A review by sofipitch
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

So I'll start with the little I liked, the theme that life can deal you a motherfucker but the ppl who care about you can make it better. I think Jude's life would have been much much shorter if he hadn't had the ppl in his life he did. However this book was straight up trauma porn. It says it's about 4 friends but Malcolm's POV disappears immediately bc his life is too trauma free and everyone else you get the POV is just for the bad things that happen to them, I'm not going to list them but none of these characters feel fleshed out or real because of this. The book just feels extremely voyueristic in it's depictions, the good times characters have are mentioned in passing and instead you get gratuitous CSA, abuse, and self harm

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Suicide, Blood, Car accident, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Dementia, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Ableism, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Trafficking, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Medical content, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Terminal illness

Minor: Racial slurs and Schizophrenia/Psychosis