Reviews tagging 'Biphobia'

Een klein leven by Hanya Yanagihara

85 reviews

lanid'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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Ableism, Biphobia, Chronic illness, Death, Homophobia, Mental illness, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Car accident, and Dysphoria

Minor: Biphobia and Acephobia/Arophobia

riella_reads's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective 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

4.0

This is such a hard book to rate, because I didn't exactly enjoy my time reading this. I originally picked this up 2 years ago and got about 100 pages in. It was a little overwhelming with the different POV's and I couldn't get them straight. I kept telling myself I would pick it back up but I never really wanted to. I am glad I finally got around to it, though. While this was such a sad and tragic story and it is labeled as "trauma porn" (I don't disagree with this label either), it is also beautiful. The sadness and misery of one person who can't stand to be alive, who feels so unloved he isn't even worthy of life will stay with me a long time. There isn't much to say, but if there is anything to take away from this book is that you are always more loved and cared for than you could possibly know. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, 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 violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

stitchbooks22's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

This book was heartbreaking with beautiful writing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Infidelity, 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, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Acephobia/Arophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

leefox'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: Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

samanthabeckett22's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

feijoamuffin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

5.0

Aaaand I’ve finished it. Just put the book down. My wrists are very tired. The writing was really good and I hesitate to say that I loved it or enjoyed it but this book is definitely a 5 star read from me. (READ THROUGH THE CONTENT WARNINGS).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Biphobia and Acephobia/Arophobia

oops_i_read_it_again'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? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Dysphoria, and Classism

egna's review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

4.25

Beautiful writing, bloody depressing. Best read in chunks with large pauses in between.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, 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, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Religious bigotry, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

jillianalice's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

5.0

I will be thinking about this book for the rest of my life. Definitely don’t read this if you are not doing well mentally, like I did. 

WHY IS NO ONE TALKING ABOUT THE TITLE???

The only time “a little life” is said in the book is when Brother Luke tells Jude to have a “a little life” while being raped.

So many layers to that…. I’m a bit too disgusted to analyze it but maybe it’s a metaphor for how Jude is constantly trying to have a bit more life left in him. That phrase alone also had a ginormous impact on his approach to sex. The air of those words followed him into the bedroom and into his romantic relationship to Willem. He could never be truly authentic or vulnerable after that. 


It’s been a week since I finished it and it’s still too raw to review. The author is incredible because I fell so in love with Jude, Willem, Harold, and Andy that I felt sad for days following the ending. I cried too many times that it is embarrassing to admit. 

I have a complicated opinion on whether or not this book is trauama-porn. In the first 3/4 of the book I saw her vision, of showing how trauma follows you into every crevice of your life. And sometimes people don’t recover, no matter how well their life turns out or how many people love them. And their stories deserve to be told…. BUT I think she could have gotten her point across without Dr. Traylor… or the abhorrent severity of Caleb’s actions. At first I thought she approached the events in a respectful manner, but it was not necessary to describe the Caleb event so graphically. Or the self-harm scenes in such vivid detail. So I understand why this book is criticized as being trauma porn, she went a bit overboard. 

I do wish that Malcom and JB’s stories were told more. She depicted JB’s addiction so well, I think she could have explored it further. Malcom’s struggle with his sexuality and racial identity was also very intriguing, but not expanded on. 

I did love how deliberate her use of words is and lyrical that it is so easy to immersive yourself in their world. She described the complicated psyche and emotions of human beings so well. As someone who loves character driven novels, this was perfect. I highly doubt I will ever read a book that pierces me so deeply. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infidelity, 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, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

tmickey's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Drug abuse, Car accident, and Death of parent

Minor: Biphobia, Bullying, Homophobia, and Infidelity