Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Una vita come tante by Hanya Yanagihara

562 reviews

fran_____'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

iluvshelby's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

averyirelyn's review against another edition

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

5.0

absolutely crazy book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Trafficking, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

paddles1704's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

1.5

 I didn’t cry, in the end. 

The pain swelled to a crescendo up until that final page, with an echo of hope that wasn’t really hope at all. I can see why someone would have been sad, but I felt numb and angry. I feel, now, that I wish I could just forget everything about it. 

If the purpose of the novel was to tell me that pain exists, and some people can’t handle it, can’t escape it, I didn’t need that written in over 700 pages. I have read about pain before, but worse, I have felt pain, I have met people and loved people in pain.

To spare you reading it yourself - Jude’s friends die meaninglessly and accidentally, Jude dies purposely and tragically, and after feeling bad for how he has treated those around him and refusing their help and acting horribly again and again, he leaves them behind to wonder what they could have done differently. So it is, with suicide.

Hanya Yanagihara wrote the ending, as an acceptable end to a life of suffering, which she spent 720 pages trying to convince me was too much. Trying to convince me that there is some measure of suffering which can be deemed ‘too much’, and that asking people to live beyond that line is selfish of me. Deciding not to live beyond that line is acceptable, as if they have earned it, somehow. 
 

What sort of ending is that? 
What hope does that offer the sufferer?
What meaning does that offer those who love people suffering? 

As I said – if the purpose of the book was to acknowledge pain, to flesh it out and describe it beautifully, ‘A Little Life’ does no more than walk someone to the edge of despair and leave them there. 

Perhaps there is no purpose – perhaps you are simply meant to cry, and feel something, and then close the book and put it back on the shelf. 

Either way, it was a waste of my time. 

Full review here: https://christianpears.wordpress.com/2024/09/15/on-writing-pain-a-little-life-review/

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Drug abuse, and Drug use

minisaucisse's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Strange book. I loved that it was long and that you could feel time past. It made me think a lot. However in the end I felt the last pages draged on, and also why do they have to be so filthy rich ?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and Abandonment

honeyjackets's review against another edition

challenging 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

3.5

It surprisingly got me through a hard time in my life, where I was trying to find myself. It got me into reading again.

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Content Warnings

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

biatar's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

5.0

It is incredibly graphic at times but overall was beautifully written with characters you want the best for throughout. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Fire/Fire injury

rachel_emily22'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

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Content Warnings

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

mollymccreedy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

It truly is one graphic, violent, awful thing after another in this book, with just enough hope dotted here and there to keep you reading.

This book should not be recommended lightly and people should absolutely be informed of what they're getting into before reading it.

At the time, I thought this was the best novel I had ever read, and I have a deep love and appreciation for that view, but the more I sit with this book and listen to what others have to say, I understand and appreciate how deeply troubling and harmful this book is. I was sobbing every 20 pages (no lie) and it took me MONTHS to get though this. It broke me in so many ways and it took me a long time to pick up another book after finishing this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Bullying, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

I would absolutely not recommend this book to just anyone. Heck, I wouldn't recommend it to 99% of the people I know. I read this book not realizing what it was about and what the author has said about talk therapy. The description of this book is horribly misleading and the more I sit with the knowledge of what I read, the more I realize how deeply upsetting and deeply problematic this book is.

selimhannah's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Drug use, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Outing, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol