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A review by reverielms
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS
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GOD WHAT THE FUCK YANAGIHARA
the book started off really strong in terms of character focus, all very tangible and somewhat relatable (either in their self hatred or selfishness) and fleshed out. in terms of the rest of the plot, it seemed as if the author kind of threw the big failed suicide plot and car crash into the mix of things just to mess with the reader (was it really necessary??)
bloody hell jude’s self loathing and cutting was too vivid. towards the end of the novel it just dragged on without necessity and maybe a quarter into the book jude becomes the protagonist.
i wish there was more exploration of malcolm (and JB)‘s storylines; particularly malcolm just kind of fizzled out after his intro in the first chapter and became less important than richard and andy
overall really solid and gripping character-driven novel, too needy towards the end and honestly an overload of trauma dumping, sometimes (most of the time) unnecessarily if not to emotionally manipulate the reader
i thought after the suicide attempt halfway through the book there was no more to say, and having willem and jude end up together was really interesting, seeing their dynamic change and how despite their relationship being the best thing to happen to jude in terms of trauma rebuilding, it was not how i expected things to turn out (which was interesting to read about)
*
*
*
GOD WHAT THE FUCK YANAGIHARA
the book started off really strong in terms of character focus, all very tangible and somewhat relatable (either in their self hatred or selfishness) and fleshed out. in terms of the rest of the plot, it seemed as if the author kind of threw the big failed suicide plot and car crash into the mix of things just to mess with the reader (was it really necessary??)
bloody hell jude’s self loathing and cutting was too vivid. towards the end of the novel it just dragged on without necessity and maybe a quarter into the book jude becomes the protagonist.
i wish there was more exploration of malcolm (and JB)‘s storylines; particularly malcolm just kind of fizzled out after his intro in the first chapter and became less important than richard and andy
overall really solid and gripping character-driven novel, too needy towards the end and honestly an overload of trauma dumping, sometimes (most of the time) unnecessarily if not to emotionally manipulate the reader
i thought after the suicide attempt halfway through the book there was no more to say, and having willem and jude end up together was really interesting, seeing their dynamic change and how despite their relationship being the best thing to happen to jude in terms of trauma rebuilding, it was not how i expected things to turn out (which was interesting to read about)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Ableism, Body horror, Medical trauma, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Trafficking, Violence, Bullying, Pedophilia, Grief, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Self harm, Suicide, Body shaming, and Child abuse
Moderate: Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Vomit, Abandonment, and Death of parent
Minor: Dementia