Song of Achilles is not a sobbing sadness to me. It is a heavy, empty sadness. It feels like lost love and I think that is how it is meant to feel. The waiting, emptiness before the end of the book was really what grief has felt like to me

i hate the way people promote the song of achilles as a "cry book" because then people are disappointed, when its actually such a good beautifully written book

"Why are we so obsessed with being voyeurs to other people's trauma" girl, this is exactly it, thank you for putting it into words!

The thing that got me with Song of Achilles was how *hopeful* it read. Like they had so much hope that everyone wasn’t actually doomed in the end. Oddly enough it was a scene with Thetis that made me cry at the end 🥲

I just want to get it through people’s minds in case they still don’t understand: A little life is not just a sad book that is guaranteed to make you cry, it is a deeply disturbing story with graphic descriptions of triggering subjects. Please, for the love of god, do not pick this book up if you don’t think you can handle it. Even if you do think you can handle it, you HAVE to proceed with so much caution. Just know that it’s okay to put down the book if you feel uncomfortable reading it at any moment. There’s a reason so many people (including myself) don’t want to read this book at the moment and that’s solely because of what it is. Again: please proceed with caution!

your next book experiment should be the opposite: you read 5 funny books to see if they make you laugh 😂💜

27:33 the “why would you write this, why would you write this book” is like a trending audio on booktok and bookstagram….it’s so sad to just randomly hear you crying on my fyp😭😭😭

If you think "A Man Called Ove" is sad then you need to read Backman's other book "My Grandmother Asked Me To Tell You She's Sorry" that book made full body sob in public.

I'm at the Little Life segment of the video, and even at the beginning it was obvious how the book was already upsetting you. So I just want to say that you don't ever have to force yourself to read smth that's disturbing or deeply affecting you in a negative way, for a video. I know I speak for everyone else here when I say that we love you and your videos, but if anything you're reading troubles you in any way, it's always okay to just let it go. We value your well-being just as much as the content you create 🥰 I hope you're feeling better now and have moved on from that book ✨

I read the song of Achilles last night and when I tell you I was SOBBING by the last five chapters. The thing that makes me cry with books is knowing the fate of the characters even before they do/knowing that they cannot change their fate. Must be why I cried reading they both die at the end too. It just feels hopeless from the beginning but you start to get attached to these character that you want to doubt their destiny. It’s kind of a mind fuck that makes me BAWL

I went into Song of Achilles knowing NOTHING. I didn’t know how it would end and I didn’t know the characters would fall in love. I cried at the end and fully enjoyed reading it. I love this author’s writing so much

When I originally read They Both Die At the End, I ended up loving the characters so much that I started DISBELIEVING what the title promised. I was like, "Oh no, they won't actually die, that's not what's going to happen." So yeah, I was sobbing but to each their own, sorry you didn't like it.

There is so much to learn in this comment section. I’ve spent as much time here as watching the video. Really makes you see how one book can mean so many different things to different people.

I’ve actually never heard of A Little Life being deeply disturbing (just that it’s sad) and I’m really glad I saw this video. I already have a really hard time getting through books that cover depressing material and now I know that I’ll never pick that one up. That whole list of TWs was a big pass for me. I hope you’re feeling better now! Loved this video btw 💕

As someone who has gone through much trauma in my life, I personally feel the REASON for books being written this deeply, this disturbingly is because people don’t BELIEVE US people don’t understand how BAD life can be. I’ve been told I’m telling story’s and it’s not that bad and I’m being dramatic many many times and I feel like these books are written for people who’ve never been through this or similar. to force you to understand

I had heard people who had been traumatized felt seen by A Little Life, and heeding the trigger warnings, I decided to read it myself. As someone who has been deeply traumatized, I felt like it might bring me some catharsis. Unfortunately, that was not my experience. The book takes a strangely anti-therapy perspective, mirroring the author's own opinion of therapy. There's no hope, not even a little. I didn't cry, as I seldom do, but at the end I ended up feeling tired. It felt to me that from the beginning, Jude was marked as irreparably damaged. His trauma was too much. I saw myself and my trauma in Jude, but not in a way that felt comforting or like I was seen. To clarify, I loved the book's prose and it was a uniquely heartwrenching experience, but I left it wondering what the authorial intent was. I read some interviews of Hanya Yanagihara, and I was left feeling deeply uncomfortable. She claims to have no particular special interest in the relationships of queer men, and yet her books seem to focus on them. This is not wrong, nor am I saying that heterosexual women (To clarify, Yanagihara does identify as heterosexual) should be forbidden from writing about queer men, but there is a little bit of discomfort there for me.

