minimaliterature's reviews
69 reviews

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

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dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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You've Reached Sam by Dustin Thao

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

The last chapter really redeemed this book for me. I'd have given it 2 stars otherwise.

I disliked Julie quite a lot, I couldn't fully grasp her character. And Sam wasn't so great either in my opinion. Oliver and Tristan were actually my favourite characters! Mika was okay, but too much crafted as this wise sage almost. Add in that I found the book quite repetitive at times and that there were some editing mistakes (not a lot, you can see through them quite easily)

and I really wanted to know more about Oliver and Jay's story, I was disappointed how it was hinted at but never actually confirmed.

However, there were also things I did like of course! I definitely like how different ways to grief are portrayed and the concept of this type of second chance.

On one hand I understand where the hype comes from, but on the other hand I think it is overhyped and overrated.

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