I hate the term "triggers", but it's appropriate here. I have a few triggers of my own and they were part of this book, but I felt the writing here just brought me into those places that I don't like to go and left me, not upset or feeling traumatized, but more appreciative of my own ability to survive and thrive. I wanted to reach into the book and take Jude's hand and tell him we'd get through it together. Such deliberate machinations violate the implicit compact between readers and authors: for the former to keep an open mind and suspend disbelief in reading the novel, and for the latter to write a story as truthfully as possible, which means not deceptively attempting to manipulate the reader's emotions. To write the story with its fictive facts in a way that is honest, veridical, organic. Sure, the writer can sway with subtext and mood and motifs. Yet, I don't recall a writer, as did this one, who admits that her purpose in writing this book was to make the reader feel as awful and as sad as possible. I'll start by saying that I can't recollect the last time I felt so connected to characters in a story. I was so consumed with the four main characters seeing as how it's nearly impossible not to fall in love with them, especially Jude and Willem. ♡ They're so complex, it feels like you're living the story and you're associating with all of them.

I have never loved characters like this, like I knew them. I have never gasped and cried and said "nonono" like I did with this.

Cyber incident

I expected to cry and weep a lot with this book. I had tears in my eyes, yes, but those were tears of desperation and hatred. Hanya Yanagihara abuses the main character maliciously, mistreats our feelings, and shows us how ugly and hurtful a single life can be. Over the years, BBC Culture has conducted major polls of film and TV critics, experts and industry figures from around the world to decide on the greatest films and TV shows in a particular category: you may have seen our 100 greatest TV shows of the 21st Century in 2021, for example, or our 100 greatest films directed by women list in 2019. However, for this year's poll, we felt we needed to finally turn our attention to another art form so deeply embedded in all our lives – books. And there is no variety of books more embedded in them than children's literature – after all, whatever our pastimes as we grow older, many of us share in the joy of reading at a young age, in and out of school.

My belief has guided me through life’s ups and downs, and I hope that sharing what I’ve learned will help you face your own challenges armed with hope, and plenty of lasagne.

If I had to describe this book in one word, it would be devastating. This book is heartbreaking and emotional and full of so much trauma. The main character Jude suffers trauma after trauma after trauma, which the author describes in heartbreaking detail. We all often say that we loved this character or that character in one of the many books that we read, I know I say it often, but the character of Jude St. Francis is something special. I loved Jude more than I've loved any character before; that's probably why he was capable of so thoroughly breaking my heart. I wanted so much for him, I wanted him to be so much and get so much in life. He didn't get all that I wanted for him, but in the end, I was satisfied with where he ended up and it seemed fitting and very real. I loved this enormous warming hug of a book. Kate writes beautifully and humanely about the ups and downs of life and the role of faith (and lasagne!). A must read for people of all faiths and none. public Wi-Fi - this extends to the majority of our public spaces including the Reading Rooms, as well as our study desks and galleries at St Pancras (you won't require a login) This one from the London Review of Books is my favorite review of the book I've read so far. Let me quote my favorite part: