Reviews tagging 'Transphobia'

Een klein leven by Hanya Yanagihara

59 reviews

anna_2010'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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Blood, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Biphobia, Homophobia, Transphobia, and Abandonment

lizzy164's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This book shattered my heart in good and bad ways, Willem and Jude were my favorite characters and they didn't deserve what they went through. although this book is extremely sad and heartbreaking I loved it and the character development and the plot. i highly recommend but search up trigger warnings before reading it and don't read it if you're not in a good spot mentally. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Transphobia and Lesbophobia

ryoung23's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

5.0

I think this is going to hold the title for my favorite book of 2024. It was heartbreaking and all so beautiful. It ended in the way I expected, but had some shocking things happen from beginning to end that I didn't expect. Jude deserved all the love he ever received in a life full of hate. I am so thankful that I finally read this book. I don't know if I'll ever read another book like it. 

There are A LOT of trigger warnings in the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, and Dysphoria

Minor: Addiction and Gaslighting

rebekkamafia's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship

Moderate: Biphobia, Drug abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Suicide, Vomit, and Car accident

Minor: Racial slurs and Transphobia

hannahmontanareading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad fast-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? It's complicated

4.5

I think this will be my first and only time reading a little life because that was so hauntingly beautiful, I don't think I'll forget it. I love a book that genuinely immerses me, through emotional response, or just as a page turner. This was both of those things. I found it so engaging and I was desperate to know all I could about that little life!! The way hanya depicts mindsets, and a varied assortment of such mindsets as well, is truly fascinating. I could just be super nosey, but I found the varied perspectives and opinions given to be one of the books most enthralling factors.

I think the author represents a lot of flaws in everyone - I do think perhaps it could be sending a message that one will never recover from trauma, but quite frankly it also creates a platform that viscerally shows the realities of existing with such trauma, possibly quite validating for victims. As the representation contradicts historical notions of insanity etc. associated with trauma and mental illness - Jude is capable of happiness, but perhaps never fully? Not sure where I sit on the ethics of it all... 

Heartbroken but so happy to have read it (I would love to see the play version of it too)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

libraryofsachi's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

1.0

This is miserable. My first thought upon finishing this was “what the fuck did I just read?! And why would anyone write this?”. There were some beautiful moments in this and I enjoyed the found family themes, but that was where it stopped. The trauma is overwhelming in this story. The author has stated numerous times that she wanted to create a character that NEVER gets better, which I think is important to understand going into this (and messed up!), as a book like this can be really damaging to read.

Poor Jude 😭 I feel so sorry for him. But I’m more annoyed at the author than sad. I think my main issue with this book is that it lacks sensitivity towards trauma survivors and sends a pretty harmful message suggesting you will never overcome your trauma - which I think is awful. I think the author exploits trauma more than she claims to explore it. This book doesn’t send out much of a positive message, there isn’t some huge resolution that leaves the reader feeling cathartic. Is this torture p*rn? I don’t know if that’s for me to decide but this book just seems unrealistic at times, like the author threw everything at the wall to see what would stick. I know some people find this book to be “real”, which I’m happy you do, but I found her torture of Jude relentless. Her portrayal of race and gender were a bit strange too.

What I’m choosing to take away from this book is that you really do need to treat everyone with kindness, because you have no idea what they may be going through. Sending lots of love to anyone reading this 💛

I ✨DO NOT✨ recommend this book. Do yourself a favour and don’t read this!!!!! I hate this. 🧍🏽‍♀️

My rating: 1/5 ⭐️

Also “nishihara syndrome”???? 😂

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism and Self harm

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Transphobia, Violence, Trafficking, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, and Gaslighting

⚠️ Please see the trigger warnings for this book! ⚠️ There are some really sensitive topics and graphic scenes throughout it. Stating upfront that I don’t recommend this book to anyone!

sirensreviews's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

5.0

This is one of the best books that I have ever read. After finishing it, I struggled to read other books because nothing compared to how well written and complex this story is. I truly think about this book every single day. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

This is the saddest book that you will ever read. It never gets better and I do not recommend reading it quickly because it is alot to take in.

olivier_c's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Please beware, this book is not for everyone. The trigger warning list is almost longer than the book. You definitely do not want to read it if something on the list gets to you, as content is often explicitly described and it can be repetitive in the book.

laylamaethaila's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

4.5

This was an INCREDIBLY hard read. Yahnagihara is such a compelling, jaw dropping writer, and made me feel SO MUCH in like, 700 pages. -.5 for being a bit “trauma porn-y”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Incest, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Transphobia, Xenophobia, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Lesbophobia, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

yamotha's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Transphobia, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Dementia, Trafficking, Medical trauma, Car accident, and Suicide attempt