A review by xiumillion
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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

4.5

This book is probably the most masochistic thing I've ever put myself through. It hurts to even think about it, so I'm not going to. Overall, beautiful story and beautiful writing. The cons are that it pretty much is torture p*rn like everyone says it is, at some points unrealistically so, and the timeline of the book is very hard to follow. I enjoy dark stories and I think they should be written, even if for no other purpose than to be dark. I do think this book took it a bit too far though. That aspect aside, it truly is an incredible book, and I already miss the characters dearly.

Please check trigger warnings before you read this book. If you have a trigger, it is probably in here 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Trafficking, Vomit, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Ableism, Car accident, Confinement, Eating disorder, Addiction, Gore, Sexual content, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Torture, Violence, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Hate crime, Infidelity, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, and Suicide