A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

“People may come and go, but friendships last a lifetime”

This book hit me. Hard. Coming in at 700+ pages and not sci-fi, I wasn’t immediately captured, but once characters were introduced, the plot picked up and I couldn’t put this book down.

The novel follows four boys who meet at college: Malcolm, JB, Willem, and the central and mysterious figure, Jude. It's truly Jude's tale, but Yanagihara ends up telling each and every one of the boys' stories with ease and genuineness that makes them real. 

A Little Life was beautifully-written and contains some of the most raw and honest prose I've ever had the pleasure or misfortune of reading, covering misery, substance abuse, self-harm, sexual and psychological abuse, and loss.

Though at times, reading this proved to be a challenge and I couldn’t get through more than 20 pages a day because of the content and feelings it gave me, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. The writing, the time landscape, the exploration, the devastation — all of it is expertly done in my opinion.