Book Review: A Little Life- Hanya Yanagihara

tattoo this book on my heart.

I dont even know where to start.

CHARACTERISTICALLY HUMAN.

The story is heartbreaking. It will twist your heart in ways you didnt know possible and it will be incredibly devastating.

The characters are so human, the descriptions so real, the writing so good: it feels like you're a ghost in their universe, like you're just there, feeling that, living every moment vicariously through them. You are tied to each and every one of them with so much determination and this just goes to show how incredibly charming and smooth the writing style of this book is. The pacing feels so real, literally everything about this book is so palpable, but the pacing more so because it mentions no years even once in this book. You could pick up this book literally whenever and it'll still be the same. The pacing is described using popular holidays but not events which makes it even more real to experience. The characters (the 4 main ones) are so true to the concept of being human, they're making mistakes: huge ones, terrible ones, cruel ones and then we have some heartwarming moments that just amplify the sadness a thousand fold.

The book is majorly without a plot and essentially character driven. Therefore, naturally, we see the characters inside out with the subtle change in povs that arent even noticeable until you actually realize that it's happened because the writing just draws you in.

The story. The essence of the story is trauma and the individualistic response towards the trauma of a singular being and the responses of all the characters, collectively, towards it as well. The trauma is revealed tenderly, slowly, making the book even sadder and sadder.

Jude, personally, I love him. Willem, literally the best. Malcom- amazing character. JB- love-hate relationship with him but towards the end it's really just an individual reaction to him.

I dont want to delve deep into the actual story, mainly because it is just .... too much. It’s intense, it's violent, it's disgusting but it's also very very real. The book feels very tangible and the reason I enjoyed the book the most, apart from other reasons, is the writing style. Hanya Yanagiara definitely knew what she was doing and she hit the nail on the head with destroying every good thing that happened to the characters within the blink of an eye- and I mean that both metaphorically and literally (trust me, it happens in the book when you least expect it, it's a personal slap for even daring to hope that something good will happen because it's just meant to destroy and incinerate all hope for the future of the characters.) The way we explore the characters' pasts and the things related to it is admirable, the writing style is just purely immaculate. Sometimes it just feels like Hanya Yanagiara has such an exquisite talent and she used it to write this book and I think this is what the book is subtly (?) and so seriously exploring what it is to be human when you have been subjected to unspeakable atrocities the way Jude has been and even speaking about it through direct addressal seems cruel.

However, what I do want to add is how this book has been so widely glamorised, the way i have seen people be like, "oh I've read this book have you well how much did you cry and scream?" It feels like it has become some sort of a competition to the sense that it becomes a state of elitism in a very sick and twisted way. I want to spread no hate with this but I would never recommend this book to literally anyone because of the huge list of trigger warnings it comes with and what it could actually do to a person based on their responses and past experiences. So if you came here looking for anything of that sort, I want to be clear that I would not recommend this book because no one needs to subject themselves to this because of fomo, seeing how popular this book has become. Please please please check out the trigger warning for this book before you start and dnf it as soon as you feel like because this book has the potential of actually wrecking souls.

So, to just summarise this incredibly messy review because I don't think I will ever be able to have comprehensible thoughts about this book. I do not recommend it and if you chose to read it, please check out the trigger warnings. Please don't read this book out of fomo; only read when you are sure that you are in a mental and emotional state to actually even register what is happening in this book.

After having said that, i dont even want to talk anymore about anything else expect that I loved it personally even though it dented my heart and i wish I could go on and on about what I loved about this book but I wont entirely because I feel like I would just be adding to the toxicity that the glamorization of this book can spread (again, meant with absolutely no hate but a hell lot of concern towards the book the writer or anyone).

If you've read this book, I hope you are well and if you've made it to the end of this rant of mine, firstly why and secondly thank you. I hope you have positive takeaways. That's all I can say at this point.