To Paradise by Hanya Yanagihara **NO SPOILERS**

[BaconAndAvocado]

I’m about two thirds of the way through this tome but, unlike A Little Life, I’m finding it extremely easy to put down!

I enjoyed the first section the most.

Finding the current part set in 2093 interesting but very confusing when it jumps around between time lines and I usually respond well to this.

Is it worth persevering?

I really didn't like it, but I think I probably liked the third story best. All the characters with the same name and no real connection between the parts, I find it really quite dull.

I enjoyed it - it’s while since I read it - it is very long though! I was glad I finished it. Much preferred a little life.

I gave up in the middle of the second part. She is the editor of the NYT Style Magazine and it shows - the attention to detail when she describes world of physical objects the characters live in is great, but is also somehow flat and cartoonish, like they lived in an instagram shots, where everything fits together perfectly and is aesthetically pleasing, rather than in a real world. They are walking cliches when it comes to their taste, almost like an idea of what rich, classy people live like, rather than real people.

I like alternative history or classics re-interpretations, so I liked the set up of the first part, but fiction like that works when it uncovers something interesting about the story, society and ourselves that we would not otherwise pay attention. Well it did not work for me like that.

I am also not sure why she focuses so much of male gay couples, but puts them in environment where they are very sanitised when it comes to sexual behaviour.

Did the third part somehow added depth to the rest of the book?

I loved it but thought the second part was by far the weakest. Interestingly, I didn't think much of A Little Life so I was pleasantly surprised.

Just finished it!
Enjoyed the first third, though the middle section was weak and the last section I probably admire more than enjoyed.
Phew! Glad I finished it but it definitely won’t stay with me like A Little Life has for the past few years.