Now Winner of the 2026 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in NonfictionNominated for the National Book Award for Nonfiction 2025This is the memoir of a mother who survived two suicide attempts and later lost both of her sons to suicide: Vincent died in 2017, aged 16, James in 2024, aged 19. Li wrote a tribute to James titled Where Reasons End, and "Things in Nature Merely Grow" is, you guessed it, a meditation on James' passing. I'm very obviously not here to comment on such an experience or t...

Absolutely loved this book. "Things in Nature Merely Grow" by Yiyun Li is a profoundly sad and insightful memoir by a mother and writer who tragically lost two sons to suicide. Li's writing style is deliberately focused on thought rather than raw emotion, yet her deep love and unwavering care for her children shines through every single page.For my fellow psychology enthusiasts or anyone who has benefitted from or practices Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), this memoir, "Things in Nature Merel...

“There is no good way to say this—when the police arrive, they inevitably preface the bad news with that sentence, as though their presence had not been ominous enough.”Things in Nature Merely Grow is a memoir written after the suicide of the author’s second son. The author has two children, Vincent and James. However, both of their young lives were cut tragically short at the ages of 16 and 19. Things in Nature Merely Grow is highly readable—Yiyun Li has such a rich and expansive vocabulary, an...

Reading "Things in Nature Merely Grow" by Yiyun Li stirred up a real mix of feelings. Part of me got angry at how she seems to sidestep any self-criticism when talking about her sons' deaths. But then another part of me felt like I was just being cruel to a grieving mother. I think my anger stemmed from how she portrays her second son and how she talks about her parenting style. Throughout "Things in Nature Merely Grow", she almost paints her son as this nihilistic philosopher, someone too perc...

Things in Nature Merely Grow - Yiyun Li"I have always refused to use the word 'grief,' and I rarely use the word 'mourning' - ... This is not a book about grief or mourning.""I feel severely, deeply wounded by life.""You are never obligated to show your pain to the world.""Death is hard. Life is harder. Harder still is living it out when eternal deaths tear at you. It takes a single moment for death to become a reality, a single point on a timeline, obliterating everything from the past and anni...

Yiyun Li writes from the crushing depths of grief, the abyss born from the suicides of both her teenage sons. She never veers into sentimentality, nor does she attempt to answer the questions you might expect. She doesn't flinch as she writes about her profound losses. Her prose is so polished and clean it could chip a tooth. The portrait she paints of her sons is rendered with both tenderness and unflinching honesty. Quite simply, *Things in Nature Merely Grow* is one of the most extraordinary ...

I usually let my reviews flow, unfiltered thoughts about a book just rushing out of me — I can’t seem to do that with "Things in Nature Merely Grow". There is a preciseness to Yiyun Li’s use of language in this book that I want to give the same care as I write this (initial review).I have read plenty of books, and watched as many movies about people going through loss, and the uniqueness each one of them hold.No two “griefs”— a word I’m being careful to use, as Yiyun Li expressed in her book— ar...

There's truly nothing quite like a memoir.

Yiyun Li has endured more in a single lifetime than anyone should ever have to confront, and the wisdom and clarity with which she chronicles these experiences in "Things in Nature Merely Grow" is simply astounding. It's a testament to her strength as both a person and a writer.

I'm almost at a loss for words.

Bottom line: I'm genuinely blown away by "Things in Nature Merely Grow". This book is incredible.

(Thanks to the publisher for the e-arc)

This is a beautifully written grief memoir. It's intensely focused on intellectually grappling with death and suicide, rather than wallowing in feelings – and that's clearly intentional. I absolutely loved that shift in perspective. Yiyun Li's writing is simply gorgeous, and the way she connects with other works of art is profoundly moving. If you're looking for insightful book reviews about loss and resilience, definitely pick up "Things in Nature Merely Grow."

This book is simply stunning—profoundly moving and exquisitely crafted. Confronted with unimaginable tragedy, Yiyun Li somehow manages to find meaning in the senseless. A grief memoir that stands apart, comparable only to Joan Didion's *Blue Nights* in my opinion. Yiyun Li is undoubtedly one of the most brilliant writers and thinkers of our time, and *Things in Nature Merely Grow* is a powerful demonstration of that. If you're looking for profound book reviews, be sure to check out Yiyun Li's *T...