Reviews tagging 'Cultural appropriation'

To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara

16 reviews

ame_lepage's review against another edition

slow-paced

2.25

This was one of the most painful reading experiences ever.
This book was just so not for me.
I have considerable eco-anxiety, and this book triggered me pretty badly (especially the third book). I was definitely not having a great time, and while I understand that it's important to know what will happen if we don't do anything about climate change, this was just too much for me.
I also think the idea behind this story might have been too ambitious. There was basically no connection between the three books (and if there was, it was never stated explicitly and you were left to figure it out on your own, which in some cases work, but it didn't in this one), which made me wonder what was the point of the book. I also felt like the author was withholding information about the world purposely just for the shock factor, which is not something that works well, in my opinion. I still have too many questions after finishing the book.
I also feel like the author might have taken the open endings too far. We never know how the first and the third book finish, which was so unsatisfying (especially when you stick through a 700 hundred-pages book in the hopes of having some kind of conclusion).
I do have to say the Book 2, Part 2 was great. I even cried at the end and for me, it was the highlight of the book. However, apart from that, it was unfortunately a miss for me. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Homophobia, Infertility, Racism, Toxic relationship, Cultural appropriation, and Abandonment

Moderate: Rape

catesm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Homophobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, War, and Classism

deandra_lalonde's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Racism, Rape, Violence, Police brutality, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Colonisation, and War

wtfmarta's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death and Death

Minor: Animal death, Homophobia, Rape, and Cultural appropriation

jw03's review against another edition

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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Infertility, Terminal illness, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, and Classism

Moderate: Homophobia and Colonisation

Minor: Rape

pollyflorence's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

It’s very difficult to put my thoughts into proper sentences, something coherent and something like a review, but I wanted to try and get across just how much I loved this book. 

I know that there will be a lot of comparisons made to Yanagihara’s previous work but it fully deserves, I hope it gets, the chance, the space to stand on it’s own because it’s so beautifully written and heartbreakingly crafted to a point that the last 100 pages or so left me breathless. I know that it’s a book that will stay with me for a very long time— which is something that I often say after reading a good book, which I said after reading A Little Life and The People in the Trees— but in this case the stories that Yanagihara told in the book, the characters she created, the worlds she built are so compelling and beautifully vivid that I’m sure I’ll keep revisiting them in my mind and be very glad to do so. 

That’s all that I can put into words at the moment— there are reviewers out there that explore the complex themes and connections that this book has— but all I can say is that I highly recommend giving this novel the chance it deserves. 

Thank you to Picador Books for the review copy.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Cancer, Child death, Death, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Medical content, Grief, and Cultural appropriation