Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanagihara

8 reviews

muccycloud's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

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

2.0

I hated this book but I also could not stop reading it. The main character is deplorable, horrific, I would not choose to read this again. I kind of want to scrub it from my brain. But it was well written and despite it being horrific felt the need to finish it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation

Moderate: Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Racism, Animal cruelty, Forced institutionalization, Pedophilia, Suicide, Medical trauma, Sexism, Trafficking, Child abuse, and Rape

vireojay's review

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

this book is deeply disturbing in many creative ways, but also ways that are all too familiar when dealing with colonially-minded white men. it’s rare that a book makes me physically cringe and shudder, but this one did several times. it was certainly original. it could be a little boring and repetitive at times, but still intriguing.

i wouldn’t say i enjoyed this book, but it is so disturbingly stark and honest in its abhorrence that you can’t help but keep reading. it was like seeing a horrible car crash that just keeps getting worse and being unable to look away until the final car has flipped over and the last person has been thrown from their seat into the road. it deals with several destructive ideologies that are all too relevant at present. the parallels to current events and the desolation of Indigenous cultures and lands was eerie and devastating.

it can be enjoyable or at least interesting to read a book where the protagonist is an awful person. sometimes there is enough nuance, enough charming qualities and character development, that it feels satisfying. however this narrator is just so terrible and is mostly oblivious to it. the few times he attempts to take responsibility or show remorse are ultimately abandoned as a result of his inherent selfishness. through the whole book you hope to understand the motivations of the narrator, you hope he will learn from his mistakes and he fails time and again. you’re also waiting for a “big reveal” of how the narrator ended up where he is now and i don’t know how else to put it, but it is more fucked up than you’re expecting. 

i never really write book reviews, so obviously this book struck a chord with me and gave me a lot to think about. to be clear, this review is not a criticism of the book as a whole. it is well-written, convincing and creative. it accomplishes what i believe the author set out to do, which is to make you feel big, uncomfortable emotions. also to write about very real things, that continue to happen to Indigenous people, in a way that blatantly highlights how absurdly cruel it all is. overall not a bad book, but very heavy 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Death, Mental illness, Ableism, Racism, Rape, Violence, Xenophobia, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Suicide

gracereadsx's review

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• 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: Medical content, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Colonisation, Confinement, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Dementia, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Forced institutionalization, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Racism, and Rape

orlagal's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Animal death, Genocide, Gore, Physical abuse, Body shaming, Child abuse, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Medical content, Misogyny, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Death, Excrement, Fatphobia, Suicide, Death of parent, Grief, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Gaslighting, Violence, Vomit, and Xenophobia

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

neliaa's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious 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

4.75

Gruesome, grotesque, fascinating and eye-opening

Mini spoiler -> when I whrite eye-opening, I am referring to the consequences of the western takeover of U’ivu. 

Another mini spoiler -> I really wanna know what happened to Tallent

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Terminal illness, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Dementia, and Medical content

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

purplemuskogee's review

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Beautifully written and incredibly shocking - even more so when I read more about it and the real life events that inspired it. I loved the format of the book - a tale edited by a trusted colleague, although I found the footnotes, after a while, to be irritating and to distract from the story. I am amazed by the richness of the details that Yanagihara put in there - the plants, the animals, the customs of the Indigenous tribe, the language... Despite the magical elements there is something there that feels very real. It is full of cruelty and disdain for human life, and contempt for others - none of the characters are very likeable, but I will keep thinking about this book for a long time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, and Pedophilia