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A review by hanzy
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
4.0
It’s difficult rating this book.
It took me a while to come out of the world that was created and gather my thoughts up. I’m glad I took some time reading this one. I’m also glad that I’ve been reading other books so I wasn’t as consumed by this book as I would’ve been otherwise.
I dived into reading it after months of contemplating, reading/watching reviews, spoilers etc. The trigger warnings were intimidating and I for one am not someone who willingly self-inflicts a painful reading experience if that can be helped.
I loved the writing. It made for a hauntingly beautiful experience where I could step into the shoes of the characters, empathise with them, and understand their deepest, darkest thoughts. It was melancholic and there were times where I had to pause and times where I had to divert my mind into something light and cheery. There were times where I felt recognised, moments where I felt understood and although depressing, it felt therapeutic as well in some ways.
Sure there were inconsistencies, irregularities, parts that can be nit-picked upon, parts that went strongly against my beliefs as well, yet… I loved how contrary to what I’d read in reviews, it showed that there can be silver linings to everything, it’s the way you choose to view the world. Where at one end you see humans to be the most cruel, despicable creatures, on the other you see the very opposite, the most beautiful, noble creatures. There were parts where I felt overwhelmed with happiness just as much as there were parts that filled me with intense grief. Towards the end I got a shocker despite reading many reviews and I ended up going through the last few chapters really fast and I’m still reeling with its effect on me.
I definitely won’t be recommending this book to anyone I personally know. I’d say, read it if it really calls your name as it did for me, and read it only once you’ve checked all the trigger warnings that come with it as well. It’s not a book to be recommended.
It took me a while to come out of the world that was created and gather my thoughts up. I’m glad I took some time reading this one. I’m also glad that I’ve been reading other books so I wasn’t as consumed by this book as I would’ve been otherwise.
I dived into reading it after months of contemplating, reading/watching reviews, spoilers etc. The trigger warnings were intimidating and I for one am not someone who willingly self-inflicts a painful reading experience if that can be helped.
I loved the writing. It made for a hauntingly beautiful experience where I could step into the shoes of the characters, empathise with them, and understand their deepest, darkest thoughts. It was melancholic and there were times where I had to pause and times where I had to divert my mind into something light and cheery. There were times where I felt recognised, moments where I felt understood and although depressing, it felt therapeutic as well in some ways.
Sure there were inconsistencies, irregularities, parts that can be nit-picked upon, parts that went strongly against my beliefs as well, yet… I loved how contrary to what I’d read in reviews, it showed that there can be silver linings to everything, it’s the way you choose to view the world. Where at one end you see humans to be the most cruel, despicable creatures, on the other you see the very opposite, the most beautiful, noble creatures. There were parts where I felt overwhelmed with happiness just as much as there were parts that filled me with intense grief. Towards the end I got a shocker despite reading many reviews and I ended up going through the last few chapters really fast and I’m still reeling with its effect on me.
I definitely won’t be recommending this book to anyone I personally know. I’d say, read it if it really calls your name as it did for me, and read it only once you’ve checked all the trigger warnings that come with it as well. It’s not a book to be recommended.