Physical abuse

Minor: Alcoholism, Suicide attempt, Confinement, Deadnaming, Death of parent, Excrement, Suicide, Slavery, Body shaming, and Suicidal thoughts

charlottefmason's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Kidnapping, Death of parent, Rape, Cultural appropriation, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Sexual harassment, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Pedophilia, Deadnaming, Cannibalism, Colonisation, and Death

burnt_amber89's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

It is hard to say that I loved this book, but I think I did, in a twisted kind of way. At least, I loved to hate it. It took a while to get into the story and even when it gets really good, the book feels long. The first 100 or so pages failed to impress me, but it gets much better later on so hang tight ! At the beginning, we get to follow the main character in his youth. He is particularly unlikable, most situations are rather dull and don't seem to bring anything. Be prepared for some graphic and disturbing descriptions of animal abuse and death, several times throughout the book. 
When the character starts his adventure on the island, however, even through I still found him insufferable (and misogynistic), I thought that the prose and the world-building were absolutely gorgeous, albeit still sprinkled with some graphic details here and there, that sometimes seem a little gratuitous. I loved following their adventures, had gotten really attached to the "dreamers", and could really visualize every plant, flower, creature, character... that the author imagined.
The last part of the novel is enthralling, I really felt strongly simultaneously for and against Vi, and continued to detest Perina, while also understanding, somehow, where he comes from. 
Hanya Yanagihara really has a knack for describing the most dreadful things in a beautiful way that brings out so much emotion in the reader.
I initially thought that the numerous footnotes would be a hassle to read and I thought I would skip them, but I ended up usually really enjoying them. It turned out to be an effective way of adding content and context, even though skipping then probably wouldn't alter the experience either. 
Overall, this is a very unique experience that I would not recommend to anybody, but if you like being challenged, if you want something both unpleasant and gorgeous and if you are ready to tackle the numerous, numerous trigger warnings, then you should probably give it a try. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Colonisation, Death, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Biphobia, Blood, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Deadnaming, Death, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Gaslighting, and Suicide

Minor: Bullying, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Murder, Stalking, and Trafficking

laurenramsden99's review

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

This book reminded me a lot of Lolita; because of what the preface (written by the fictional editor of the book) tells you about the fictional author, Norton Perina, you spend the whole book on the edge, waiting for a confession of sorts. I also spent a lot of the book not trusting what he was telling me, not falling for any attempts to believe what he may say that makes him look like anything other than a monster. Unlike what the editor believes, Perina is not a 'good person'. It was a fascinating book, however, and I did find myself drawn into the world Yanigahara creates. Her writing is probably the main reason to read this book - she is excellent and eloquent. The subject matter became difficult toward the end, but throughout it was implied delicately and cleverly. I think it was a little slow and that I disliked the main character so much that I felt sick throughout most of the novel. As a result I would not read it again and it wasn't THAT pleasant a reading experience, but I do think it is an amazing novel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, Torture, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Incest, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Deadnaming, Bullying, and Adult/minor relationship