A Little Life Novel by Hanya Yanagihara

When I picked up A Little Life, I knew it was going to be a heavy read. But I had no idea just how emotionally draining this novel would be.

This book is like having your heart ripped out of your chest and stomped on by a pair of Chuck Taylors. It will break your heart into so many pieces that you'll wonder how it's even possible to still be alive—but then again, perhaps you won't care because you'll be too busy mourning the death of Jude St. Francis, Willem Elkin, JB and Malcolm Vidal: four beautiful men whose lives are filled with incredible love but also unthinkable suffering.

• The story of four friends in New York City.

The story of four friends in New York City, A Little Life follows their lives as they grow up, fall in love and make art. The novel spans the course of several decades and documents how their friendship develops through a series of relationships.

The book begins with Jude St. Francis living on his own after being abandoned by his adoptive parents when he was young. He meets JB at a party one night, who becomes his first friend in New York City: the four eventually become roommates at Columbia University while studying architecture together (although they eventually switch to law school). They get involved with Willem van der Hoeven (who goes by Willem) and Malcolm Irvine; as time passes by so does their relationship with each other - both good times and bad ones - but nothing will shake them apart since they've been through everything together before

• Jude St. Francis suffers from a lifetime of abuse.

Jude St. Francis suffers from a lifetime of abuse. As the novel progresses, we learn more about his tragic past: he was abandoned by his mother and abused by his father and stepfather, who also left him an orphan at age 16. He spent time in foster care before being adopted by the wealthy Baxter family when he was 17 years old. His adoptive parents gave him everything they could think of, but still had no idea how to help Jude cope with his pain because they were too busy living their own lives to notice that something wasn't right with their son.

It seems like everyone was able to see that something wasn't right with Jude except for himself and those closest to him; even though his friends knew something was off about the way he treated them or acted around them, no one ever confronted him about it until after college when he began having panic attacks and showing signs of agoraphobia (Fear of open spaces). At this point in time, all four men had become successful lawyers working at prestigious law firms across New York City so none of them took any breaks from work unless absolutely necessary--but even then they would just go home instead of spending time together outside as a group as they always had in college.*

• Willem is the only one who can help Jude.

Willem is the only person in Jude's life who is able to see and understand his suffering, because he has been through similar experiences himself. He was once beaten by his father as well as abused by a teacher at school, so he can relate to many of Jude's problems and worries. Even though Willem hasn't experienced what it would be like to be transgender (which is not surprising since there are no transgender people in the book), he was forced into living a lie for many years because of his abusive past. This caused him great pain throughout much of his childhood and early adulthood; just as it did with Jude, this pain eventually led him down a dark path that nearly cost him his life before he finally decided to share his secrets with those closest to him (Chapter 12).

Willem also knows how important it is for someone suffering from mental illness or depression like Jude does now—someone whose daily routine consists mostly of doing nothing but sitting around all day long—to have someone around them who will listen when they need someone most but also push them when they need that too; Willem knows this because this type pf situation happened back when they were young boys living together during their first year at university (Chapter 5).

• Jude has his own ideas about how to deal with the past.

For one thing, he's not a victim. When we first meet Jude, he is the youngest member of an elite group of Manhattan lawyers; his future seems bright—and then suddenly it isn't. Although he's had some success in court, his life falls apart when his younger brother is diagnosed with cancer and dies suddenly at age twenty-five. Unexpectedly cut off from his family and friends (including JB), who have bought into the idea that Jude can no longer be trusted because of what happened between him and Willem years earlier (a betrayal for which Jude never receives any apology), he soon finds himself alone in New York City with only two things on his mind: getting drunk and getting revenge against those who've wronged him most—namely Willem, JB, Malcolm Moore (his former boss at the law firm) and Richard Flynn (Willem's boss). But these plans are thwarted by an unexpected encounter with a man named Joe Pittman—an encounter that will change everything once again for both men.

This is an excellent book with a moving ending.

1. The book is well written.
2. The characters are believable.
3. The plot is interesting.
4. The ending is moving.

This is an excellent book with a moving ending. The characters are well-developed, and the story has a good pace throughout. I highly recommend this novel because of its engaging plot, interesting characters and vivid descriptions of New York City life during the late 1990s financial crisis as well as afterward