Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Vers le paradis by Hanya Yanagihara

10 reviews

cjones12's review against another edition

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slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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dativa's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • 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

incredible.
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lunacueva's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional reflective sad 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

Increíble. Cautivador y atrapante.

Parte del interés del Paraíso es que no sabemos cómo es, o incluso si existe.
Así como, en vida, no podemos saber si existe un Paraíso, tampoco podemos conocer el final de las historias de David, Kiwika o Charlie: sus vidas como las conocen se acaban y este nuevo renacer —un nuevo renacer en el Paraíso— es inaccesible para los que estamos vivos. Es imposible saber el destino de los que ya no están. 

En estas tres historias tenemos tres protagonistas con situaciones precarias, quienes se enfrentan a la disyuntiva entre lo que podría ser una vida mejor (El Paraíso) y su vida actual, la cual no es muy prometedora. Tres viajes en mundos muy diferentes que, de alguna manera, laten de forma similar.
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toyin_'s review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective tense 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

3.0

book 1 ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Beautiful slowburn with playing with storytelling. We get glimpses into the past through memory and letters. I really liked the premise of new york as a state of its own home to well-to-do queers and the not so much. I liked the political elements in this world as well. My favourite part was david. How his isolation was built through how he relates to his siblings, to his grandad, his illness and how he sees his lack of (productive) value as a failing and a major cause for his middling life. There's something clever about capitalism and ableism there. His "illness" being directly affected by others when he lives such a lonely life. delicious. How he felt he just spends time alone encouraging time to pass until he meets Edward. Then it feeling too good to be true. The way that then his grandfather tries to speak to an infatuated David about what he found. All too good. I wish there was more. 

book 2 ⭐️⭐️
Dragged so much. Both the dad and son were really grating. The dad I could not begin to care. Although it was about how Hawaii was held back by America and class. All of these things interesting. The way it was presented was not to my taste. Too much winding around topics and retelling. There was something interesting about the developmental delay and how he was purposeless but doing that to your son. No wonder David wanted to leave him. Passivity was apparent in this one. But I think because I, not only did not like those characters but I was uninterested - It was a drag.

book 3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Engaging. Much more than both previous books combined. It being based around a pandemic and an authoritarian state, which one of our protagonists has a hand in developing and creating. This started with a choice of a particular job over his family's joy. to leaving Hawaii for America. and ended with that family becoming a casualty to that job, those choices. the other protagonist, Charlie, being sterile, cognitively changed by the drugs that cured the illness. Making her incredibly vulnerable and literal. unable to see the nuances of things (similar to the father in the 2nd part of book 2). Her unimaginative way of seeing the word making her unreliable as a narrator. And vulnerable to easily falling in line with the ruling of the state. That her grandfather's valuing his intelligence and ego has lead to the diminishing of hers. The regret and horror charles had watching as he realised how he had not only destroyed his family but all other families like him. Something interesting how queerness becomes recriminalised and how charles' experience in the book mirrors that of David with Charles in book 2. How charlie being the way (overly obedient, with blinders around her granddad) she is is why she can love Charles fully. It could have been a touch shorter. 
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becksusername's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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

4.75

I'm crying in a coffeeshop.
I want to know if they made it to paradise - all of them. Even the first David, who was a spoiled brat. But especially Charlie
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aseel_reads's review against another edition

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reflective 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? It's complicated

2.75

This book was way too long for what it tried to deliver. I did like the message/the whole point of the future pov but I do think there were some messy mental health rep, that bordered on problematic. 
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lisatz's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Nachdem ich ein wenig Schwierigkeiten hatte reinzukommen, hat mich das Buch nach der Hälfte des ersten Buchs gepackt. Hanya Yanagihara spielt mit Motiven, Namen und Orten, die sich alle 100 Jahre wiederholen. An vielen Stellen war ich sehr verwirrt wer, wer ist und wessen Kinder oder Enkelkinder wieder aufgetaucht sind. Ich bleibe verwirrt zurück. Besonders das letzte Buch im Buch, Zone 8, hat mich sehr gefesselt. Yanagihara schreibt eindrücklich über ein Land, das von Peking regiert wird. Ständig Pandemien und immer ein moralisches Dilemma - vor allem für die Leser*innen wie der neueste Virus eingedämmt werden kann. 
Eine Frage zum Schluss. Wieso schreibt Yanagihara so gerne traumatische und verstörende Geschichten mit Männern in schwulen Beziehungen? Warum nicht lesbische Frauen? 
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fionagerman's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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catesm's review against another edition

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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

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sabotheking's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

This book does not need to be as big as it is. I found it incredibly overly descriptive, info-dumping that did not drive the plot forward in any way shape or form, and it made it hard to figure out what was actually important to know. Author does have a way of writing that makes the story stick with you, and I did find the relationship between Grandfather and Grandaughter in book 3 really emotional and well fleshed out. Did NOT like the random commentary on black, asian and indigenous people that were downright offensive and served no purpose other than to piss off the reader (me). The 3 stories had no relation to each other. The theme of paradise felt really messily and hastily put in towards the conclusion of each story. There really was no conclusion to book 1 and 3, they were left very open ended and they felt as if the author did not know what to do with the story anymore and just hastily said "THE END BYE". Enjoyed the twist in the conclusion of Book 2 of the father, but the conclusion of the son was lacklustre at best. The conversations around the struggles of Kanaka Mauli in Hawai'i felt more like a criticism on them rather than the US and that felt off. However I am not Kanaka Mauli so I cannot speak for them, I would love to see and hear about opinions that they have of this book. There were so many valid conversations that this book raised but they were brought up and then led to nothing. It tried to do so much, while if it only focused on the characters it would be a far more enjoyable read. The characters had barely any development themselves, however I do think it was pretty interesting how all the main characters, while being in their 20's, all felt like I was reading about children. I had a lot of sympathy for the main characters, except for David jr. In Book 2. What kept me reading was the relationships. I thought they were interesting to read about, I would've loved more from that because there so much that could be talked about but it also felt very surface level which was disappointing. I wouldn't recommend reading this book, but I don't necessarily think I wasted my time. 
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