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Zara

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Zara ’s Bookshelves

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Zara is Currently Reading

Zara is currently reading

A Little Life

by Hanya Yanagihara (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading

Reading for the 3rd time

read in February 2023

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Zara said: " I have tried time and time again to write a review for A Little Life but words always eluded me. However, I refuse to let this book go without pitching in my silly little review because this story will always stay with me. It is one of the most well I have tried time and time again to write a review for A Little Life but words always eluded me. However, I refuse to let this book go without pitching in my silly little review because this story will always stay with me. It is one of the most well written books I have ever read, and I will NEVER read it again. Not even if my life depended on it. Why? You ask? Well, simply because it made me absolutely miserable, nearly delirious with sadness. I cried and cried, washed my face, and then I cried some more. Somehow, I managed to finish it, proceeded to search fan art on Pinterest, while simultaneously listening to a sad playlist I made for this book on Spotify and guess what? I cried again.

Two things, dear readers, I'd warn you about before (or IF) you decide to indulge in this bleak and dismal read. (Please check TWs before reading)
Do not let yourself be fooled by the title 'A Little Life ' nor by the promise of 'The Happy Years' in part V.
The title I find quite ironic because in no way this book seems to be little. It is a 700+ pages long LONG life filled with ALL the miseries that can befall ONE character. So I like to think of 'A Little Life ' not as the span of a life but the emotion of life. That little beam of happiness and liveliness, that little passion for being alive that we're all constantly in search of, which was resolutely absent from Jude's life.
As for the "Happy Years" what can I say, there are NO happy years. Happiness and A Little Life do not go together. Nope nada no, forget about happiness while you read this book.

A Little Life has thoroughly fleshed out characters, you even get to know minute (but not excessive) details about the minor characters, which makes you feel like you know everyone in this book. This is what keeps you going despite all the pain. This and the fact that it gives you hope again and again and snatches it from you AGAIN and AGAIN.
So yes, A Little Life is a great book. No, I will NEVER recommend it to you.

Here's the link to my Spotify playlist for A Little Life.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5DZ... ...more "

progress:

(50%)
"Oh Jude. 😔" — Jan 29, 2023 09:58AM

Aug 03, 2024 02:28AM · see review

Zara is currently reading

The Count of Monte Cristo

by Alexandre Dumas

bookshelves: currently-reading

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progress:

(page 450 of 1276)
— Sep 22, 2025 09:37AM

Jun 16, 2025 06:53AM

Zara ’s Quotes

“How can I hope for the news of your arrival from these scattered autumn leaves?
Isn't it enough for the sun of my fragile heart to set at this moment?”
― Hareem Ch, Another World

tags: careful, darkness-before-dawn, keep-calm, leaves-changing-color, love-quotes-and-sayings, sunsets, the-world, where-pain-thrives, words-to-inspire-you, youthful-optimism

23 likes

“Special discounts to Hogwarts students who swear they’re going to use our products to get rid of this old bat,” added George, pointing at Professor Umbridge.”
― J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

6 likes

“Women are supposed to be very calm generally: but women feel just as men feel; they need exercise for their faculties, and a field for their efforts as much as their brothers do; they suffer from too rigid a restraint, too absolute a stagnation, precisely as men would suffer; and it is narrow-minded in their more priviledged fellow-creatures to say that they ought to confine themselves to making puddings and knitting stockings, to playing on the piano and embroidering bags. It is thoughtless to condemn them, or laugh at them, if they seek to do more or learn more than custom has pronounced necessary for their sex.”
― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

tags: english-literature, feminism, feminist, jane-eyre

28 likes

“No matter how strong you are, no matter how smart you are or tough you can be, the world will find a way to break you. And when it does, the only thing you can do is hold on.”
― Taylor Jenkins Reid, Forever, Interrupted

tags: break, holding-on, life, smart, strong, tough, world

159 likes