A review by readerrae
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad 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

5.0

I don't think I'll ever be able to explain my thoughts for this one. Favourite book of all time.. and I'll never recommend it to anybody. The writing was beyond beautiful, I've never read about characters as fleshed out, flawed and loveable as these ones. The things they experience and the way they react is so in-depth, raw and real. The entire book is devastating, heartbreaking, utterly gut-wrenching and I loved every single moment. We have such a comprehensive and extensive look at these characters and everything they face, it was beautiful and ugly all at the same time. The amount of love and compassion packed into these pages is unexplainable, the repeated trauma and how it affects everyone involved is so detailed, how they interact with one another and live their lives after going through these things, to say it broke me would be an understatement. 
Please check the warnings beforehand, the content in this is brutal at the very least, and the horrors these friends go through are described in great detail. Not gory exactly, but very detailed in their explanations.
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