A review by zaiphon
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

dark emotional 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

To start, I understand this book is not for everyone. However, I believe beneath the darkness and emotional sadness of this book is the reality of life. For some, not everyone gets a happy ending. Not everyone can walk away from the challenges they face (past or present). But something this book had me questioning - does that mean this person never lived? loved? What defines someone truly happy, truly experiencing happiness and love? 

Each word, event, and small detail that this book begins building for each character immediately as you start in has a meaning. I found myself becoming attached to all the characters. They truly felt realistic to me and it was like they were old friends.

Once this is built up, slowly, these characters are stripped back (little by little) until they are almost shadows of themselves. Harboring secrets and dark parts of themselves.

I found myself analyzing a scene and realizing how not everyone views these topics in that way or would naturally come to the conclusion that a character did within that scene.

I realize that not everyone would view how Jude handles his life and his struggles as understandable and it is then subjective in agreeing with whether he deserves empathy.

One of the things I loved about what this book is that it forces you to address dark topics and find something to make sense of dark subjects that are otherwise at times considered taboo or unrelatable to most. Any book that can incite thought within a person is worth a read. However, I would not recommend this book to anyone who is healing from trauma or is still coping with loss/grief. Another thing this book tends to do (a little too well) is make you feel things in a way as if you too have lived that life. Example

I am not a parent, but I found my heart was heavy for Harold in a way that I felt I understood. When Harold described his reaction and thoughts for Jude, I felt a deeper understanding of parents. I thought of my Dad and wondered "Does he feel this way too?".

Strangely, although I am someone who struggles with their own past and mental health, I found myself seeing things from other sides and perspective in this story and it actually had me questioning and thinking about my own life in a positive way. 

One thing I wish was included in the end was being able to see a little bit more of Jude's final thoughts. More of JB and how he handled the loss. I feel a narrative from him would have really crumpled me into pieces and I almost expected that to happen at this point in the story. The book spent so much time giving you descriptive detail of all things positive or negative, and then it didn't give us much more details on those characters' ends.

Overall, I don't regret reading this book and think it is definitely worth a read after you have checked out the trigger warnings.