REVIEW: A Little Life (Hanya Yanagihara)

Book: A Little Life

Author: Hanya Yanagihara

Premise: Four classmates from a small Massachusetts college move to New York to make their way, buoyed only by their friendship and ambition. There is aspiring actor Willem, painter JB, frustrated architect Malcolm, and withdrawn, brilliant, enigmatic Jude, who serves as their center of gravity. Over the decades, their relationships deepen and darken, tinged by addiction, success, and pride.

[⚠️TW: rape, child abuse, sexual abuse, suicide, self harm, drug abuse, paedophilia, ablism, violence, domestic violence, eating disorder, mental illness, ptsd]

This is one of the most depressing books I've read. However it was also beautiful and compelling. We follow the 4 friends, primarily Jude and Willem, across their adult lives. You can't help but get attached to all the characters and want the best for each of them. Personally I wished we could see some more of JB and Malcolm (especially Malcolm!).

Jude is a particularly traumatised character and the story of his childhood is woven throughout. I wanted to give him a hug so many times, but I also wanted to shake him when he wouldn't help himself and kept apologising for his existence.

It is a difficult read at points. The descriptions of self harm and suicide attempts are graphic and I found myself feeling uncomfortable and a bit sick reading those scenes. Also some of the relationships are very toxic with everyone being guilty at some point. I've listed the trigger warnings above but definitely Google them before reading in case I've missed any!