A review by unitedwellfail
A Little Life, by Hanya Yanagihara
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Wow, just wow. I am so touched by this esquisite style of writting that was poetic as well as realistic. I understand that some people felt this was "torture porn" but I did not perceive it this way at all. Sure, some passages are very hard to read and the amount of awfull things that happen to the caracters can seem like a lot at times. But those events do not seem to be told for "shock value" and the messages and the way they are told surpass that pain.
These caracters will stay with me for a long time.
PS: I am not sure what the exact message was behind the fact that there are no prominent female caracters in this book (Julia is the only "developed" caracter but still feels secondary and not very well know in depth), but I do think that it is important to underline that fact.
These caracters will stay with me for a long time.
PS: I am not sure what the exact message was behind the fact that there are no prominent female caracters in this book (Julia is the only "developed" caracter but still feels secondary and not very well know in depth), but I do think that it is important to underline that fact.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Ableism, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Grief, Hate crime, Incest, Injury/injury detail, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit