Reviews tagging 'Outing'

Een klein leven by Hanya Yanagihara

58 reviews

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, 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, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Trafficking, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

grboph's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

3.5

Wow. I think it's going to take me a while to process this one. It was, without a doubt, one of the best-written books I've ever read, and I hardly ever feel emotions about stories and their characters as acutely and strongly as I did here. The characters were also incredibly well-thought-out and memorable. However, I do feel that most of its plot was just eight hundred pages of the most horrible, trauma-porn-y things imaginable happening to absolutely everybody involved. I definitely did not enjoy reading this book in the traditional sense - I finished it because I wanted it to be over, and knew the bad things were coming but couldn't stand not knowing exactly what they were. Even with this, the last hundred or so pages were the hardest to get through of the entire book because I knew exactly what was coming, and I almost wish it had stopped at the end of the "Dear Comrade" section because then things would have been a bit more ambiguous and I could have feasibly imagined that the book would end happily. In short, I'm not mad I read this book, and I know I'll be thinking about its characters for a long time to come. I'm also definitely going to read more of Yanagihara's books in the future because the strong emotions I felt while reading this book are really a testament to how amazing of a writer she is. However, I don't think I'll ever read this book again or recommend it to anyone else, just because I don't think I could put myself or anyone else through that degree of emotional pain again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, 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 violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Stalking, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Homophobia, Medical trauma, and Outing

luciiee'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? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

gigireadswithkiki's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

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

1.0

This book is absolutely wretched (derogatory), for a plethora of reasons. In no particular order and to varying degrees of fucking awfulness: 

• The fatphobia: this book constantly ridicules fat persons, both in the language that is used to craft their existence, or in the way that these characters are treated by others (see: JB). 
• The transphobia: in one scene, a side character is having, what is presumed to be, a transitioning party. At no point within the text does the author nor the characters switch their use of pronouns after learning this. 
• The friendships: I've heard people talk MANY times about how this book is such a good marker of friendship. It is not. The friendships in this book are unhealthy, borderline abusive. The characters hold their friends on pedestals, refusing to see any flaws from their friends. The OTHER OPTION is that the characters view their friends suffering and flat out, selfishly refuse to see past it, as if nothing is wrong.
• The depiction of queer relationships: Yanagihara disgusts me. The constant depiction of MLM relationships as something "wrong", as something "disgusting" eventually culminating to Queer tragedy felt so utterly wrong. She did not handle Queer issues with any grace, instead choosing to force trauma upon trauma upon Queer characters
• The trauma: at a certain point in the book, I started to roll my eyes at the amount that Jude suffered. Not because he deserved it, but because each time the reader thinks things might get to a place that is okay, Yanagihara thrusts something in the readers faces, as if to say "NO! LOOK! LOOK! ACTUALLY IT"S JUST BAD!" I don't fucking care that she intended this book to be a reflection of cherishing life's happy moments. What came across was horrendous. 
• The self harm: after a number of repetitions, the self harm in the book felt so fucking blasè. Yes we know this character is harming themselves. why the fuck did you feel the need to detail every single tiny detail of it. every. single. time. To what purpose does this serve but to the author's disgusting twisted sense of shock value. 

I don't know why i finished this book. I truly don't. I'm reevaluating the last couple days of my life and the use of my free time. Don't read this book. If you're looking for depictions of trauma on a similar scale but with ACTUAL meaning and purpose within a story, just read The Poppy War for christssake. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Homophobia, 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, Transphobia, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Acephobia/Arophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

emmahansen'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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Outing, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

melisayasilem's review against another edition

dark 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

4.25

You could say that none of the characters -who you become very much attached to by the way- deserve what happens to them. You feel what they feel, go through what they go through. I knew what I was getting myself into before I began reading this book, but it still hits you hard. I didn't find myself as affected as others whom I've seen their reviews saying nobody should read this book because it is f'ed up- and this could be because I read this over a period of months instead of a couple days or even weeks. Regardless, it still succeeded to leave a deep impact.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Body shaming, Bullying, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body horror, Cursing, Drug use, Gore, Hate crime, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Dementia, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

Minor: Confinement, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Excrement, Car accident, Outing, and Classism

This book is not for the weak, it gets very graphic in some chapters and you might have to put it down for a bit. But it also makes you want to continue reading because you get very attached to the characters. Sexual assault and suicidal thoughts are very much present, to the point where you sometimes have to think hard to understand why the character thinks that way.

introverted_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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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, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Biphobia, Transphobia, Excrement, Stalking, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Outing

soumya_singhal's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Police brutality, Antisemitism, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Acephobia/Arophobia, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

svenjaschae07's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Racism, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Outing, Toxic friendship, and Abandonment

golden_like_dior's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense fast-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: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Cancer, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, Lesbophobia, Outing, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail