Reviews with content warning for Sexism - No Longer Human

It was a bit challenging to get used to the writing style since the narrative is sometimes fractured: seemingly banal things get described in detail while others are portrayed very short, raw and direct. This wasn't easy to get used to but helped a lot to immerse yourself in Yozo's mental state. I found the book very thought-provoking in the sense that Yozo's struggles were portrayed in a way that you would judge him but also find him relatable. Essentially, I would say that this is the kind of book where you could have a meaningful philosophical discussion about it and even though it is quite short it is not fast to think through or easy to read.

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peaksmelancholy's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I now know I’m not supposed to have enjoyed the book.

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masq's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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finch_26's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.75

Don’t read in a bad headspace please it’s a story about an extremely depressed man and can make you feel worse

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historyoftape's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective sad slow-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

3.75

This was hard to read, it was like watching someone sink into quicksand in slow motion. Fascinating, horrifying, depressing, cynical, at points slightly hopeful- haven't read anything like this in a long time.

Getting a look into the psyche of someone who cannot understand humanity, therefore struggles to define himself, defines himself as a monster and the watches himself become one, and in the end is just so incredibly human even while he believes himself not to be. That is what I would summarize this book to be, even though there is so much more.

Read the trigger warnings though. Would not recommend this to anyone currently struggling with depression or suicidal ideation. I'd say I'm mentally doing well right now, don't know what this would have been like if I'd read it at other points in life.

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mmondeu's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.25

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dianxia_'s review against another edition

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fast-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

4.5

No Longer Human is a book about a boy, and later a man, named Yozo. Due to his differences with others Yozo struggles throughout the book with the feeling of not being human. The beginning of the book talks about his life as a child, learning that he is different from others, and figuring out how to please them. The latter part of the book is about his life as an adult, and his struggles with relationships and multiple suicide attempts.

I enjoyed the novel. Yozo clicked with me as a character, as I feel he is very Autism coded. Throughout the book, he talks about various different experiences, such as; Not feeling hunger, struggling to empathize, fidgeting, fear of people, lack of happiness, and putting on an act to please others due to fear of rejection. All of which are fairly common experiences for those with Autism. Yozo also went through trauma in his childhood which would strengthen some of these experiences.

Throughout the book, it is very clear that Yozo is lacking in the caring for others department. This is conveyed not just in what is written but also in how everything is written. Most of the time when other people are talked about in the book they’re spoken about in a very emotionless way, if not in a judgmental way. The only time in the book that emotion is really shown is when he feels fear towards others or disgust towards himself. This supports his claims that he cannot feel happiness, which could potentially be a result of Alexithymia.

His misogyny was a bit annoying to have to read about all the time. But considering the time it was written in and his childhood trauma it is not surprising. Even if I disagree with his viewpoints I find it interesting to hear from a different point of view. I normally read fantasy so it’s kind of a new experience for me.

Overall, I did enjoy reading this book. It was not what I expected, from what I’ve heard about it I expected it to be about 1000x more depressing. However, I’m fine with the fact that it didn’t make me feel emotional, that wasn’t what I wanted to read it for. I was interested in seeing his point of view, which I had heard was quite antisocial, and I’ve achieved that. It’s not the best book I’ve ever read or anything like that, but I do think it was worth reading.

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diaday333's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

Poor Yoshiko is all I have to say. I don’t really find this book dark, but I can see what it would be said. Some parts were good at appealing to my emotions, but overall, the book is quite forgettable to me. The misogyny is wild tho, if it wasn’t for that, I might give this book a higher rating. Also it’s hard to feel bad for Yozo, mostly, I think it’s his characterization. When you see how he acts and what he thinks when he’s not talking about how miserable he is, it’s a yikes. It’s possible to right unlovable characters well and while I think he’s written well, he’s not interesting, at least in the way he should be. He doesn’t have to redeeming qualities to be interesting, but his whole character is unsavory in a way that isn’t interesting to read. The only people I feel bad for are particularly the women he meets. But I will say some parts are written very well where I can feel his despair, it’s just not enough. I guess the most emotional part for me is when he

tried to drown himself and no one cared and he even got disowned and tried for a crime. That was actually sad.

Edit: had to bring down my rating because thinking about this book and that guy all these months later pisses me off beyond belief. What was the hype with this book bro 😭 booktok ruined my life again 😔

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