A review by ickieneoarlo
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

dark emotional 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

4.0

OKAY i had to pull out the laptop because i have Opinions and this is going to be a long one and a mess. to start off with, going into this i struggled with picking it up because of all of the reviews that are out there and the length (i did an audiobook and still that is 33 hours long) and the grand claims of it being nothing more than trauma porn which lead me to have a slow start, scared of things getting especially bad or gratuitous but at the end of it all i don't think i can agree with the statement that this is trauma porn? i think the repeated abuse of one character was extremely upsetting, and we maybe didn't need to hear (read) about it in detail every single time, but that is also what made it so raw and real -- even though many argue that is unrealistic, there are people out there who just have been given a horrendous hand and it's unfortunate to see. i also think the fact that despite the character's success they still struggled was important, though upsetting, to show that just because you have the money and things you've always wanted in life, that doesn't mean the trauma goes away. so, yes, i do think there are scenes that could have been cut or more of a "fade to black" moment, but they are a key to the continuous suffering this character endures and i think it is such a generalization and overstatement to reduce it to trauma porn. i still believe in checking the trigger warnings because this book does touch on extremely difficult subjects, but i almost went into it expecting more? so it was an interesting cognitive dissonance to go through while reading. besides this, one of my main issues with this book was that it spans over literal decades, but i never really feel the characters getting older other than an offhanded remark of the furthering of their careers or a mention of their age. they felt very stagnant in time and age and i think that is something that makes the continued abuse hard to grasp because it almost feels like it is happening within a couple of years rather than pver 50-60 years. it was difficult, because despite this, i LOVED the writing. it was one of the most touching and beautifully written books i've read, flaws included, and it makes you fall in love with the characters and want to know their stories and how they got where they are, and is a book that i want to now get in a physical copy just to mark it up and take note of the best bits. because of this, it's sometimes hard to tell if the 33 hours (700+ pages) worth of gorgeous writing really told a good story or were just captivating enough to make me want to keep reading and enjoy the story. even as i'm writing this, i struggle with saying that i liked it, but i also struggle with saying that i didn't. it's a story that is going to stick with me for a long time, and i think if the reader can take on the emotional toll is one that many should read, but it is also not something i could in good faith reccommend to anyone either. there's hardly any truly positive moments, and it remains a tragedy throughout with a constant stream of emotional hit after hit while still delivering an almost satisying ending? i can understand the criticism of this, and the issue with repetition in a tragedy - relape - apology circle, but it is delivered in a way that makes it worthwhile (at least to me). ultimately, i am in a limbo with it and i think that is clear in this essay of a review but i lean more towards enjoying it simply because of the impact it left on me and wonderful prose. i fell in love with jude and willem and the whole cast of characters in this, and despite it all, wished for their lives to get better, and to me, that emotional power is important in a novel like this one and added to its success. anyway, i don't think anyone read this, but i had to get out my immediate reactions, which i'm sure will shift as i sit with it.