A review by pvrting
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

1.0

according to the internet “the novel focuses on the lives of four friends” well, i hate to disagree, but we barely see half of the group for the majority of the book, leaving their stories aside for the sake of highlighting jude’s hardship. and even when we do follow these characters into their adult life, i couldn’t imagine them past their 20s since their actions and thinking hadn’t fundamentally change or evolve in any way.
after a while, i simply couldn’t bring myself to care.

i like sad books. i enjoy books with a long list of trigger warnings. i will gladly read them, but i do it expecting to get something in return, and that didn’t happen with a little life: i just don’t see the point of this book. i don’t think misery for the sake of being miserable is meaningful, or even realistic.

i used to think the people refering to it as “trauma porn” were exaggerating, but after reading it i have to agree with them