Wow, reading this was absolutely mortifying. Anyone interested should be warned; it’s an intense psychological examination of Jude St. Francis, the victim of extreme childhood abuse who struggles with suicide and self-injury his whole life. Author Hanya Yanaghira is so talented at streamlining the inner thoughts of a deeply troubled mind that one wonders if she struggled with similar issues, or knew someone very closely who did. At times it even felt like I was reading my own thoughts, back when I had such little self-worth that the world became unbearable.
The book has been a rewarding challenge for thousands of brave readers who aren’t bothered by such dark details. It’s one of the few books I’ve rated 5 stars that I wouldn’t recommend anyone reading. Nonetheless, it will stand among the giants of literature for quite some time, as a prime example of the horrible things people are capable of doing to each another. We can only hope that books like this won’t be used to judge the defects of our culture hundreds of years from now, though it wouldn’t surprise me if they are.
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