Ik had een review geschreven voor A Little Life op goodreads (wel in het Engels) waarin staat wat ik ervan vond en wat ik eruit heb gehaald:
Samenvatting
Jesus, what an experience. This book…it made me feel all types of emotions. It sucked me inside the story, into a sad, depressing bubble, but it also had happiness in some parts, because of the love and friendship between the characters. Especially Harold, Willem and Andy, who were always there for Jude. They were such amazing characters, and also how they never gave up on Jude, the despair they had, because Jude was making it so hard for them.
The first half of the book was very well built up - there was a lot of tension around what exactly happened in Jude’s past. It made me want to know what happened so bad, even though I already knew some of it (I read some spoilers). In hindsight I’m glad I kind of prepared myself before reading, so I wouldn’t be ás shocked, but it was still pretty shocking. Every time Hanya hinted a little bit to what kind of trauma Jude experienced, but she wouldn’t tell everything yet, which kept me on my toes and also made me feel a bit uncomfortable, scared of what would happen next. The first half of the book wasn’t that bad and I was able to get through it pretty easily. It was an introduction to the characters, and it really made you care so much for them. But then, after the “Caleb” chapter, I was so disturbed. And also after that, when we learned of all the trauma Jude experienced as a child, I felt so ill and so insanely bad for him. Then the part “The Happy Years”, actually had happy years in my opinion (compared to others saying it were not happy years at all). I mean sure, there were sad things happening, but also one of the most amazing things happened to Jude as well. But then the part “My Dear Comrade” actually broke me, it was so sad. It just felt so unfair. It’s a story that will stay with me forever. The writing is absolutely beautiful, it felt like I was watching a film, or as if I was in the room with the characters, watching them.
The book shows how awful life can be. I understand if people describe it as “trauma porn”, but in my opinion it really just shows you that some people don’t get a happy ending, no matter what they do or how much other people try to help you. That’s exactly what happens to some people in real life. Hanya wrote everything just the way it happened, it was the truth, and it would be unfair to Jude or to people who actually experienced these awful things, to write it in a different way. And especially as someone who grew up with no trauma at all, with a happy childhood, it was just so good to be able to experience just a glimpse of what it would be like to have these traumas and understand the scars trauma can leave, in every relationship you have, for the rest of your life. It made me feel so incredibly fortunate to have grown up in such a safe way. You definitely have to be in a good mental headspace to read this book, but it will bring you a lot of courage, and the value of friendships. It has some great life lessons, which to me one of the most important is: you’re always worthy of love. I will definitely forever remember this story.
en daarna way of kings.
(wel echt goed uitgevoerd dan natuurlijk)