I listened to A Man Called Ove while out and about running errands. I burst into tears as I was walking down the street. People must have thought I was crazy. It was quite therapeutic somehow though.

Honestly you’ve convinced me to never read A Little Life. I was curious about it but I didn’t think it would be this intense and when you said “I could never be mentally healthy enough to read this” that was when I knew I definitely could not handle it with my own mental health issues. And it doesn’t seem worth it to try. I genuinely hope this book doesn’t affect you like this anymore. It was truly so heartbreaking to see how this messed with you just from the way you talk about the book and I hope you’re doing better Hannah 💜

One of the reasons I enjoyed A Little Life (even tho I cried for hours on end after finishing it) is that it made me feel. The writing was beautiful, and I felt the love of friendship, the love of a lover, the love of a father. But also just how much a human can hurt another human. How much a person can hate themselves. I also enjoyed the perspective that people don’t always get better. People don’t always heal, and not every life has a happy ending. It made me think of what some people go through on a daily basis. I was born into a good family, of 2 wonderful people that believe in love, my parents. This was a reality slap. But what’s so heartbreaking isn’t even Jude, because he’s fictional. It’s the people that have had a similar experience. This book broke me completely. It was beautiful and it was horrible.

I read A Man Called Ove for my contemporary literature class this year, and I literally could not stop crying, it was so embarrassing sometimes because I was in class. It just really tugs on your heart strings, but also makes you think more about life.

I feel that The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a fantastic example of bringing up trauma in a sensitive way. It brings up the emotions it’s meant to, without trying to hurt the reader like in A Little Life.

Can we read five wholesome, tooth rotingly sweet books to recover now🥲

FINALLY! Finally someone with the same opinion about "Normal People"! This is awesome! I felt like an outsider that this particular book was boring to the bone...

The song of Achilles did have me tear up but just barely, it was honestly one of the most beautifully written books I’ve read in a while though. Loved it.

A Man Called Ove made me freakin' SOB. The past timeline was so sad and to see how Ove ended up with his current personality was just so sad and the book was so heartwarming at the end. It's one of my favorite books now.

“Why are we so obsessed with being voyeurs to other people’s trauma?” I wonder this all the time, especially with how people talk about and recommend this book (I also agree it’s really irresponsible). I only managed to get a hundred or so pages into this book before I noped out because I could tell it was headed in a really rough direction, and after hearing your thoughts, I’m so glad I didn’t continue.

I had so much hope for a little life in the beginning. The way it described their friendship, the way they grew, their hardships, their mundane lives. It was just so beautifully written. I also liked how she just hinted at the problems jude had and subtly peeked our interest in his story. Especially his storyline with Harold was just beautifully told. And then she just turns around pours out all this trauma. It's like she's just trying to think of the most gruesome things a person could go through, describing it as detailed as possible. She builds these amazing, facetted characters and then just starts torturing them for shock value. It's so unfortunate

A Man Called Ove made me SOB. SO HARD. and not even just from the sad parts. the parts where he talked about how much he loved his wife made me cry my eyes out as well. i can't even begin to explain all the emotions that book made me feel

I’m reading normal people right now and when you said “I feel like I’m reading a different book than everyone else” I felt that. I am struggling to get through it!!!

Normal People is so so much about an Irish experience, and about the experience of trying to survive socially in Irish secondary schools and college, so as an Irish person who goes to a very elitist college in Dublin a lot of the themes really hit home. For a lot of Irish people it's like looking at a book about your own life, and is so so highly relatable, so it's interesting to see how when that connection cant be drawn by you personally as a reader it just lacks substance and depth - that's not a critique I've heard before!!

