A little life.
This book traumatized me.
Hii my loves! How are youuu and how was last week for you? I was soo busy, you guys! I have so many commitments right now and I have absolutely no idea how I'm going to navigate through everything. I'm having fun somehow somehow(I played football yesterdayy)😂but I'm soo stressed out by this place.
Thank Jesus for today, if you haven't.
So, I read this “A little life” book in January, and honestly, I can't stop thinking about this beautiful. So, I decided to gist you guys about this beautiful and at the same time, traumatizing, book. There's this thing that happens with books, where you’ll keep avoiding a book for a long time, only for you to read it and it becomes the best thing you’ve ever read. That was exactly what happened with this book. At the beginning of this book, I thought it was just a book about these four friends(Jude, Willem, Malcolm and JB) living their “little” lived. JB spoke about how he feels like he got the family he deserved, even when everybody says nobody gets the family they deserve and I loved that part. I didn't know I was in for a hoogee surprise.
A little life is a very beautiful book and I think it has replaced “All the bright places” as my favorite book. However, this is NOT your sign to read this book. Read this book at your own risk. He who has ears…
I was going to write this in a different format but it was so chaotic and messy, so I decided to do this in a Q and A format. I tried as much as possible to avoid dropping spoilers in case you might want to read it( don't, abeg). I really hope you’ll enjoy reading this.
Picture this in your head: Korty asking Stargirl Chlo questions about her new favorite book, hehe.
How and when did you discover this book?
I discovered this book about 3 years ago from Amy Okoli's Instagram story and as a normal book girlie now, I downloaded it immediately so I've had it since then. Why didn't I read it then? I don't know but for some weird reason I thought the book was historical fiction, so I was always skipping it anytime I added books to my tbr( to be read) list.😂
What motivated you to finally read it this year?
My beautiful friend, Mirabel, made a post about the book on her status and I decided to stop sleeping on the book and just read it.
What surprised you in this book?
The origin of the title, my God! When I started reading at first, I didn't pay attention to the title and what it might mean but it got to a point and I thought of this “I think I love this little life” quote. I honestly thought the title was gotten from that quote until I found out the real origin. Holy Spirit!
Which character did you like most?
My Willem! He was HIM ‘cause at some point, I was just tired of Jude and if I was Willem, I'd have just given up on him. Their friendship/relationship got so toxic to me at a point and I honestly felt like “Why can't this brother move on? The person you're trying to help doesn't even want to be fixed, why do you want to keep going through all these?”I hated that he allowed Jude continue with his cutting habit. He deserved a better ending sha and a better love life.
I loved Andy too!
Which character did you like least?
Who else? Brother Luke!! I know he's fictional but I sincerely hope he's rotting and burning in hell! Nobody deserves the kind of hell Jude went through. I didn't like Jude too at some point sha, ‘cause he started to act very selfish and I feel like he took advantage of the people around him. I tried so hard to understand him but for God’s sake, he could have asked for help. This guy had people that'll do literally anything for him and he just made those people, especially Willem, suffer?
What feedback would you give the author?
What's up with all those deaths at the end? Jude didn't deserve all that. Why did you make Harold loose a child twice?? That's actually the saddest part, for me. That man loved his children soo much, he deserved better. This was such a beautiful book tho and I really hope it was not based on real life experiences.
Describe a very significant part of this book.
There are so many parts of this book that were significant to me but I'll describe just two.
This was Jude explaining that no matter how much life has gotten better for him, he would always still be that boy that was violated. When I first read this part, I was actually so angry and I felt that Jude was being ungrateful, in fact to some extent, I still feel he was ungrateful. However, after so much thought, I realized that he was actually just stating a fact, I mean he was abused and nothing would change that fact. What he should have done was to not make whatever he went through his whole personality and he should have asked for help. There was so much more to Jude than that part of his life.
I cried while reading this part, ‘cause it was so beautiful and sad at the same time. Willem»»
Major lessons you learnt from this book.
A very important lesson I learnt from this book is that you really don't know what other people are going through or what they've even gone through before. I hated how JB made fun of Jude’s condition. Like, no matter how miserable you're feeling, you don't do that to anyone, not to talk of your friend. It was very valid for Jude not to forgive him, in my opinion. Be kind to people, you guys. With your words and everything, be kind.
Another lesson I learnt was not to take people for granted or make them suffer just because I know they'll always be there for me. I really don't know how to put this in words, but I don't want to be a friend like Jude to my friends. I was justifying Jude's actions at first but omo!
What did you think of the ending?
I felt so sad for Harold and I think he deserved better. I don't know how to put it but I feel like his pain would have been little compared to what he went through if he hadn't adopted Jude. It's not a good thing for a parent to loose his or her child and it's just so sad that he had to deal with survivor’s guilt in his old age. He said he failed at the only one thing that counted. I felt so sorry for him honestly. He was such a good father.
How did you feel when you finished the book?
"What the hell did I just read?"!!! I was sad for days after reading this book ‘cause whatt? 😭Even up till now, I'll just randomly remember Jude and Willem and I'll just feel so down. It's so hard to believe that one person could go through that much trauma and suffering. I hope the writer is mentally okay sha.
Hi guysss,we have come to end of this little “book review”. I really hope this wasn't too short and boring to read.🌚 Let me know what you think if I should do this again or I should never try it again in my life?😂 Should it be in a different format? I’d really love to know.
“...things get broken, and sometimes they get repaired, and in most cases, you realize that no matter what gets damaged, life rearranges itself to compensate for your loss, sometimes wonderfully.”
As you go into this new week, I want you to know that things might look rough and tough for you right now, but trust God that it will only get better from here. Everything will soon align in your favour and you’ll be surprised. Thank you for reading! Have a beautiful week! I love you soo much, bye!❤️
*P.S: I don't read books just because someone recommended them anymore. It's very important to guard what you let into your mind, so I try my best to check if it's something I can read before even downloading it on my phone. Guard your heart, guys, it's very important.🌚