Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanagihara

4 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

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

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

booksbyjazz's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Blood, Body horror, Colonisation, Excrement, Gore, Incest, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Ableism