I feel like it speaks to our trauma voyeurism that her breakdown is the most replayed part of this vid

The reason TSOA made me cry is because I knew what would happen, it's because of the aparent foreshadowing that Achilles is unaware of. When Achilles says "What has Hector ever done to me?" I broke. I cried like hell. I loved the prose, and I loved the foreshadowing because it's meant to be aparent for us, the readers. We know how the story ends, and that's what truly made it heartbreaking for me, the fact that we know how it ends. My brother and my mom cried when they read it as well.

Agree with everything you said about A Little Life. It genuinely baffles me how popular it is. I wasn’t even sad at the end I was just so angry.

I think your position on reading trauma like in a little life, is absolutely your right to feel that way. I would say though that as someone who does have a lot of first hand experience with trauma, it is worth bearing in mind that for some of us, reading books that deal with serious trauma is really the only time we can often relate to books. A lot of the time it's very hard to read books and empathise with characters when their biggest problems feel hollow compared to serious trauma you've faced. Likewise, reading stories we can relate to, or are even worse than our own, can make us feel a little less alone and can feel strangely cathartic. It's very rare that we get that kind of representation and on the rare occasion it does happen, it's labelled as disgusting and used by people as a challenge. I understand you saying you feel detail was unnecessary, however, the best way for me to explain about the sharing of detail, is that hearing someone else's details makes you feel safe enough to share your own details back with them - and yes I know that might sound dramatic and yes I know they are fictional characters, but for some of us, they're the only ones it feels safe enough to talk to within our own heads. While you felt disgusted, sometimes being able to relate to a character's life, makes us feel less disgusting - because that's what a lot of us hear when we hear people saying over and over again how disgusting things we've been through are, we hear that WE are disgusting. And so being able to relate to a fictional character and cry with them over shared pain, isn't always as simple as just being voyeurism and disturbed. So please don't take this as a hate message, my intention is honestly just to help you understand because you seem to genuinely not understand how a book like this can be beautiful or helpful for some people that have experienced trauma.

totally agree with you on A Little Life. it's an unbearable read and I would never recommend it to a single person. and I was worried that there's something wrong with my perception because people seem to love it. It's just horrible.

So this is where that sound came from😭

I honestly thought about reading A Little Life this month even, while not being in a great mental place at the moment. I normally enjoy some sad emotional reads, but I feel like you've saved me from that serious pain of A Little Life. I don't think I've seen someone really go into the 'why' of why the author would write such an explicit book as you have. I like the question you brought up also, about why our society is very interested in other people's trauma. It makes me wonder why so many are so obsessed with looking into others' pain.

“Why would you write this” was literally me reading Clockwork Princess for the first time last year 💀

I really think a wheelchair must have killed Hanya Yanagihara's entire family or something. The amount of hatred she projects onto a piece of medical equipment that, hey, most disabled people actually appreciate, is on another level. A Little Life reads like what would happen if you crawled inside the mind of the type of people prone to saying "I don't think I could do it if I were you" when they see you on the street minding your own business and rolling your chair into the coffee shop for an afternoon tea. I really promise that being a disabled person isn't that bad, y'all.

I just finished A Little Life, and I'm sad that it's so hard for others to get through. As someone who has gone through a portion of the type of trauma Jude did, I respectfully disagree with so much of what you said. In my opinion there were many many times she could have gone into more detail and chose to leave it vague, and I think she was sensitive to how much detail to give to convey the reality of these events without going too far. It had so many, so many beautiful lessons and messages; if you didn't get anything but depression from it, I think you either were too shocked by the events and shouldn't have continued reading it, or you listened to the audio book too fast and glossed over it, and didn't sit with it. Your opinion is valid, of course, but I want to give my view as well just in case anyone here feels scared away from it because it honestly was an incredibly beautiful book. Just know what you're getting into and stop reading if you can't handle it.

