Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

Een klein leven by Hanya Yanagihara

181 reviews

cheritabeo's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring 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 shaming, Child abuse, Death, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Religious bigotry, Car accident, and Suicide attempt

avenevs's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

4.5

This book is immensely painful. The author wrote this story beautifully and it was a marvelous read, fun at times even. I cried on too many pages to count or admit to but I couldn’t help but feel attached to each character or disgusted by others. Everything is so in depth and no detail is unappreciated. I loved this book, and I absolutely despise this book. The trauma this book caused and also resurfaced is something I was absolutely not ready for. But at the same time I was able to fret through the book the same way I got through my own traumas in life. I cannot believe I was ever excited to read this book but I am thankful to have read it. Good luck to anyone who dares to break this novels spine. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

cnorman4405'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

Make sure your therapist is available 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Absolutely beautiful, heartbreaking, and traumatic

tofuclown's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

5.0

Probably one of the most traumatic books I’ve ever read. It’s definitely my favourite now but I don’t think I could ever re-read it because of how awful a lot of it is. I unfortunately related a lot to Jude and his experiences which I think is why this book hit so hard for me.

Beautiful story of life long friendships, death, loss, trauma, and looks at mental illness and suicidal ideation through a realistic lens.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria

delisouseyelids's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-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

3.75

WHY IS IT SO SAD

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

dkrawec's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-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

3.75

I'm torn over what to rate this so I will separate it between the writing style and the actual subject matter.

Writing style: Wow! I have not read such a captivating style of writing in a long time. This book is over 800 pages and I found myself speeding through it due to how well it's written. In a given chapter, a scene would begin, move into a flashback, switch to a future moment, toss in a vignette, and then return to the original scene all while being easy to follow and not lose the plot. It almost felt cinematic and it was clearly well thought out. It never felt circuitous. 

The subject matter: Someone on Goodreads said this book was misery porn and I'd have to agree. Jude's life is gratuitously unfortunate to such an extent that it becomes frustrating (at times I literally was rolling my eyes, which feels inappropriate given the subject matter but it was just so much I was like, bro...🙄). It's almost as if all the events that keep happening to him are just for the sake of misery writing and less about what it builds for his character. The only thing that kept me reading was how eloquent and compelling the author's wordsmithing is. I definitely can say I've never read abuse, self harm or depression in this style of writing (which is kind of bizarre to say, but I do think it's a testament to Hanya's talents). However, again, much of it was excessive to say the least.

Fortunately, a lot of the material chronicles the main group and they're complex relationships amongst one another. Reading about how their friendships evolved over the course of their lives from college to late adulthood had me looking forward to the next chapter. I would say about 30% of it could have been cut out due to the excessive misery writing but the remaining portion was awesome. If some of it had been cut, this review would have been five stars without a doubt.

With that in mind, I would recommend it for the style of writing but avoid it if you do not want to read about highly triggering events surrounding self harm, abuse and depression. I'm definitely going to check out Hanya's other works because the style of writing was truly immaculate.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

samburkhouse's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

armygdala's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

5.0

I should have never started this book, but now that I've finished it, my life feels incomplete without this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Dysphoria

mhjmojo's review against another edition

challenging 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

Holy. F*ck.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

birdghosting's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

4.5

This is a book that will stay with you for a very long time, for better or for worse. It seems you either love or hate this book, and I came out loving it (even though I ugly cried through over 20% of it—and it's a long book).

As someone who usually reads fantasy and not much set in the real world, I could not put this book down once I got past the introductory section. It was very easy for me to get attached to Jude, who the entire book revolves around (I didn't even realize when starting that this is mainly his story). I was rooting for him the entire way through, desperately wanting to know more about him at each turn as it would offer me something new as a treat.

The characters all felt like they lived real and true lives, and written to perfectly match how you're meant to feel about them in that moment. Even certain characters who I loved the whole way through made errors that I hated reading about, thought to myself that I wouldn't forgive someone doing that to me—and that's life. The relationships everyone has with each other, not just with Jude, are the strongest part of the book.

I'm not used to reading such long prose, but it was very enjoyable. I did have several moments where I would start reading one sentence and get lost among the different branching off thoughts and ideas the single sentence goes through, and I'd have to return to the beginning of the sentence to remember what it was meant to be about. This would also happen with chapters, which would sometimes go into a completely different topic than where we first started before finally circling back around. There was also a lot of academic and legal talk that made me wish I were going back to university, and I didn't have a good mind map of the locations and geography talked about, which makes me curious if someone who knows New York well would be able to picture it clearly.

I think about this story at least once a day.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Dysphoria

Minor: Fatphobia, Transphobia, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism