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A Little Life

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A Little Life

By: Hanya Yanagihara
Narrated by: Matt Bomer
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Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara is an immensely powerful and heartbreaking novel of brotherly love and the limits of human endurance.

When four graduates from a small Massachusetts college move to New York to make their way, they're broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition. There is kind, handsome Willem, an aspiring actor; JB, a quick-witted, sometimes cruel Brooklyn-born painter seeking entry to the art world; Malcolm, a frustrated architect at a prominent firm; and withdrawn, brilliant, enigmatic Jude, who serves as their centre of gravity. Over the decades, their relationships deepen and darken, tinged by addiction, success, and pride. Yet their greatest challenge, each comes to realize, is Jude himself, by midlife a terrifyingly talented litigator yet an increasingly broken man, his mind and body scarred by an unspeakable childhood, and haunted by what he fears is a degree of trauma that he'll not only be unable to overcome - but that will define his life forever.

 Friendship Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Mental Health Awareness Urban Emotionally Gripping Heartfelt Tear-jerking Thought-Provoking Inspiring
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I read the book and audio at the same time, and it made the characters feel so real.

This book has to be the most heartbreaking piece of fiction I have ever read, it's full of despair, loss, grief, depression, friendship and sadness with some sprinkles of happy times. It is so beautifully written that it's almost like you've watched their whole lives like a movie and you have also lost them. I loved this book, but I feel it's also a book I wouldn't recommend to anyone it's that sad.

1 thing I would have liked to read is if we got more of Jude’s life when he was in college with his friends, more so of how they met and got along.

And as much as I loved this book I do not have it in me to ever read it again. 😭

{edit - 2026
I am re reading it}

A Little Life. 6/5 ⭐ Stars

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There was little to dislike as this story delved deep into each character and gave so much back story, a truely sad story which, in the end, is sad, but complete

Heartbreaking, but amazing

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This story was so difficult to hear, to think that a child could be so damaged and the long term effects are irreparable. I found it hard to connect with initially, but it was worth the effort. This story was truly unfair for so many.

Heart wrenching

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The prose, the reader, the story, the character development, the relationships, the love, the tragedy. Everything was so devastatingly sad, yet massively overwhelmingly beautiful and human and hopeful. The only way it could end, in the end. The most engaging, mystifying and impactful book I have ever read. A masterpiece.

Life changing

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Despite being overly...unkind and unfair and often times engaging in deep misery to the point of comedy, I find this an intriguing read. Even though the author does not believe in psychotherapy and that sometimes broken people should be allowed to die, I see this as a version or reality that can befall on some people. Not alot of people...but perhaps a few unfortunate folks that just have to experience the universe at its worst.


There were times were I was questioning the true magnetite of the level of suffering...but I do think this is a good read.

But I am a still believer that the people you love and the world you make, will still put up a fantastic fight of saving you. And your little life, will work out.

Until the universe wills you to die, you should live and kick and scream.

A truly exhausting and depressive read.

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