Seeing you read and talk about A Little Life makes me never ever want to touch that book. I read a short synopsis, because I couldn't stop myself, but even that made me feel physically ill just imagining it being described in detail. It's probably so much worse than I can even fathom. So no thank you to A Little Life. I'm so sorry it sent you into a downward spiral and I hope you're feeling better!! 🤍

Your opinion on A Little Life is exactly how I felt about 13 Reasons Why. Thank you bc you’ve convinced me to never read that book for my own well-being

A little life was sad, and yes disturbing. But overall, the depth of Jude’s thoughts and the characters actions are meant not to shock…but show you the truths of life. This book was very close to my heart as my life and those closest to me have experience many of these things firsthand. I appreciated the graphics because it is the raw truth. It might feel like unnecessary shock value, but to me it was reality. Obviously the degree of Jude’s suffering was not something I have personally experienced, but damn if it didn’t remind me of my Mother. I didn’t see it sad so much as I got an opportunity to see how she, and so many others that have been scarred by their past and even present truly feel.

Before anyone reads a Little Life, they need to read the author's interviews about her inspirations. Her goal was to write about a character who never gets better. She says she wanted to write a book that was like an ombre cloth where it starts a little grey and is just solid black at the end. She said she wants it to stain your soul. She also was trying to talk about her belief that psychiatry is the only medical practice that doesn't honor a person's right to die. She wants to argue that Jude wants to die and should because he is irrevocably broken. I disagree with her views but that's beside the point. I think people need to know these things going in. I went in cold, like I actually knew nothing. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone, but the writing is beautiful even if the story isn't. Another thing I had an issue with was that the author said she did no research when writing Jude and his experiences. Also, all of the characters are people the author openly claims to not identify with at all. Felt a little odd.

I’ve read 3 of the books: Ove, Little Life, and They Both Die And I completely agree with your assessments of all three, except I didn’t cry at the Little Life. I think I was just too exhausted by all the tragedies he goes through, I eventually became desensitized to it. It was too much. Like if a horror movie had one jump scene after another, eventually you just wouldn’t jump anymore.

i was very intrigued by a little life, and considered picking it up but now i think reading it might be a form of self-harm in itself. i really appreciate your clear words on this book, thanks for looking out for your audience!

The problem with the hype around A Little Life is that people are reading it with the mindset that it'll "make them cry". It's not a book intented to "make you cry", it's a story to make you understand, feel, empathize and inform you about what's going on in some people's lives and minds. Of course not many people have been through the trauma of Jude's degree, but I see him as a character representing the collective population who has been through trauma. If you want to read this book, don't take figuratively all the miseries that Jude has been through; read it having in mind the thousands, millions of people who have been through the same things and feel the way he does. As someone who had experiences similar to Jude it made me feel validated, made me seen at last. Bonus points for the amazing characters and the beautiful prose of course.

*I don't think people should read "the little life" just for a good cry* the book is more than that and any person shouldn't just go in with the thinking that they r reading it just because they want to cry ,that's absolutely ridiculous. That book physically hurts n one should think more than twice before reading it

Outside making sure to have the trigger warnings I found A Little Life really speaks on the very thing people are ignorate about and refuse to acknolwedge in writing. So many books have little aspects of trauma but never go into it enough or acknowledge what trauma can do. I appreciate this book, its beautfuil writing and it speaks a truth of trauma and how not everyone's experience is a neat and tidy ending. Maybe its my background in social work and the populations I work with as I hear these stories every day. I do believe a trigger warning needs to be included but I found it to be one of the best books I've read in 2021.

I read A Man Called Ove for ap lit and it made me cry more than any other book in that class did. It was beautiful and heartbreaking and just wonderfully written.

A little life to me has become my favorite book of all time and I crave more books like this for the sole purpose to feel. It’s a read that not everyone can handle and it’s incredibly disturbing, but for me, it makes me feel something so strong that it helped me with my mental health. I released so much emotion through this book and I had never wanted to pick up a book faster.

