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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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$8.99/month after 3 months. Cancel anytime. Offer ends on 29 July 2026 at 11:59 AEST.

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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cruel Brooklyn-born painter seeking entry to the art world; Malcolm, a frustrated architect at a prominent firm; and withdrawn, brilliant, enigmatic Jude, who serves as their centre of gravity.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 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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I’ve just finished A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara (audio book read by Matt Bomer).
Man that was tough. What a beautifully written, tragically sad story. It will take me a while to process.
Highly recommended.

The perfect meeting point of pain, love, trust and tragedy.

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A beautifully written novel narrated with empathy and understanding. Difficult subject matter again treated with such an empathy and understanding that even though it made my cry often, I couldn’t stop listening.

Beautiful

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