edieisconfused's review against another edition
5.0
“and so i try to be kind to everything i see, and in everything i see him”
amymco2's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
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
5.0
jpreads_'s review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-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
4.25
holiday1199's review against another edition
this is written beautifully but the plot is one of the worst i’ve ever encountered. emotional reactions mean nothing when all you’ve done to elicit them is take a character, show the reader they are objectively good, and then give them nothing but pain with little to no rhyme or reason to it. when said character then goes on to solely blame themselves without the presence of mind to even consider that maybe it’s not their fault, maybe they deserve nice things even if they don’t feel this to be true, it’s frustrating and leads to a lack of character development and creates nothing but a sad puppy that the authors refuses to stop kicking. it got to the point that i didn’t care what emotional roller coaster the author desired to put the character in question on next, i just didn’t care. i almost wanted to see him get hurt if it brought him one step closer to death because this character is not human any more; he is just an outlet for the author to elicit undeserved emotional reactions by putting him yet another unreasonably cruel circumstance
emilysareader's review against another edition
This book put me in a reading slump. I tried so hard to finish it but I just got bored particularly towards the end I felt like it was dragging on in parts & I stopped caring about the characters which is a shame because initially I was enjoying how they were all developing. Everyone online said this book emotionally wrecked them but it didn’t have that affect on me so maybe that’s why I got bored because I kept expecting that big thing to happen that would really get to me, who knows that might happen in the last 100 or so pages. Maybe one day I’ll find out but for the moment I’m content with leaving it unfinished.
charcoalpencils's review against another edition
I don’t really know how to rate this so I think I’m just not going to.
I grew very attached to these characters and felt for them and I really loved the way this was written. I loved how many years the story takes place over.
The amount of trauma and misery seems excessive and at the same time I think about how trauma can keep finding the same person unfortunately repeatedly and the reality of it as someone myself who has trauma.
Not that my life was ever ever as bad as Jude’s.
I think some of his experiences could have been cut down. He would have been justified in acting and reacting the way he did to life and sex and relationships with people and himself without the list of terrible things that happened to him being so excessive. The part of the story with the truckers and Dr. Traylor especially are overkill. Brother Luke was more than enough to fuck Jude up that bad.
I think this book presents itself as being about this core friend group but I feel I learn little of the characters who aren’t Jude. Especially Malcolm was underdeveloped. Every criticism of this book is valid. I understand completely.
At the same time, I agree with most of its praises. I have complicated feelings about it and mourn for the characters. I don’t think I will read anything else by this author, I’m not interested in seeing her torture other marginalized groups or children. But I will think about the characters in A Little Life for a long time.
I grew very attached to these characters and felt for them and I really loved the way this was written. I loved how many years the story takes place over.
The amount of trauma and misery seems excessive and at the same time I think about how trauma can keep finding the same person unfortunately repeatedly and the reality of it as someone myself who has trauma.
Not that my life was ever ever as bad as Jude’s.
I think some of his experiences could have been cut down. He would have been justified in acting and reacting the way he did to life and sex and relationships with people and himself without the list of terrible things that happened to him being so excessive. The part of the story with the truckers and Dr. Traylor especially are overkill. Brother Luke was more than enough to fuck Jude up that bad.
I think this book presents itself as being about this core friend group but I feel I learn little of the characters who aren’t Jude. Especially Malcolm was underdeveloped. Every criticism of this book is valid. I understand completely.
At the same time, I agree with most of its praises. I have complicated feelings about it and mourn for the characters. I don’t think I will read anything else by this author, I’m not interested in seeing her torture other marginalized groups or children. But I will think about the characters in A Little Life for a long time.
awseasons'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? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The ending really made me sit and ponder. I teared up slightly towards the end, but I think it ended like I thought it would. One of my biggest gripes in the book was the lack of female characters. They seemed to be only for the disposal of the male characters. Willem used women in order to cope with his own life. The only real female that was explained in a brief page was Ana. Julia is just a side character. I wanted to like this book, but it seemed a bit...surface level. I'm not really sure how to explain it. All of the four male characters seemed very immature to me. The way they dealt with their problems. It never felt like they grew up in the book.
k_dubzy's review against another edition
5.0
This book was unputdownable. When I absolutely had to pause reading, it never left my thoughts.
Hanya Yanagihara masterfully blends timelines and POVs in a way that delivers a complex and detailed story that somehow doesn't result in confusion. A Little Life made me feel pain, joy, sadness, worry, relief; and, at times, it made me feel physically ill.
As I was reading, I was continually worried and anxious about what may happen to one of the main characters next. It dawned on me about halfway through the book that this is the feeling the character must have been experiencing every day of his life. That made me feel connected to them more than any other character I've read.
This story was so heavy. The weight of it literally caused me to slow down. Typically, I'm a speed reader. I absorb sentences rather than "speaking" the words in my head. A Little Life forced me to read each word individually.
The book reviews and warnings made me think this book was going to be the saddest thing I've ever experienced. Some even called it trauma porn. This book contained very dark subject matter, but my reading experience was not as difficult as I thought it would be. In fact, it never brought me to tears. It left me feeling similarly to the movies Kids and Requiem for a Dream, both of which I watched as a teen and have left a lasting impression.
Is this book for everyone? Absolutely not. Would I recommend it? There are only a few people I can think of who I might recommend it to, and it would be accompanied by plenty of content warnings. I would advise most people I know to avoid this book. But therein lies the issue I had.. I felt like booktok was daring me NOT to read it, therefore it called to me until I did.
Don't take A Little Life lightly. Research the content warnings to see if it's something you can handle. If you do decide to give it a go, prepare for an experience that's both ugly and beautiful. To me, it was an extremely worthwhile read.
Hanya Yanagihara masterfully blends timelines and POVs in a way that delivers a complex and detailed story that somehow doesn't result in confusion. A Little Life made me feel pain, joy, sadness, worry, relief; and, at times, it made me feel physically ill.
As I was reading, I was continually worried and anxious about what may happen to one of the main characters next. It dawned on me about halfway through the book that this is the feeling the character must have been experiencing every day of his life. That made me feel connected to them more than any other character I've read.
This story was so heavy. The weight of it literally caused me to slow down. Typically, I'm a speed reader. I absorb sentences rather than "speaking" the words in my head. A Little Life forced me to read each word individually.
The book reviews and warnings made me think this book was going to be the saddest thing I've ever experienced. Some even called it trauma porn. This book contained very dark subject matter, but my reading experience was not as difficult as I thought it would be. In fact, it never brought me to tears. It left me feeling similarly to the movies Kids and Requiem for a Dream, both of which I watched as a teen and have left a lasting impression.
Is this book for everyone? Absolutely not. Would I recommend it? There are only a few people I can think of who I might recommend it to, and it would be accompanied by plenty of content warnings. I would advise most people I know to avoid this book. But therein lies the issue I had.. I felt like booktok was daring me NOT to read it, therefore it called to me until I did.
Don't take A Little Life lightly. Research the content warnings to see if it's something you can handle. If you do decide to give it a go, prepare for an experience that's both ugly and beautiful. To me, it was an extremely worthwhile read.
eleanor_w's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Car accident, Forced institutionalization, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Eating disorder, Grief, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Child death, Drug use, Suicide, Body shaming, Drug abuse, Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, Violence, Rape, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Death, Domestic abuse, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, and Injury/Injury detail