A Little Life was tragedy porn...it was so "awful" that I was wishing for what happened at the end to happen. In fact I begged for it to happen sooner. Thats a terrible feeling to have. I had the same feeling you had. I thought that this was based on a true story when I first heard about it and got it but then I learned it was all fiction...why?! I wouldnt trust the author around kid or old people

As a physically disabled person who experienced a lot of things in the book, I really loved A Little Life. I knows it not for everyone, though, but I don’t really see it as “trauma fetishism”. It is disturbing, but those are realities for a lot of people. You see the perspectives of people that have gone through those traumatic experiences and understand things you’ll probably never go through. Why should those experiences be censored? I don’t know, it’s one of my favorite books but maybe it’s because I share some of those experiences and I want to see the harsh realities of life represented in books. I have never been able to relate to a character in a book more than Jude and I 100% believe stories like this should be told. Maybe it’s not for you, but yeah, it kind of is invalidating to say it shouldn’t have been written.

Hannah, I would give you the biggest hug if I could.

The sobbing for A Man Called Ove? Damn, girl, 100% feel you! I read it last month: I laughed and cried, and gave it 5 stars and told my boyfriend he should read it too.

I just wanted to throw out my thoughts since I see divided responses for A Little Life. We all think about how disturbing what happens to Jude is. How we could’ve gone our whole life not knowing those things. But imagine how people who have been through those types of things feel. They can never not go through it and it will be with them forever. It’s like when your significant other or best friend is telling you all the pain they’ve suffered because they need someone to understand. To know. And we say, “I’m sorry. That’s too much for me to handle”. Which is a fair thing. Some things ARE extremely hard to handle. But if we stop and think, “as hard as it is to hear, how hard is it to live through it?”, our perspectives mIght just change. Now there’s a difference between being drowned constantly in those stories and hearing it, understanding, accepting and then carrying on - but now with awareness. But for A Little Life, we are meant to see and feel as Jude does, for he’s the one who had suffered so much. I believe it’s a book that is meant to be read with discretion depending on the person. I do NOT think it is for everyone. But if someone decides to read it, and understand it for what it is, they’ll appreciate it. It’s definitely hard to read because of what happens to Jude, but Jude could be your coworker, your friend, that stranger walking on the side of the road. It’s important to understand that there are plenty of people out there who sadly experienced horrific things like he did, and that maybe if we see them wholly instead of turning our heads when it gets too hard, we might help them save their own lives. Also, personally, I didn’t think it was that extremely graphic. At least not with the abuse. It was detailed, yes, but perhaps I’ve read too many fan fics in my time (LOL) because I’ve read far more descriptive accounts of abuse, which were extremely disturbing and I had to back away many times. So maybe this also affected my thoughts on the book! But all in all, I loved your reviews and thoughts on these books!!! Thank you for sharing.

your discussion about "A Little Life" is the best one i've seen so far. 100% agree with everything you said!

you made me remove a little life from my tbr. honestly, i think i could handle its insanely long trigger list (im rly sorry it affected you this badly) because i am super desensitized HOWEVER i loved the discussion you brought up „why do people want to read about this intense trauma and why do they enjoy it“ - there is a similar discussion to be had about true crime (and why i stopped listening to a lot of podcasts etc. that were really just sensationalist hiding behind the label of telling the victim‘s story) i do agree that stories that include the horrible traumas of the world we live in (especially ofc real victims‘) need to be told but there is absolutely no reason for the gruesome details to be told in a way that can be retraumatizing if we can‘t feel empathy for and believe someone‘s trauma without being told every horrible detail then there‘s something wrong with us thank you for bringing up this conversation i think it‘s super important

its so refreshing finding someone who makes good reviews on books. the way she reviewed them was so well done and she could see how truly bad some of those books were. highly enjoyed the video

Personally The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry always make me cry

