Scan barcode
A review by yeldah_reedz
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
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
4.5
I want to start by saying that I would genuinely never recommend this book to anyone. Since everyone reacts to trauma in different ways I don’t want to be responsible for the way someone reacts while reading this book. A Little Life is a beautifully told story following a group of four best friends and their lives after college. I don’t want to say much more about the story since I believe it would be better to just jump in with little to no expectations. However, if you are planning to dive into this long story (over 800 pages), I will ask that you look up and read all the trigger warnings before opening the cover to the first page.
I can fully say that some parts of this book were the most disturbing and disgusting things I have ever read and made me feel physically ill. There were points in the book where I had to set it down for a bit and take a break before continuing. Even though so much of this book is deeply tragic, it keeps the reader hoping for more and wishing for all the pain and suffering to end for some of the characters. There were happier parts and I did end up laughing while my eyes scanned through some of my favorite parts. The end of the book was bittersweet, tender and felt gratifying despite everything else that happened. The title means more after you read the whole book and the axiom of equality lives in my heart now. Sometimes you expect x from a book, but end up getting x. This book shows how x=x outside of mathematics. Hanya Yanagihara has written an exquisite story that tugs on the readers heartstrings in many more ways than expected. I see this story in the world around me and it feels like I have a fresh brain but in an older and wiser way. I’m not sure what else to say about this book since it left me nearly speechless the moment it ended.
I would just say, read it with caution and don’t read it when you’re in any kind of bad mood since the subjects it contains are quite dark/heavy.
Woop! Woop! Tragic books for the win, am I right?
I can fully say that some parts of this book were the most disturbing and disgusting things I have ever read and made me feel physically ill. There were points in the book where I had to set it down for a bit and take a break before continuing. Even though so much of this book is deeply tragic, it keeps the reader hoping for more and wishing for all the pain and suffering to end for some of the characters. There were happier parts and I did end up laughing while my eyes scanned through some of my favorite parts. The end of the book was bittersweet, tender and felt gratifying despite everything else that happened. The title means more after you read the whole book and the axiom of equality lives in my heart now. Sometimes you expect x from a book, but end up getting x. This book shows how x=x outside of mathematics. Hanya Yanagihara has written an exquisite story that tugs on the readers heartstrings in many more ways than expected. I see this story in the world around me and it feels like I have a fresh brain but in an older and wiser way. I’m not sure what else to say about this book since it left me nearly speechless the moment it ended.
I would just say, read it with caution and don’t read it when you’re in any kind of bad mood since the subjects it contains are quite dark/heavy.
Woop! Woop! Tragic books for the win, am I right?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child death, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment