I finished A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara last night and wow. Just wow. This book was an experience with so many emotions throughout. At times, I found myself laughing out loud and others I couldn’t keep the tears in. The last 200 pages or so took me on a journey that few books have ever done, and the end left me so heartbroken that I could literally feel it inside my chest.

Even just one day after finishing it, I know that this book had changed my life and will stay with me for many years to come. It has forever impacted how I will live each day, knowing that each day in itself is “a little life.” One of my favorite lines in the book is said by Harold, saying, “So I try to be kind to everything I see. And in everything I see, I see him.” I think this is a good lesson for everyone to take. Just be kind.

Jude St. Francis. Thank you for being a teacher in the face of indescribable pain. And to Yanagihara, thank you for providing such a beautiful, important, and gut wrenching depicted of suffering, trauma, hope, love, and friendship. Never again will I get out of another book what I did out of this one.

Now, I will try to recover from this experience...