In other hands, this story could have turned out as mere misery porn. Yet, here, everything is handled so carefully that I don't feel it's the case. 
 Don't get me wrong: it's a tearjerker. Deeply upsetting. Shattering, even. And sometimes you do have to put the book down. 
 But the way it presents trauma is really realistic and well done. Beautifully so. Even when that trauma is extreme, as are its consequences. 
 There are so many things I loved about this book. It never takes the easy way out. It stears clear of some cliches. The way it presents disability. Its diverse cast of characters. 
 And most of all the writing. The way Hanya Yanagihara weaves her web of characters and stories, page after page and chapter after chapter. The way she leads us through their lives, going back and adding new elements every time. The way you never know, when starting a new chapter, exactly where you are, yet you always fall back on your feet in the end. The little details that give away so much. The long sentences, that still manage to keep a clear meaning. 
 It's not a book I'll read again. Probably not. Or if I do, it'll have to be in a decade or two. But it's definitely had a deep impact on me, and I must say it's hard to do it justice in this review, hence its messiness. 
 It can be graphic and brutal, and I would really recommend asking for content/trigger warning if you are sensitive to certain elements. 
 But it's also incredibly beautiful, and somehow, in spite of everything, I didn't find it depressing at all, even in its worse part, even when everything goes wrong... but this is a discussion that doesn't have its place in this review, otherwise I'll just start giving away spoilers and I don't want to do that ^^ 
 Aaaand I better stop here before I ramble some more... but yeah. Basically, new favourite book. Which won't leave its shelf for a long while.