elliemackian'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: Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Death, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Racism, Body shaming, Pedophilia, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Chronic illness, Forced institutionalization, Gore, and Medical content
greenan26'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: Trafficking, Sexual violence, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Medical content, Addiction, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Chronic illness, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Stalking, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Ableism, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Abandonment, Self harm, Gore, Car accident, Blood, and Medical trauma
elishacarles's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Gore, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Grief, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Self harm, Child death, Death, Medical trauma, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, Abandonment, Blood, Car accident, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Panic attacks/disorders, and Rape
queerhoney'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: Abandonment, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Rape, Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Self harm, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Gore, Physical abuse, Gaslighting, Homophobia, Kidnapping, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual harassment, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Vomit, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Body horror, Body shaming, Gun violence, Medical content, Sexual violence, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Cancer
bethvance's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Suicide
Moderate: Addiction, Ableism, Bullying, Car accident, and Drug abuse
punishercoded's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Medical trauma, Self harm, Sexual assault, Body horror, Child death, Pedophilia, Violence, Vomit, Ableism, Car accident, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Drug use, Mental illness, Rape, Suicide, Eating disorder, Grief, Medical content, Physical abuse, and Sexual violence
icarusandthesun'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
i can only describe how i feel.
one can find two different types of people in the review section of this book:
- type A: "this book is completely mental and tragedy porn and you shouldn't ever read it", and
- type B: "this book is completely mental and tragedy porn and you should absolutely read it",
(and of course the impartial "i love it but would never ever recommend it to anyone").
so i was curious which type i'd end up being.
answer: type B. because i loved it.
of course it was tragic, and traumatic, and bloody, and cold and crazy. but it was also lovely, tender and warm.
maybe i'm just a whole other level of delulu and mental, but i found a little life strangely comforting. when i feel down, i feel this urge to pick it up, to drown in this world yanagihara has created. i want to read about the lives of all these people i've had the pleasure of meeting—jude and willem and harold and julia and malcolm and jb, and and and.
one of the reviewers on the back of the cover said something along the lines of "i wish this book was longer" and at first i thought this person insane. but now, ... my god, this person's right. i find myself wishing i could just pick it up and continue reading. this feeling is especially strong when i'm feeling down—comfort book and all that.
720 pages, and i want to re-read it. actually, i just want to never stop reading it.
originally, i didn't want to rate this book at all, because that would be like rating a sad, trauma-dumping (auto)biography; it feels wrong somehow.
but i can't really stop thinking about it, and that's always THE sign that tells me that i really, really enjoyed a book. so i want to give it a good rating.
so yeah. type B.
do check out the trigger warnings (there's a lot of them), but if you're okay with all of them, i want you to read it. forget that "i would never recommend it to anyone because it's so sad"-stuff. i'm telling you to read it. because it's good.
it's a good book.
Graphic: Physical abuse, Mental illness, Violence, Toxic relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Domestic abuse, Terminal illness, Suicide, Grief, Death, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Blood, Ableism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Rape, Medical content, Emotional abuse, Child death, Pedophilia, and Torture
Moderate: Infidelity, Outing, Vomit, Drug abuse, Terminal illness, Addiction, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, and Car accident
peppyb'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: Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Grief, Medical content, Sexual harassment, Terminal illness, Violence, Addiction, Drug abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Ableism, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Medical trauma, Suicide, Body shaming, Bullying, Religious bigotry, Vomit, Abandonment, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Chronic illness, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Torture, and Trafficking
Moderate: Toxic friendship
Minor: Biphobia and Infidelity
silviasala's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
Il libro è scritto benissimo. E' una poesia di 700+ pagine, e mi piace molto come il linguaggio e la narrazione si adattino al personaggio: evocativa e colorata per JB, una sorta di lettera per Harold...
Detto ciò, possiamo passare ai lati negativi:
- Innanzitutto, è altamente irrealistico. I quattro personaggi principali lavorano in campi super competitivi dove è difficilissimo spiccare ma, pensa un po' te, sono tutti super successfull, al top, mega ricchi e rispettati. E poi sono super belli, soprattutto Jude, che è iper mega bellissimo per tutti tranne che ai suoi occhi (-.-")
- Questa "irrealisticità" va a mischiarsi con una pornografia del dolore che è il fil rouge del libro. Per esempio, ad Harold e Liesl muore il figlio, che già di per sé è una situazione iper tragica; ciò non basta però, perché deve morire di un morbo rarissimo che gli fa perdere gradualmente i sensi e la mobilità per trasformarlo in un bambolotto atrofizzato: nella mia modesta opinione, non necessario
- E questi due punti vanno a mischiarsi nella storia di Jude, traumatica e irrealistica alla n e, onestamente, l'unico motivo che mi ha spinto a finire il libro (scoprire il suo "mistero", per essere chiari). E' una storia innegabilmente drammatica, su questo siamo tutti d'accordo; è talmente drammatica da risultare così poco credibile e impedirti di provare empatia per lui. Sto povero cristo per 15 anni viene abusato - sessualmente, fisicamente, psicologicamente - nel peggiore dei modi; riesce a riscattarsi, incontra amici che stanno con lui per la vita, viene adottato. Rinuncia all'intimità di una relazione perché non si sente a suo agio finché non incontra Caleb, che, pensa un po' te, lo abusa andando a toccare tutti i suoi nervi scoperti: assolutamente poco credibile. Non penso di essere una persona poco empatica, ma mi sono trovata a metà libro a sperare che Jude finalmente morisse, per togliere il peso a tutti i poveri cristi che aveva intorno
- Infine, una nota un po' petty: cosa spinge una donna a scrivere un libro dove la presenza femminile è relegata ai margini?
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Medical content, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual content, Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Violence, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Suicide
allaligns'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: Gore, Violence, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Blood, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, and Self harm