A Little Life changed my life, but for the better. I am very sorry to hear that you had such a traumatic time with the book and I really appreciate your discourse on the excessive descriptions of abuse included in it. I do think I come from a slightly different perspective, however. I, fortunately, have never experienced any of the abuses suffered in this book. However, I have someone very close to my heart going through some terrible things of a similar nature. And the true beauty of this book to me was how it writes Jude’s loved ones experiences and interactions to watching him suffer and how we can turn a blind eye to other’s pain because it’s uncomfortable and we know it would cause us pain as well to truly understand the extend of their suffering. To me the book was a warning of the dangers of not reaching out a helping hand. And caused me to realize that when before I thought it wasn’t my place to step into another’s relationship, I now see that I should have done it much earlier. And moreover, the end of the book taught me that it’s okay to fail. That if my efforts just lead to more pain, I cannot blame that on my self. I can only blame myself for inaction. That was the message that I took from this book and it was incredibly powerful. I do agree it was taken to an excessive extent and did not need to be written so graphically, but I do think this book has a powerful message and I am glad I read it. I hope this allows you to see the book in a slightly different light and know that it brought some good to the world.

Watching this video and reading these comments about A Little Life makes me feel like there’s something wrong w my brain. I literally love that book. It has some of my favorite characters I’ve ever read. I have a trauma history that includes some of the things that are addressed in the book, and there were some times reading where I became physically nauseous, but I also couldn’t put it down? Because I was just rooting for all of them? And I feel like I understood little parts of all of them and I feel like there is so much love to be found in the positive relationships of that book. I think the descriptions are sometimes excessive but personally as someone with a Ptsd diagnosis who is also squeamish I was able to make it through. Not invalidating anyone here just want to say that some people might like A Little Life!!

I’ll be honest, Song Of Achilles had me crying but not sobbing. I was just kind of sitting in bed when I finished it and I did have tears streaming down my face. I think what makes SOA so moving for some is that you WANT Patroclus and Achilles to be able to have a happy ending, but you also know that isn’t going to happen. Achilles even says it himself. It was the theme of inevitability and fate that moved me personally.

I'm not even done this video (I'm probably gonna finish it tomorrow) and the range of opinions on a little life down here... its so interesting how one book can have such a different impact on people. idk if I'll ever read it but is fascinating.

Yessssssssss to the whole little life segment! FINALLY someone says that they hated the book and immaculately points out how problematic and utterly irresponsible all the trauma fetishism in the book is!! Thank you!

As much as I loved the song of Achilles I was basically trying to force myself to cry

I personally didn't cry when reading the song of achilles but it did make me feel a sort of soul crushing sadness, deep in my chest. It was probably because I already had a deep attachment to achilles and patroclus (I'm a gay guy who's been through tragedies and I latched onto achilles very strongly) but this book really affected me and to this day, it is one of my all time favorite book

Especially your take on A Little Life was very interesting to me. As someone who experienced multiple traumatic situations, relationships and events, I always felt so so different and lonely - and through that book, I finally saw portrayed the kind of heaviness a person with (c)PTSD can carry through their whole life. It hurts a little, to hear you say "why would somebody write this" instead of "it is so horrible what people have to go through in life and we still close our eyes because we can't stand how disturbing the truth would be". Domestic / sexual violence is heavily underestimated as to how often it happens and I definitely did not feel A Little Life was exaggerating anything, it was a lot more shallow than it could have been and I was impressed how well the trauma was described. If anything, the reaction of many people to this book was very telling of how much we want to ignore or close our eyes to things that would disturb our little world. I one hundred percent agree that not everybody should read this book, it is disturbing, it is so sad and shocking, but it is a good book (imo).

I think what A Little Life gives is a good understanding of what people can go through in life. You feel their pain in a way you couldn't otherwise experience without actually undergoing the same trauma. I don't think everyone should read a little life. It's difficult, painful and traumatic. I do personally know someone who has undergone similar trauma and enjoyed the book, it made them feel seen. However it really messed them up for like a month. If you do plan on reading a little life please, please, be careful. It might not be worth it.

