Reviews tagging 'Forced institutionalization'

The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanagihara

18 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

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

aykdanroyd's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Colonisation, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Forced institutionalization, Incest, Excrement, Rape, Pedophilia, Medical content, Chronic illness, and Animal death

readerinthedale's review

adventurous dark 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

3.75

This was an impressive book from a critical perspective- Hanya Yanagihara created an immersive alternate universe through this fictional biography. It is  realistically arranged and structured to appear as a nonfiction book, which is amazing especially for a debut novel. Unfortunately our main character is awful. He is intentionally a bad person, but reading his autobiographical account of his crimes, actions, and opinions is at times overwhelmingly off-putting. I often had to put the book down and struggled to pick it back up because his thoughts were so disgusting. I am glad to have finished and was impressed by this work overall, but at the same time I hated it because I hated Norton. In this case it is a sign of a successful work by the author, but also an unpleasant feeling as a reader.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization, Child abuse, Colonisation, Dementia, Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Misogyny, Sexism, Body horror, Excrement, Fatphobia, and Gaslighting

jenmcvay's review

adventurous challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Rape, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Forced institutionalization, and Colonisation

nickoliver's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-paced

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

4.0

I honestly can't remember the last time a book upset and infuriated and unsettled me this much but still didn't let me go. Jesus Christ. I need to sit with this.
But also, if this book already destroys me like that, what would "A Little Life" do, which is twice as long?

 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Colonisation, Animal cruelty, Forced institutionalization, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Child abuse

Moderate: Misogyny and Racism

Minor: Ableism, Abandonment, and Alcoholism

Also CW for the gang rape of a child

daisylady's review

challenging dark emotional

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Xenophobia, Sexual content, Colonisation, Animal cruelty, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Medical content, Kidnapping, Incest, Genocide, Forced institutionalization, Confinement, Child abuse, and Animal death

graceclawson's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia and Rape

Moderate: Child abuse, Colonisation, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Genocide

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