A review by riella_reads
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

This is such a hard book to rate, because I didn't exactly enjoy my time reading this. I originally picked this up 2 years ago and got about 100 pages in. It was a little overwhelming with the different POV's and I couldn't get them straight. I kept telling myself I would pick it back up but I never really wanted to. I am glad I finally got around to it, though. While this was such a sad and tragic story and it is labeled as "trauma porn" (I don't disagree with this label either), it is also beautiful. The sadness and misery of one person who can't stand to be alive, who feels so unloved he isn't even worthy of life will stay with me a long time. There isn't much to say, but if there is anything to take away from this book is that you are always more loved and cared for than you could possibly know. 

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Content Warnings

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