A review by waynethelibrarian
A Little Life, by Hanya Yanagihara

Did not finish book. Stopped at 54%.

This novel falls into a pattern of repetitive trauma and triggers that slightly escalate at each occurrence to the point they become unbelievable. I was buddy reading this book with my boyfriend. After he completed the book before me and we discussed up to the point I had reached, I realized by his description most of my qualms with the story up to this point only proceed to become more pronounced as the novel continues. I would HIGHLY caution  anyone from picking up this book unless you are equipped to deal with the sheer quantity of trauma this novel dumps on you. I’d advise looking through the content warnings and taking them seriously. If I had to give an overall rating, I’d say it warrants a 2/5. My qualms with the plot and characters doesn’t fully overshadow Hanya Yanagihara’s beautiful writing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Biphobia, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Hate crime, Homophobia, Infertility, Injury/injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Violence, and Vomit