Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Een klein leven by Hanya Yanagihara

2446 reviews

iduhmoose's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

Never sobbed while reading until I read this book. The first half is slow but essential in building a relationship with the characters. There were plenty of heart wrenching moments.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Trafficking, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting

sineadlgull's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.5

Made me weep many times. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

idrkthem's review against another edition

emotional sad tense 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? Yes

4.0

o livro é um retrato da amizade adulta e de como ela se transforma ao longos dos anos, a distância, ainda que haja um carinho e preocupação mútuos, como o rio da vida, influenciado por tantos agentes, molda nosso entendimento do mundo, nosso sofrimento, nossa compaixão, nosso entendimento individual. 

ainda que tenha se arrastado em algumas partes, por vezes pouco interessantes, o livro é espetacular em geral. senti que JB e Malcolm ficaram muito em segundo plano, quando mereciam ter mais destaque. JB não merecia ter sido representado somente como um babaca que só liga para si mesmo, a história dele com o vício deveria ter sido trabalhada mais, e a confusão de Malcolm sobre a sua sexualidade não levou à nada; casou com uma mulher, mencionada vez ou outra, e serviu somente como personagem de apoio até o momento em que morreu. também tenho minhas ressalvas com o relacionamento de Jude e Willem, pois sinto que foi – e odeio ter que dizer isso – mal-trabalhado. uma hora Willem sentiu atração por ele, sem que soubéssemos que ele também sentia atração por homens, e começaram a namorar, pularam direto para a parte que eles já estavam juntos, para só depois contarem como foi o pedido de fato. muitas das vezes, essa narrativa não-linear era bem interessante, mas aqui senti que foi muito mal-colocada.

o protagonista da história é de fato o Jude, não todos os quatro como inicialmente pensei, o que quebrou minha expectativa, claro, pois queria saber mais de Malcolm, JB e Willem, que pareciam mais estar subjugados na história em detrimento de Jude ter mais momentos. A construção de Jude foi muito intensa de acompanhar, com seus altos e baixos, picos e vales, como uma montanha-russa. os abusos, a autoinfligência, as dores crônicas, e até o luto, tudo isso fez dele um personagem extremamente interessante de acompanhar, e não era difícil torcer por ele; para que enfim melhorasse. 

nutro um carinho especial pelo Harold e Julia, que viveram mais que diversos personagens; pelo Andy, que sempre ajudou, e dava sermões quando necessário, e Ana, que causou um impacto, por mais curta que tenha sido sua aparição na história.

o relacionamento de Jude e Willem fora bem-construído depois de um tempo. 

o final me destruiu de diversas formas – Jude se recusando a comer, passando fome a fim de se reencontrar com Willem e, alguns anos depois, se reencontrando com ele em sua morte, por mais forte que fosse minha torcida por ele. 

quanto mais penso na história, mais percebo que o que não gostei é mínimo quando comparado ao todo. uma leitura forte, e portanto, impactante, independente das minhas ressalvas.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Kidnapping, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

kari_f's review against another edition

4.5

Hands down the absolute saddest book I’ve read in my entire life. I cried an excessive number of times, and will be thinking about this book for a long while. 

Check the trigger warnings because this book has all of them. Okay, may not ALL of them, but most of them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

tylivreformed's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

danamarielanuti's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

okay so this book was beautifully written, but i’m wondering if i would’ve liked it more if people weren’t so “your gonna be sobbing” about it. i didn’t cry once which is fine i don’t need that from a book but i was honestly excited for a good cry. it’s very sad very dark, there’s like a million trigger warnings that could be put on this book. but i did love it a lot. it’s long but it NEEDS to be long. i would love like a three hour long movie adaptation of this. overall great read, but also super predictable endings. glad i finally got this off my tbr!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

jooooooolia's review against another edition

3.0

i bought this book curious of it’s visceral emotional damage it seemed to bring upon a pandemic of readers on the internet. two years later, i then finally picked up this book aware of it’s polarization and interested where i would fall with my reactions to this book. i finished a little life with an understanding of both sides i frequently see readers fall under—those who hold this book dearly to them and those who find this book largely problematic for it’s overabundance of mature topics. regarding the latter opinion, it needs to be VERY clear that NO READER should pick up this novel without being aware of it’s potentially triggering content. even for me, a reader who typically is not turned away from content with mature themes (only to say this if you yourself also are similar and contemplating reading this book), i found the passages including self h*rm incredibly disturbing. in these ways, i can find myself deeply understanding the largest critics of this book. nonetheless, these faults did not stop me from finding things to enjoy while i read. besides the insensitivity the author presents towards traumatic experiences… i think this author captured the essence of life well. i enjoyed the ebb and flow of the goods and the bads—the mundanity but also the beauty in the mundanity. i liked the side characters—maybe even so much so that i wished there had been more spotlight on them. overall, i find myself in the middle of a little life—a reader who enjoyed the novel in some aspects but is nevertheless critical of it. in the end—i don’t think that this novel made a profound or livid impact on me as it has done on many others.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Dysphoria

Moderate: Addiction, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Terminal illness

romo_sapien's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Incredible book that will bring you to tears over and over again. My only complaint about it is the authors comments during interviews, proudly saying she did zero research into trauma and abuse for this novel. Changed how I feel about this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, and Medical content

stacyvillariass's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

2.5

I've read a lot of sad books in my lifetime (with the same trigger warnings) and this one tops it all. And not in a good way. 

Albiet the beautifully written words and wonderful story telling, this book has brought me nothing but but dread and sadness. Everything was so gray and hopeless. I kept reading because I was hoping for a rainbow, the rain, sunshines, a breath of fresh air, or peace. Not in a literal way but with the feeling. But I felt so hopeless in the end that I broke down crying. 

I know that this is a work of fiction and in no way represents only one person. And it breaks my heart to think that what if? What if there is someone out there experiencing this? That you can have all the money and success in the world, and yet you never felt complete, happy, secured, and at peace?

I pray for everyone who's suffering
I pray that all children be safe and secured, and well-taken care of
I pray that all predators perish and suffer 
I pray for everyone who has read this book


Beware. This book will break you. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

jen_sanford's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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

5.0

This book is beautiful and heartbreaking. I had to stop several times.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Suicide attempt, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, and Drug use