Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

Een klein leven by Hanya Yanagihara

1304 reviews

karkei's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Where does one start with this book? 

I can hardly conceive that life can be so harsh to one person. My heart goes out to Jude. He’s a character that you constantly want to protect. How privileged we are that most of us may never truly understand the full depths of what Jude has gone through. 

I will not pretend to be an angel though. There were many points that I got frustrated at Jude, like “Can’t you see how you are hurting the people you love? Can’t you see how much they are doing for you?” But then, I come back to myself and I feel guilty - I’m no better than JB, all self centered and discounting Jude in his entirety. Or maybe worse, because JB doesn’t actually know what happened to Jude and I do 🥲

I like to think that just with the people who love him though, loving someone is taking all of them. I love Jude and I care for him and hence, I wanted him to see himself as worthy and I wanted him to survive and be happy. 

What I originally thought was a story about Jude, however, ends up being a story about Willem. And where do I start with this? 

Willem, you are the most patient, kind, loving character.

I did not see that accident coming and I truly mourned for you.

You gave Jude so much love and were so understanding. Most people couldn’t have done what you did. 

To Harold and Andy, you also have a special place in my heart. 

A Little Life was a book I was scared to pick up because all I heard about it was that it was highly traumatic. While there was trauma, however, this book went way beyond that for me. It is a reminder of how unforgiving but beautiful life can be and how fortunate we should all be for our little lives ❤️ 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Child death, and Grief

Minor: Forced institutionalization and Car accident

mochiwaffles's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

cerysvy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

captdummy's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Abandonment

mollymccreedy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

It truly is one graphic, violent, awful thing after another in this book, with just enough hope dotted here and there to keep you reading.

This book should not be recommended lightly and people should absolutely be informed of what they're getting into before reading it.

At the time, I thought this was the best novel I had ever read, and I have a deep love and appreciation for that view, but the more I sit with this book and listen to what others have to say, I understand and appreciate how deeply troubling and harmful this book is. I was sobbing every 20 pages (no lie) and it took me MONTHS to get though this. It broke me in so many ways and it took me a long time to pick up another book after finishing this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

I would absolutely not recommend this book to just anyone. Heck, I wouldn't recommend it to 99% of the people I know. I read this book not realizing what it was about and what the author has said about talk therapy. The description of this book is horribly misleading and the more I sit with the knowledge of what I read, the more I realize how deeply upsetting and deeply problematic this book is.

katieeyu's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Blood

selimhannah's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Drug use, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

xiaoban's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Did I like this book? Yes. 
Would I recommend it? Never. 

All of the reviews that preceded this one insinuated so much pain and sorrow and even though I prepared myself, this one still managed to DESTROY me. This was the first book I have finished in a few months and it was undoubtedly the saddest book I have ever come across. Outside of the insane (and excessive) trauma and triggers, this one of the most comprehensive novels about loneliness, friendship, and chosen family that one can read in a lifetime. 

It is undeniably gripping from the first chapter to the last chapter. The first hundredish pages gives such a solid introduction to four main characters that you become invested in each of their lives, rooting for them individually and dying to know more about their history/dynamic as a group. What starts out as a genuine love for each character quickly morphs into a sick, anxiety about the painful truths of their friendships and lives

The first time they said the phrase "A Little Life" I was like "oh lol they did the thing!" And then second time they said it the context made me physically recoil so violently I needed a shower 

Surprisingly, I found myself really enjoying the overall lack of plot and dialogue throughout the book. If we are being honest, I will probably never give this book a reread. 

Although this book has left a physical ache in my chest, I have an great appreciation for the author’s ability to write complex characters and  present a realistic portrayal of the effects heavy trauma can have on an individual. 

TLDR: Hanya Yanagihara made me very sad 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

ka_cam's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-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

3.75

This book is a lot. Strongly encourage reviewing content warnings. Well written and at times moving exploration of the impacts of trauma and love, especially friendship and chosen family, through the years. However many parts of the story felt excessive and flat-

The trauma Jude experienced was… gratuitous and frankly unrealistic. It felt like the author wanted a childhood as horrific as possible set 100 years before the young adulthood- what Catholic monastery (not orphanage or school) would be allowed by superiors and the state to raise a child? What child would, multiple times, be taken to many doctors and later attend public school with clear, visible, severe injuries known to be due to ‘breaking the rules’ and not encounter state intervention, however ineffective, at any point? Would a child in state care with a history of sex trafficking and abuse not be assigned a social worker or monitored for continued sexual abuse in any way? Never forced to sit through group or individual therapy, however ineffective? Just cut loose from foster care well before their 18th birthday without an emancipation or other process to attend college out of state? It just got harder and harder to believe and it took me out of the story a lot. Likewise while the love and devotion of his adult friends, doctor, and adoptive parents was heartwarming it was sometimes pure to the point of flatness, only Willem really reacted to J’s serious mental health issues with mental health issues of his own/poor reactions. They at times read like martyrs to the concept of healing trauma more than full characters

 All to say, the character development and research into the systems (Catholic, social service, medical, etc) involved felt lacking to a distracting degree. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Cancer, Drug abuse, and Death of parent

Minor: Dementia

j_yarbrough's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail