A review by heatherinjapan
The Eighth Life (for Brilka) by Nino Haratischwili

challenging dark emotional informative reflective relaxing sad tense slow-paced
  • 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

5.0

This book felt like my heart was ripped out multiple times and made me go through so many tumultuous emotions. Definitely not for the faint of heart and definitely has a lot of triggering sections. It explores generational trauma so deeply and so well that I found myself so intrigued in each character's stories. There are also so many things happening throughout this book that somehow all come together in the end. The author also accurately portrays how patriarchy upholds a lot of this generational trauma. We see this through a lot of the male characters, specifically through Kostja (I really came to despise him despite his somewhat "redemption" in the end.)

Though I haven't read A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara (and I never will), based on what others have said, this book is probably as trauma-filled as it is. So take what you will with that. 
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