Oh my, as a Swede it makes me so happy to see that you read “A man called Ove” and thus quite possibly cause more people to notice Backman’s works. Fredrik Backman is one of my absolute favourite authors and his book “Beartown” is definitely one of my top 3 books of all time! I’d definitely recommend you to read it since you liked his writing style and such in “A man called Ove”, and I agree with everything I saw someone else said about it in the comments. Would also highly recommend you to see the Swedish movie adaptation of “A man called Ove”. It was Sweden’s Oscar’s nominee the year it came out and is one of the best book-to-movie adaptations that exist in my opinion! I think you’d really enjoy it!

All the Bright Places made me sob in a way I didn't expect. I highly recommend it, but I'd also say be aware there are mentions of death, suicide, and suicidal ideation. Nothing all that graphic, but it's a big theme in the book.

They Both Die at the End actually made me cry way too much, and idek why. I think that reading a sad book at a sad time in my life was what made me cry

I completely agree with everything you said about A Little Life. It baffles me how it's literally a "booktok book". Girl, no.

I can't express how much I appreciate your discussion on 'a little life' and society's obsession with being voyuers to other's pain. When I was younger I would consume media that I knew would disturb me. But now, years later, I realize it is simply not okay to hurt myself like that and I know I have to protect my mental health. I think it's so incredibly important for people to talk about this!! much love 🤍🤍🤍

So dedicated to editing and even after recovering to keep going. Such an inspiration I really enjoy this kinda change to your videos. So important that you mentioned taking a break.

Tbh I was actually planning on reading a little life because of how much people talk about it and praise it but after hearing your thoughts and seeing how deeply it affected you I think I’m going to pass it, as someone who went through some of the things the characters went through I don’t think I wasn’t relive that experience again so thank you for this video 😭

i love how every book review in this video was 5 minutes long, and then bang! the a little life part takes up 20 minutes. it's just a give away of how deep this book is. i'm so glad you mentioned it being traumatic, having such a big following and being a great influence, bc for a long time i've seen people recommending it to everyone, and honestly, i don't think i'll ever even suggest it to anyone. it is beautifully written, most of the characters are just so loveable, but they come with too much baggage that i don't think just anyone would be able to handle.

I love normal people, and I think that what makes it so amazing for me is the fact that is so relatable, they are real human people, with issues, and I love books character driven. The fact that the book centers on their daily life might not be for everyone, but for me it's amazing that so much can be told about an ordinary life like mine, with relations that not always work, with miscommunication problems, like my own relationships and my own flaws. I also love the way she portrayed the struggle of the characters towards social and political issues, I my self am a human right investigator, that's what I do for living and some times I caught myself thinking about deep issues like poverty or war, and the next second I'm worried about the guy I love or my silly little life and that's ok too. I think that's what Sally Rooney does stunning, makes us feel part of the narrative, close with the characters, a couple of normal people living in a crazy not so fair world.

I am literally the most sensitive and emotionally unstable person I know, and while I did empathize with Jude and was of course horrified with all the vile things done to him and I also did love many of the characters in A Little Life, it did not make me cry as much as I thought it would, definitely did not end up bawling which I 100% expected I would. Mostly, I was just raging mad (at JB and later on at the author for putting Caleb into the story) and frustrated.

Me finding out that’s where that sound on tik Tok is from

if you're interested in knowing what happens in "a little life", just read the wikipedia summary. It's already disturbing enough and made me never want to read that book in my life.

Literally once I saw the thumbnail I was like omg is she okay😭😂

for some reason a little life affected me in a way i dont think it did to other people - i only truly felt the happy moments in the darkness of every characters lives. i read it while i was actually in a bad place and it sort of helped me because i felt seen and i felt understood. it said things that ive said to myself and it gave me hope. its really interesting and understandable how different people read the same piece of work. i am so sorry it hurt you so much! hope you are feeling better now x

I read A Little Life last year in June, and it's less than a month away from June a whole year later, and i still CANT stop thinking about this book. please always go search up the TW for this book, but i can say NEVER have I had a book stay in my mind for an entire year. it is just so terrible tragic, dark and disturbing that it leaves you shocked for a while.

