A review by akira_outofthegravity
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

dark 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

2.0

I hate this book. I hate it with every fibre of my being. My hatred is amplified because I Ioved the first 300 or so pages. It’s beautiful, four unlikely, diverse friends trying to make a living while dealing with personal traumas and issues. It was incredible reading this deep, meaningful friendship between the four boys. But eventually it just turns into torture porn. It’s not inspirational, it’s not meaningful, it’s just violence for the sake of violence. For shock factor. It feels almost homophobic. The end is a mess. Rated 2* for the first half because that could have been an incredible story of recovery and hope- but it isn’t. Instead it’s just pain for shock factor.
Don’t read this book.

Jude’s life is full of pain, from abandonment to pedophilia to sexual assault and rape from adults he trusted. Not only that but he’s chronically ill, meaning he’s in pain a lot. Judes story could have been amazing. The argument between himself and a drugged up JB could have been an amazing lesson on forgiving but not wanting to be friends again, I thought the plot point where he’s adopted as an adult by his professor and his wife was also incredible. Adult adoption is rarely spoken about, and I thought that was so touching. 

But no. For some dumb reason Hanya Yanagihara thought “just for laughs we’ll make sure everyone Jude loves dies in very violent and horrific ways”- but what’s the reason? It’s gratuitous violence. Not to mention his relationship with (whoever it was I can’t remember) is really toxic? He can’t have sex- for obvious reasons- so his partner goes out and fucks other people? Ugh. A shitty book.
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