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greatgatsbys 's review for:
A Little Life
by Hanya Yanagihara
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Where do you go after a book like this?
I've read a lot of reviews, from 5 stars to 1 star and I agree with all of them. I have never have had that happen to me before - this book is unique in many ways.
There's not a lot I can say about this book that hasn't already been said, but the fact that the trigger warning list is pretty much all of the triggers invented should say it all. It's misery on sadness on depression times 800 pages with no end.
What I will say, is a person who has struggled with many mental health problems, takes antidepressant medication every day and has a 10 year history of self-harm, do not go into this book lightly. I cannot overstate the devastating effects this book could have on someone in the wrong frame of mind. I am mentally well at the moment and it still left me thinking things I don't wish to think. The attitude that self-harm is a thing that can be allowed by the loved ones of a person is not acceptable nor realistic, and that proper treatment can be shunned? No.
The ending also really pissed me off - there was absolutely no need for that happen to Jude at the end, after everything else. If I had read this on a bad day a few years ago, I would have assumed this is how life goes for people like me. It doesn't. I think the utter commitment to ruining the reader is ... quite something, but it's not something I ever want to feel or experience again.
I've read a lot of reviews, from 5 stars to 1 star and I agree with all of them. I have never have had that happen to me before - this book is unique in many ways.
There's not a lot I can say about this book that hasn't already been said, but the fact that the trigger warning list is pretty much all of the triggers invented should say it all. It's misery on sadness on depression times 800 pages with no end.
What I will say, is a person who has struggled with many mental health problems, takes antidepressant medication every day and has a 10 year history of self-harm, do not go into this book lightly. I cannot overstate the devastating effects this book could have on someone in the wrong frame of mind. I am mentally well at the moment and it still left me thinking things I don't wish to think. The attitude that self-harm is a thing that can be allowed by the loved ones of a person is not acceptable nor realistic, and that proper treatment can be shunned? No.
The ending also really pissed me off - there was absolutely no need for that happen to Jude at the end, after everything else. If I had read this on a bad day a few years ago, I would have assumed this is how life goes for people like me. It doesn't. I think the utter commitment to ruining the reader is ... quite something, but it's not something I ever want to feel or experience again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent