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jen_sanford'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: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Suicide attempt, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Confinement, Death, and Drug use
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
iluvshelby'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: 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
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
maria_thebookworm'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
I didn't even rate this book because it is one of those books that is SO challenging to rate. The writing is gorgeous but the book is very slow, especially in the beginning. I decided to read this one because I kept seeing the book everywhere, along with reels of people crying while reading it. I became very curious.
"A Little Life" is about four male friends in NYC, their struggles, and their heartbreaks. The book specifically focuses on Jude, the main character, and the trauma and abuse in his past that he never recovers from.
If you are someone who is triggered by detailed descriptions of sexual and physical abuse, along with graphic descriptions of self-harm, I do NOT recommend this book. It is very graphic and can be very hard to read.
I read this book very, very slowly. I don't recommend trying to breeze through this one. This book took me about a month. It is over 700 pages, composed significantly of very long, detailed descriptions. It was full of many new vocabulary words. I would say that the book could definitely be a few hundred pages shorter; I typically don't like long books.
This book was extremely emotionally draining. I didn't cry (I'm not a crier when it comes to books), but I kept having to pause towards the middle and end of the book to just process how terrible Jude's life got. I had to take many moments to try to process the truly unimaginable horrors. Prepare to be traumatized, as Yanagihara does not hold back in terms of detailed descriptions of self-harm or abuse.
Without spoiling the book, I will say that Jude feels guilty and undeserving of any good and love that comes to him, which intensifies his feelings of guilt and shame. He fears people using and abusing him, even his friends and those close to him. He is afraid to believe that anything good can happen to him.
Despite many painful portions, the book details hope, love, and friendship. Jude learns what love actually means in people who never give up on him.
This book teaches the beauty of friendship, loving and sometimes getting nothing in return, forgiveness, and the concept that trauma does not have to define your life.
I recommend this book if you are looking for an intense, sad, once in a lifetime read.
“But then, didn’t everyone only tell their lives – truly tell their lives – to one person?"
Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Trafficking, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting
jrdnnwlkr's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
biatar'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: 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
- 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
emilyg433's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
thestarsaresad'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
4.75
I think what truly makes this book great is that it has ALL the moments of life: the good, the bad, the ugly. Good people do good things, good people do bad things, bad people do good things, bad people do bad things. Good people have good things happen to them, good people also have bad things happen to them. Bad people have good things happen to them, bad people also have bad things happen to them. Yanagihara writes life as it actually is, without glossing over the ugly or playing up the good. But mostly, what I loved about this whole journey was seeing just how loved and loving people can be. That's the truest underlying theme.
After taking over a month to read this book, I will say that the amount of time I took to read A Little Life does not equate to how good I found it. Even though I took forever to get into this book and to really enjoy it, it is written so so well. I will say, however, that I don't think I'll be able to read this book again, at least not in the near future. Maybe when it's been years and years and I've completely forgotten what this book is about, then I'll reread it. However, I truly feel that this book is meant to be a one-time read.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Eating disorder, Gore, Pedophilia, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Medical content, Grief, Suicide attempt, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Body shaming, Confinement, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, and Car accident
Minor: Infidelity, Blood, Dementia, and Abandonment
PLEASE make sure you look over the content warnings before you start. I'm not someone who normally looks at content warnings, and while I don't think it was necessary for me after finishing this book, this was definitely a book full of heavy content. Almost every content warning possible is checked off of the list for this book. What sets it apart for me is that Yanagihara goes into detail for the parts of the book that concern MANY of these content warnings. Even though I know the content warnings here are tiered, I'll provide a list of the content warnings that are most brought up and recurring in this book.