Reviews with content warning for Child death - A Little Life

Yanagihara is a sadist; both to every character in the book and to the reader, for making them endure the miseries of this beautifully disturbing book.

I have never read a book so hopeful yet so hopeless; watching a car crash without a predetermined outcome in slow motion.

So hopeful that things will turn around for Jude, that he will finally be at peace and find joy in his life. But feeling so hopeless, that he has had to experience all of these horrific things, that he thinks he is deserving of them. And ultimately feeling both once he decides to die, hopeful that everyone around him can find peace but also hopeless that it got to that point.

Despite the beautiful prose and story telling of the book, written in such a way which entices the reader, giving breadcrumbs of Jude’s story until it is finally all revealed, there are several issues I have with it.

SPOILERS BELOW!!

Ultimately I believe that the believability of the story is lacking. Firstly all the hardships and abuse Jude has to suffer, and then how he is unable to overcome this but still thrive within his professional life and be a “functioning” human. Secondly the successes of him and all of his friends, despite their somewhat humble beginnings within very competitive fields.

Furthermore, the way in which all of his friends are able to surround him and support him during all of this, when in reality they would have abandoned him. How quickly the Jude x Willem relationship arose and how their sex life was explored, with Willem unrealistically cheating on him with women.

I also did not appreciate how the tone of the book shifted from the initial dynamic of their friendship group to how much misery can we make Jude withstand. Personally I feel the abuse and “clients” endured became repetitive and just honed in a point which was already established, purely to shock the reader without adding more depth to Jude’s character. At points it felt like what other ailment and trauma can we give Jude now?

The love story with Willem and Jude is beautiful and haunting. The feeling of desperation to keep a partner and their memories was especially moving. When Jude describes missing Willems scent and doing anything to keep that smell I was reminded of similar moments in my life.

The ending of the book is absolutely devastating, with the final 5 pages being what made be bawl. However, the fact that for the previous 500 pages we had to endure Jude’s suffering from his perspective, I felt the audience where cheated of discovering Jude’s final thoughts and instead reliving the moment through Harold’s eyes.

Harold and Jude’s relationship is also beautiful yet very unrealistic. The final chapter gives a clear sense of the dynamic changes, and how much Harold loved Jude, how he cared for him even when Jude reverted to childlike tendencies, and how he finally was able to live as a normal child, now as a 50 year old man. Harold’s final thoughts about Jude are heart breaking and perfectly describe how the reader views Jude’s nihilism and self hatred, and how everyone wanted him to live, but ultimately knew his fate was inevitable.

My biggest issue overall with the book is the glamorisation of suicide. Jude is written as a character who has it all, a healthy family dynamic, caring loving partner, friends surrounding him and a good job. However he is never able to run from his past and his trauma, and thus it is implied that his only resolution is suicide, as the damage is too great to be repaired. But we saw his relationship with Willem, with Harold, with Andy, his ability to connect with those around him. Maybe I am too optimistic but I do not believe he was beyond being helped and able to live a happy little life, despite all his hardships.

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rmjennsch's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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mstevens3697's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny sad medium-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

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alyxandrathegr8's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense 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

4.5

Horrifically tragic. Trama porn. Don’t read if you are not in a good place.

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laura007's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The very last thing written in my copy is the about the author bit, which just says "Hanya Yanagihara lives in New York" and I'd like to add "writes absolutely devastating books that will have an effect on your mental health"

Getting trough this book only took 25 cries (yes I counted) and like a million pauses to stare into space trying to process what's happening (I couldn't have counted those if I tried, simply because it was not clear when one ended and another started)

But don't be fooled, I loved this book. Every word of it. I loved the way each line was phrased. I loved how you were told absolutely everything about the characters, making it feel like you knew them. I love the way it broke me, shook me and devastated me (if you spotted a Florence and The Machine reference, you would be right, that was intentional). I have found the book to be devastating in the most beautiful way.

One of my favorite things about the book is the slow pace, I absolutely loved how it allowed the plot to be developed fully and perfectly. If you're in the first two parts and you're thinking that nothing is happening - something is, you're just getting to know the characters, you're learning about them, that's going to be so important later on.

If you're thinking about reading this, I'd say you should. But please proceed with caution. It's a really intense reading experience and you are (at the very least) going to have to take a lot of breaks, while reading. It's pretty much impossible to not take it all in.

Also, if you are considering reading it - please please please PLEASE, check the trigger warnings, there's a lot and most of it is graphic. Only read it when you're in a good place mentally.

(side note : this book reminded me of Appointments by Julien Baker, specifically "Maybe it's all gonna turn out alright /I know that it's not, but I have to believe that it is")

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missmis99's review against another edition

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dark slow-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

4.0

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billie_the_raccoon's review

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emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

A roller-coaster of emotions. Willem was an angel. Jude deserved such a nicer life. Harold and Julia are just so nice. I wish I could see JB's paintings and Malcolm's structures. This book was hard to read but so well written <3

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