A Little Life

by Hanya Yanagihara

JB wore a perpetual expression of mild disbelief while at his job, both that he should be working at all and that no one had yet thought to recognize his special genius.

Showing the confidence that jb has and how it already so starkley differs to judes self condfidence in aspects

(Where had Jude been that night? Working, probably),

Jude is always a constant worry and wonder

“We don’t get the families we deserve,”

None of them—not Willem, not Jude, not even Malcolm—had the families they deserved. But secretly, he made an exception for himself: He did have the family he deserved. They were wonderful, truly wonderful, and he knew it. And what’s more, he did deserve them.

His feelings for Jude were complicated. He loved him—that part was simple—and feared for him,

At five thirty, the light was perfect: buttery and dense and fat somehow, swelling the room as it had the train into something expansive and hopeful.