What a monumental achievement this book represents. Hanya Yanagihara blends shifting temporalities, shifting perspectives, a long narrative that's especially intensive but also extensive, into a little piece of life itself. She has a way of drying out your soul enough that you think you want to die, and then sprinkling it with just enough sun and water to remind you that it's all worth it, not least because it's all we have. We take what we can get, but what we can get, anywhere north of nothing at all, is pretty amazing.

Yanagahira's prose shimmers nicely and the book is not hard at that level. The narrative structure tiles very effectively, and provided enough density to feel like I was exercising my brain. But the emotional impact is where this is a tough one. I am glad I took it in relatively small pieces, allowing myself to process, and to shake off some of the dread where that was operating, before rejoining the life the book portrays, to my own great reward.