Pain. Shame. Loneliness. Is there someone able to accept me, accept THIS?

Jude, Willem, Malcolm and JB go together through years. Among these boys to men, Jude is the mysterious one. Beautiful, silent, obviously bravely (or lonely?) living with pain-some of it (physical) is visible, some is invisible-yet, you know it. All the map of Jude's pain is slowly shown to both the reader and to those who love Jude-and maybe, maybe, Jude will recognize his worthiness.

It is difficult to review such a rich, layered work. Some things are easy to say-like, from the literal point of view and concerning the writing skills, this is a masterpiece. The topic of abuse (including physical, sexual and emotional) is so important and stories like these are needed to know about, to talk about. The suffering of the abuse needs to be stopped, period (even if I realistically know that it is impossible in this world of human beings, some of whom does not deserve that title). Loneliness is real and the shame is the most destroying feeling, the state of agony. And only unconditional love can save us. Yes, all of this is important.
But - this is also a MASSIVE TEARJERKER. Massive both in length and in the heavy topics, tearjerker with the unstoppable suffering. And this is my point - this kind of suffering can be stopped! So why, why everyone respects Jude's silence too much, why there is not a person capable of honest, even if tough love here??? Yes, it is not easy (speaking from the point of person with gift of empathy), yet - this is the real tragedy here. The novel is pointed like an ideal kind of story, ideal love of friends and parents - and yet, these friends and parents are weak in their love. And I say this with understanding and with heavy heart, as sometimes I am this kind of coward, too.

I also agree with the reviewers who call this 'gay' novel - and for me, this is not just about the topic, but also of the emotions and perceptions I personally see in novels like that: there is this certain kind of emotions, this emotional drama, this feminity-infused male behaviour, this adoring of male beauty...(no offense meant, just my perception).

The heroes are Peter Pans, childless, good-looking eternal boys. And while Jude might be at the center, the true hero seems to be Willem, who is the unconditional love himself (and this kind of man is a dream, not the real guy). We all dream about Willems, who will save us from ourselves (and we know somewhere deep, that such Prince Charming does not exist, that we need to do the work ourselves and that the "Willems" should be allowed just the ordinary persons with flaws).
So yes, this us a kind of gay fairytale. And its impossibleness is making this novel a massive tearjerker.
Can we imagine being this a heterosexual couple, Jude being a Judy or Willem being a Wilhelmina? Would not we wish them healing, true, deep healing insted of this beautiful, dreamy dream? Yes. And this is to me what is both the charm of the book and the emotional burden of it. Because all this points to something very unhealthy, emotionally manipulative and heavy.
While deep and very accurate (one is scared for the authoress, even, precisely because of this accurateness about the pain and shame), it is also dull and heavy because of heaps and heaps of harsh suffering.
And where is the promised hope with the ending like this?

So - yes, this is a masterpiece. And yes, it is a massive tearjerker too, accompanied with certain emotional manipulation. Its topic is important, so read it. But be warned about its triggers. And remember - healthy restoration od self-worth and self-love (because the abuse is never the fault of the victim) does not look like that.

Addictive and disturbing book. It got into my head and I could stop thinking about Jude and Willem. I only haven't given it 5 stars as I felt it dragged at the end and there was an event which I found a bit dramatic and predictable. Make sure devote time to this book.

I've had an advanced review copy of A Little Life on my Kindle now for 2 years, but I'm not surprised that it has taken me this long to get around to it. Even before it's publication, reviewers were raving about how fantastic the book, the characters, the plot, the world-building was - but also how depressing. For as long as I can remember, my mood has always been influenced by books - I get in too deep, I feel for the characters like they are real people rather than works of fiction - and I was scared to become emotionally involved in a book that was known to be depressing. Having come out on the other side, I agree with all the reviews I've read: A Little Life makes your heart hurt, but in the most beautiful way. It's a book that can't not be one of my favourites, because as much as it hurt, I don't think I'll ever be able to forget the twists of the story, or how intensely life-like the characters seemed to be. After finishing this, I feel like I have lost a friend - I have journeyed with them through their lives, and now that I've finished, I can't know any more. Despite the emotions I'm feeling, it was such a pleasure to read this book, and I can't wait to see what the author creates next.

Unfortunately, not a book for me. I enjoyed the characters and the plot but I struggled to get into the book itself. I may try this one again in the future.

Heard lots of good things about this book so had to give it a go - it's super long though so not one for the faint hearted...