A review by bengami
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

challenging 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 really don't understand people who dislike this book, but then again, I'm someone who had very similar life experiences to Jude St Francis. This book did not feel horribly dark to me, it felt honest, some people go through life holding the kind of secrets others can't even stand to read about. The love and grief in this book is palpable. You grieve for Jude's past and are sometimes overwhelmed and in awe by the love his friends have for him. There is love wrapped in every domestic moment, and honesty in all the roughest and darkest parts of this book. If you read this book, and find yourself irritated or disgusted by its darker themes. Just know that some people, like me, read this book, and saw their real life experiences reflected in it. This book and the people in it felt so alive, I'm so sad it's over. with all that said, please read the content warnings before reading this book.

Edit: I recently listened to some interviews of the author, and something she said really made this book click into place for me & made me love it more. She called it a fantasy, in that Jude’s childhood is cartoonishly horrific, his circumstances unimaginable, and yet he gets into an Ivy League college, becomes filthy rich & lives in unimaginable comfort with people who love him. Like an old storybook when the child in grim circumstances gets everything they’ve ever dreamed of. Yet, he can never accept it, because he never gets better & never truly escapes his childhood. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Abandonment

Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia

this book is EXTREMELY DETAILED in its descriptions of child sexual abuse.

it describes grooming in detail, from the eye and viewpoint of a child. I would say the most graphic descriptions are the ones of self-harm and of child sexual abuse, it is constant. there is also an extremely disturbing rape scene between two adults. The main character is asexual seemingly from his traumatic experiences, he doesn't really experience ace phobia from others but internally degrades himself for being asexual & forces himself to have sex at multiple points in the book when he does not want to.