A review by emanon_reads
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Where do I even start?

I’m not giving it 5 stars because somehow it doesn’t feel perfect for me. Don’t get me wrong, the book was a rollercoaster if one was as dizzying the way this book did.

I’m quite surprise that I was able to finish a 700p long book and not put it down even though it took me a month of daily reading.

I’m also surprised how long it took to get into the story and I won’t lie to you, I don’t think we actually did until about halfway though. I mean… this didn’t feel like a story, more like a biography if I have to be candid. It’s written as such, I think.

I’m not big on character building but it was surprisingly good and entertaining. I do think it’s a shame that we were so deeply involved within the characters of Malcolm and JB only to have them dropped after the first part of the book. What I mean by that is - We left Malcolm in a very vulnerable state of self confusion and loss within his life purpose and then the next time we heard of him he was suddenly in a relationship and successful. What happened in between these two moments? How did he get firm point A to point B. We also left JB in a significantly different state of vulnerability, he was going through a double identity crisis and about his origins and then that was dropped until we suddenly got hints about his drug abuse and the that was explained only to reveal how his mental state led him to irrational behaviour. Don’t even get me started on the fact that this man is very obviously mentally unwell and was somehow unspoken of simply because the story shifted to a different perspective. I think I would’ve absolutely loved a JB perspective towards the end of the book.

I absolutely loved Harold’s chapters! I love that they were done in a letter format and I love how vulnerable they felt. I think he’s my favourite character simply because of how beautifully this man has been portrayed through his chapters.

I think the young Jude chapters were really well written as well. You were taken back to the past rather than just being told a retelling to if what happened. I also think what was done really well is the way in which we learn about Jude’s past without it being repeated multiple times. I think the hints and the name drops and the lingering uncomfortable sensation that I felt before each ‘reveal’ made the suspense so much better because I’d have my own little assumptions and sometimes I was correct and other I was shockingly wrong. I love how whenever Jude felt grateful for one of the kinder men it made me feel graceful as well only to catch myself fooled because it’s so obvious how wrong it all is. I was captivated, I was feeling what Jude was.

I think I have very uninteresting feeling towards Willem. Like… I loved him and I agree with every action/ emotion/ observation that he’s gone through but somehow, writing this right after finishing the book, after his death I feel so much less towards him. And I fully blame that on how the focus at the end was on Jude’s grief over him. Why did we not get more of the grief felt over Malcolm? Why was he overshadowed like that? And it’s not Willens fault for that but it deff affected my way of observing him despite the fact that he was my favourite character for the majority of the time. I do sympathise with his struggle of being in a relationship with someone so complex and so fragile, I think it’s more work and dedication and one can imagine. 

I’m also a little mad at how Willem, Malcolm & Sophie died. It was so… uneventful? Like, don’t get me wrong, I definitely don’t need an American Psycho scenario, it’s just that… it could’ve been a disease or something of that sort. Anyways, I just feel like it could’ve been something that made me cry rather than a quick car crash.

Wow, I obviously have a lot to say about this book. I feel like I can go on but I’ll stop here and just say that overall it’s an incredible book. I’m just a little emotionally drained after it.

A Little Life took a bit of life out of me.