Reviews tagging 'Trafficking'

The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanagihara

10 reviews

partybonus's review

challenging sad medium-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

I do notttt recommend! It is a trigger warning minefield and full of really wretched moments. The lush rainforest backdrop and descriptions of the scenery belong in a travel guide which is what I think this writer was before they became a writer. I wish I hadn’t read it. It haunted me and I am not interested in shockingly violent and horrendous situations in books anymore, especially when there is zero reason for it. Stay away! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Toxic relationship, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Rape, Trafficking, Animal death, Colonisation, Incest, Body horror, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Animal cruelty, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Xenophobia

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

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

sallsbooks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Colonisation

Moderate: Sexual content, Pedophilia, Trafficking, and Kidnapping

Minor: Confinement, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

hanstin's review

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Pedophilia, Rape, Trafficking, Suicide, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Animal death, Child abuse, Torture, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Sexism, Racism, and Colonisation

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

georgiatheresa's review

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Rape, Emotional abuse, Trafficking, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Pedophilia

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

mmatti300's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

I definitely didn’t expect to give this a five star, even though a little life was one of the easiest five stars I’ve ever given out. But, this book blew me away. Hanya Yanagihara knows how to screw with a persons emotions in such a gentle, disturbing way. While a little life had me sobbing every 40 pages, this one had me feeling sick and confused. This is not the sad, gay, literary fiction trauma porn that a little life is. This is sad, science heavy, Lolita esque in parts, and an interesting pondering on humanity and the lengths we will go to to satiate or inner demons. It covered so much and while I am not a huge fan of memoirs (and the beginning sections read like my least favorite parts of memoirs) that was the perfect way to include this unreliable, twisted character. Like a little life, this book is not for everyone and maybe not even for most but I really enjoyed it (but it’s for a whole different subsection of people than a little life). If I had to describe it as a mixture of different classics written by white men id say it’s like Joseph Conrad’s the heart of darkness meets Lolita. So, if that’s the type of weird and sad and dark you like this book is perfect for you. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Dementia, Death, and Genocide

Moderate: Suicide, Trafficking, Colonisation, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Forced institutionalization

meganm's review

adventurous challenging dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

This dark book will stick with me for a long time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Dementia, Trafficking, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

Moderate: Child abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Ableism, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Animal cruelty, Suicide, Sexism, and Misogyny