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lydiavsbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.75
I think this is a brilliant and challenging exploration of how narrowly we define the human experience, and the devastating effect this can have on individuals who sit outside of those assumption. To me, the main character, Yozo, reads as autistic. He desperately struggles to connect with others and talks of performing what others might expect of him: smiling when he thinks he should and constantly adapting and filtering what he says to put on the mask of playing a 'clown'. He has no sense of hunger, and without the language or even the concept of how diverse the human experience can be, he feels further and further isolated from this idea of what a human is.
That said, he's not a particularly likeable character, he is very self-absorbed and seems to have little awareness of the impact he may have on other people. While keeping it vague to avoid spoilers, he at one point witnesses what is implied to be sexual assault, but describes it with such vagueness that its very unclear as to what exactly is happening. Its hard to know what to feel about his bystander position in this situation, which I think reflects his defeatist, almost passive, stance on life. That this is what life is and he just moves through it.
It's tragic in a very clever way that doesn't require explicitly tragic events to occur, but instead communicates the tragedy of the chronic isolation and unhappiness when unable to connect with other human beings and make sense of ourselves. At no point does any character explicitly exclude or 'other' Yozo, but it perfectly highlights the subtle, unsaid assumptions about humankind and how we operate, that can so firmly close off those that stray from this, without even realising.
Moderate: Alcoholism, Mental illness, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt
nolongerhuman_'s review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Addiction, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Suicide, Alcohol, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Death, Drug use, Drug abuse, Sexual assault, and Rape
Minor: Vomit and Blood
eyelessaura's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Death of parent
kdoyen13's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Rape
lpjdamen's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Drug abuse, Addiction, Suicide, Alcoholism, Death, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
rexiapis's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Suicide attempt, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Drug abuse
Minor: Terminal illness and Vomit
pastelpastures's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Addiction, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, and Drug use
Minor: Rape, Death of parent, and Blood
softbooknerd's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Drug use, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Rape
Minor: Child abuse
fannofdoritos's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Sexism, Child abuse, and Alcoholism
krows_ink's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Suicide, Drug abuse, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcoholism