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fran_____'s review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
slothsandpit's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail
pikkumarja's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
Mutta onhan tämä vähän liikaa. Yksityiskohtaiset kuvaukset itsetuhoisuudesta, tuhon graafisuus ja ylipäätään queerihmisten kärsimys oli turhan mittavaa. Yksittäisenä kirjana queerkärsimys vielä menisi, mutta laajempana ilmiönä (ja koska tämäkin kirja on osa laajempaa kirjallisuuden kokonaisuutta ja kulttuuria) queerit saavat kärsiä liikaa. Ei tämä silti ole ansainnut syytöksiä traumapornosta tai epäuskottavalla trauman määrällä. Maailma ei ole reilu ja jotkut ihmiset joutuvat kärsimään enemmän kuin on inhimillisesti mahdollista. Kehotan todella lukemaan sisältövaroitukset ajan kanssa, jos et kestä joitain teemoja.
Yanagihara onnistuu luomaan todella painavan tunnelman kerronnallaan. Kirja jää varmasti elämään mielen perukoille pitkäksi aikaa monestakin syystä.
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, 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, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
hidivamd71's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Drug use, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Trafficking, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail
natelj's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
Graphic: Ableism, Homophobia, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, and Suicide
abigodden44's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Self harm, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Ableism and Homophobia
greyson_reids's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Child abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, and Sexual assault
honeyjackets's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
rachel_emily22's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Deadnaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Homophobia, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Dementia, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Acephobia/Arophobia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Outing, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
farahbear's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
For instance, her main character Jude is suffering but he has a support system. Most notably, his adoptive father Harold is there for him. But after noticing that Jude is in an abusive relationship, Harold just so happens to let him go back to his apartment to potentially get hurt again?? When it’s out of his character to do that? You could argue it’s a mistake, but I think because of how it’s written, it comes off only as a plot device to get Jude to suffer more.
Yanagihara is very careless with the reader’s emotions, her style is strong, but because of her atrocious plot structure and her attempts to make Jude a straw man, she ultimately sends a dangerous message to her audience. Additionally, she proudly claims that she has not done any research and it shows. This is especially concerning given that Jude is disabled while she herself is not. And I think if you’re going to write about a character that isn’t of your own community, you owe it to that community to write about them with respect.
Maybe I would’ve given this book 3 stars at the beginning, but once you get to the halfway mark, she neglects certain characters and starts to relentlessly hammer in her pessimism. You end up exhausted. She ultimately ends up sounding cartoonish as well, all in her attempt to tell the reader to give up. Some of Jude’s trauma is just tacked on too, compared to her previous attempts to flesh him out. And she proceeds to do this, and be repetitive, just to illustrate that some people (like Jude) aren’t worth saving. By the end, you feel apathetic, and I don’t think that’s a good thing.
Maybe I’m too optimistic, but I don’t want to ever EVER think that way about anyone and their suffering. I want to believe people can get better. In fact, despite how much suffering, I know people can. I’ve had serious depressive episodes, but usually, when I get to that point, I just want help. Relief. And that isn’t in the form of suicide. Most people are afraid.
So overall, it’s the book’s message that I can’t get behind.
Only credit I will give to the author is that her writing style is fairly accessible. But otherwise just fuck this book.
I urge anyone interested in this story to just not bother, and read something else. If you want a depressing read, I think there’s better books out there.
What makes a book good isn’t because of the depression and trauma involved. A book has to have downs and UPS. Otherwise, it’s not even an interesting story. I once wrote a play with almost the same level of trauma for class, and my screenwriting professor had to remind me that there’s need to be high points for a story to work. I think I didn’t get it at the time, because I used to equate pain with intellectualism. But I do understand now.
Graphic: Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Trafficking, Medical trauma, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Homophobia and Sexism