Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - No Longer Human

I really enjoyed the first half of the story. Yozo was a very introspective and self reflecting character since he was a child, but as he grows older, he seems to burry himself deeper in his own view of the world, and misses that self awareness he had at the beggining of his life. As an adult, he brings nothing but tragedy to the people around him, specially women. His view of women and their role in society revolves around his very limited vision of the world and seems to fundamentally blame women of everything that goes wrong in his life. I found it fascinating that almost everyone around him seemed to exempt him of his faults and put the blame on someone else, but I guess is the consequence of Yozo constantly faking what he really thinks and feels.
I liked that the final message of the books was that "everything passes".

Spoiler

Even though Yozo's ending was tragic, the overall message that no matter how hard life gets, it will pass, was strangely conforting in a novel so dark.

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I will definitely pick up the author's other books.

Content Warnings

anni_o's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

Protagonist / Writer of the Notebooks is rather sexist. I guess it is a product of its time, but it sure did not age well. The prose is beautiful in parts, and a mix of vague and too detailed in others. The insight into his depressive episodes was very meaningful/insightful, and it was a rather quick read. I related to the protagonist in part, especially with the view of the world, but in other parts it was frustrating to see him spiral further and further.

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lizzield's review against another edition

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dark reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

doubledevelo's review against another edition

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reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Content Warnings

bookish_manatee's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

sonias's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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venusynth's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I have never experienced such misfortunes or the misery, that is Yozo’s greatest enemy and oldest friend—and I wish all that Yozo experienced on no one, nobody— but I enjoyed this story. Like, as the commonly used simile states, a car crash you can’t look away from. Except it gets worse as you turn the pages.

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