Since you liked A Man Called Ove I have to recommend Beartown and the sequel because that book is amazing and I love it very very much. It's such a beautiful balance of sad and poingant. There are hard topics addressed so I would definitely read up on content warnings but everything is handled very gently

I’m so glad someone’s being honest about books that are hyped up. I almost feel like some people censor themselves, and they go easy on books they have negative opinions about. I feel alienated from some content creators because they all seem to like the same thing, and then when I read it I don’t. I don’t even think I have a very picky taste when it comes to fiction. Yet, I enjoy a book that I pick up on my own more than what people recommend to me online. I really appreciate the honesty in this video, because it makes me feel like I can finally relate to someone.

I think the song of achilles touched me so much is specifically because I'm queer. Many people say it didn't make them cry because they already know how it'll end which is completely valid but it felt different reading it where they're portrayed as lovers. It was amazing to see how beautiful and powerful queer love is.

Okay so I’m gonna recommend a book that didn’t make me cry but was so heart wrenching and truly the most beautiful book I’ve ever read, a place for us is such a beautiful story about family and if you want something that is a balance between sad and happy it’s amazing. The writing is beautiful and I appreciate the line it walks between happy and sad, it’s beautifully bittersweet

I so appreciate the level of honesty in this video, especially on A Little Life. I’ve heard “it’s sad” and “check the trigger warnings” about this book before, but that can’t convey the gravity of it like this video did.

I have never heard someone talk about A Little Life in this way, all I've ever heard is that it is just really sad. I'm so glad, and so thankful for your honest review since I was thinking about picking it up. But after watch your video I am 100% sure that I am not in the right headspace to read that book right, I'm not even sure that I'll ever be. Just even watching your reaction ressonated with on so many levels, I hope you are feeling better and thank you again for the honest review

The Travelling Cat Chronicles made my cry so hard...it's a beautifully translated fiction from Japan. A story you won't forget.

Getting flashbacks to the time I took a course on trauma in books and A Little Life was one of the books we were supposed to read. I don't think I even got that far in, just a few chapters at most, then skimmed over parts of it, eventually just dropped it and the course. And from your reaction, I feel like that was a very good decision.

I just fell in love with the fact that Hannah had the genuine power of saying such a genuine review about the little life. I just can't explain but I want to thank you so much that you actually like literal actually gave emphasis on the fact that it was disturbing and disturbing stuff in the book was written too deeply. And your choice of word was excellent without any doubt. Thanks

You really made me think about A Little Life after almost a year of having read it. I see all the negative points now, especially the thing about it being like trauma dump. I can't say if I loved it or not now, I don't think I could have said that I loved back when I just read it, even though I really liked it (can I say that I liked it tho? I fell in love with the characters sure, but did I enjoy it?) I will say this tho: It came to me in a time when I wasn't doing great mental health wise, and Lord did it make it even worse for a good month or so. But afterwards I knew for sure that I had to get myself together and find help. Because the one thing that I got out of that book was that I didn't want to end up like Jude. In a sense of not allowing others to help me, not taking care of me, not seeking professional help. I'd like to think that maybe there was another way for me to end with the same conclussion but this is the way it happened to me unfortunately XD I'm so sorry you read it, honestly; I hope you're doing better now tho. Take good care of yourself!

How did I not know that sound was you!?!?

i luv how you’re so honest

Omg your spiel on A Little Life is so needed!! I’m in school to be a counselor and what you’re describing is essentially vicarious trauma which is ridiculously harmful! Thank you for bringing awareness to this!

Your reaction to A Little Life is exactly why I get so upset when people just casually recommend the book. I haven’t read it but I’ve read and listened to detailed summaries (which was more than enough tbh), and this is not something you should go into without being prepared, and no one should tell anyone else they should read this because that’s genuinely just dangerous. I’m sure it’s extremely well written but it just seems too disturbing.

I'm SO glad you liked A Man Called Ove, I was so worried. I LOVE that book.

honestly when it comes to normal people, i would recommend the show over the novel (and i rarely say that)! I agree with your opinion on the novel, it lacks so many things.