Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Een klein leven by Hanya Yanagihara

435 reviews

xaqrii's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, 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, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

lqne's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad slow-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? It's complicated

4.5

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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, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

canisand's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

effievee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cursing, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

izzygordon's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-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

5.0

The most upsetting book ever. Read at your own peril. Probably my favourite book though, no other book can compare to it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Car accident, and Suicide attempt

elisavo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

0.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

lsaunders685's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

floord1's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

2.25

Too much. Not enjoyable. Why would you read this? Why would you write this?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

ottolee's review against another edition

I have had to rewrite this review repeatedly to succinctly gather my thoughts on why this book is one of the worst I have ever experienced. I listened to this book on CD while driving and have chosen to drop it at around the halfway point following a double whammy

of a suicide attempt and an overly long description of child sexual abuse

because a quick Google search confirmed for me that it would not only not get any better, that it would only get worse.

Plain and simple, this novel is an exercise in endurance, not simply because it is incredibly long, but because Hanya Yanagihara seems to be into repeatedly and brutally abusing her main character and forcing the reader to witness the almost comical lengths to which she chooses to hurt him. There are increasingly infrequent sections of the novel breaking up the increasingly frequent and drawn out depictions of physical and violence against an ambiguously gay, ambiguously ethnic, disabled man. 

This is what causes the book to be as long as it is; it is the literary equivalent of Yanagihara strapping the reader to a table and drawing increasingly large quantities of blood out of them to see what they can stand, giving them cookies and Gatorade in between each draw just so the next one can be bigger. The reader hopes that, at some point, she will get what she came for, finish the experiment and give you back what you gave up. But she doesn't. She just wants to watch you bleed.

I think Yanagihara explains herself best. 

"I wanted A Little Life... to begin healthy (or appear so), and end sick — both the main character, Jude, and the plot itself." (https://www.vulture.com/2015/04/how-hanya-yanagihara-wrote-a-little-life.html#_ga=2.58977709.1601876994.1578809567-1295422479.1578809567)

And so it does. And I, personally want to vomit.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

ghostpuppy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

I hate this book and i love this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail