A review by evieold
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

dark emotional hopeful sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Not a book I could recommend when people asked as it is full of every trauma you could ever imagine.  My heart breaks for all the characters throughout and I had to put it down towards the end (those who have read it will know the point I am talking about) to steel myself emotionally to finish.  However, it is the most comprehensive and deep character development I have ever read in a book and truly describes what it is to love and have lost,  and what I can only imagine it is like to live with such deep trauma.  

Not a fan of trauma for traumas sake as so many brand this genre and books like ‘My Year Of Rest And Relaxation’, but this does not compare as it has a deeper level of truth, of a real life.  

A true masterpiece of what to live a life is like, and the emotions, contradictions, and trauma which can come with it.  A book, although painful, I will read many times more, and that is saying something from someone who does not reread books often if at all. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail