Is 'A little Life' worth a lot of my life?

[VolunteeringSucks]

The book by Yanagihara.

I fancy giving it a go - but it's a big time investment. (I'm a fast reader - but not much time - so been reading mainly light detectives last few months)

Will it be worth it?

Yes yes yes yes x1000

Oh but prepare to be harrowed.

100%

Ish...I couldn't put it down and hated and loved it in equal measure. Harrowing but also the wonderful lives of the main characters is too unbelievable and in places a bit cliched.
I would say Read it but I am uneasy about gushing about it.

It's actually quite a quick read. It very manipulative and I found myself skimming through it to get to the big 'reveal' at the end. The four main characters are totally unbelievable.

I found this to an uncomfortable collision of The Goldfinch and A Child Called It. Epic and intense, with moments of beauty, but too much unrelenting misery to really inspire any hope. I also thought it was written with a curious feeling of everything being held at arm's length, like the narrative overwhelmed really inhabiting any one character. Perhaps this was intentional, and illustrates the disconnect between memory and living, but it left me a bit unsatisfied. That said, it is beautifully and rhymically written, with a solid authorial voice, and if I felt distanced, that's probably a good thing, because the theme is so devastatingly painful in its detail; there were pages I had to steel myself for and skim.
I'm not sure I'd recommend this book, because it's a tough, long ride, but it's clearly truthful and unflinching in its examination of the effects of childhood abuse on its survivors and those who suffer (including the people who love them in its aftermath). Admirers of Donna Tartt who have a strong stomach may enjoy it.

This book has gone into my top 5 books, absolutely loved it. Some parts are so sad, but the writing is beautiful. When I finished reading it I put it down and thought WOW. You just need a good few minutes just to digest it. I've recommended it to so many people.

I enjoyed it, but my god, so sad!

I miss this book. Haven't read anything else since I finished it a few weeks ago. I'd really recommend it.

I loathed it I'm afraid. Misery porn masquerading as literature.

Yes read it most definitely, I'm a fellow quick reader and yes there were some parts I skipped through rather quickly but it's a book that I really felt was worth reading.

I gave up on it I'm afraid , the subject was on my mind when I wasn't reading it and I felt it was making me too sad .
It is beautifully written though.

Couldn't put it down

I loved it to start with but lost patience eventually.

Don't want to spoil it but for me there was too much of a stretch of imagination needed to make it plausible. And my god it went on and on and on. Agree with the misery porn bookworm

Glad I'm not alone Pura! Don't let my loathing put you off though, OP - clearly mine is the minority position!

I am glad I read it.
The horrible bits tested my tolerance for misery - but the interesting believable characters kept me reading. I really, really wanted to know what happened to them.