Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai

412 reviews

drbunny's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Body shaming, Infidelity, and Rape

pingwoh's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

4.5

despite being less than 200 pages there's a lot to really dig into with this book - i'd recommend reading this and crime & punishment together to see how two similar characters interact with the world and their own sense of self

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Chronic illness, Blood, and Classism

Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual violence

saturndevouredhisson's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

A short read that’s hard to recommend to anyone. It’s a depressing book with a true-to-form misanthropic main character that’s interesting to read, but (for some readers) difficult to digest. That being said, it’s a poignant, well written story that explores messy themes of mental illness, addiction, abuse, isolation, and trauma.

It’s an excellent read for those who are fans of “morally gray/ambiguous” characters that are challenging to read and unreliable narrators.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child abuse

flinty's review against another edition

dark reflective sad fast-paced

• 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Alcoholism

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Death, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship

This is a book that involves heavy alcohol themes, suicide and some seug addiction, including complex relationship issues.

wren25's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective fast-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, and Vomit

Minor: Death of parent

chococheesecake's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

4.5

I've been wanting to read this book for a while and it did not dissapoint. The sad reality of people with mental health struggles who self-sabotage when they don't have the support needed, and how it can impact the people around them and cause harm to themselves and others.
It's sad because the main character did horrible things but you can see how it got to that point. 
Awareness on neurodivergency (which was hinted at earlier in the book if you understand the symptoms though I doubt the author had that knowledge of what it was) has improved so much now compared to the time the author wrote the book but more work still needs to be done.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Classism

lilylivresque's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Felt more like a conversation than a book. Beautiful, beautiful prose, yet simplicity is maintained with pivotal moments presented as poignantly brief. While there is danger in romanticising this novel, the tortured artist-esque theme was well done, with sentiments on art running reminiscent of Wilde. I appreciated how the characterisation in the novel underlined the duality of a complex narrator, especially considering the parallels that he projects. I feel as if a lot of the negative reviews do not properly address that we are meant to dislike the narrator. It is okay to avoid this book due to its sensitive content (which I admittedly struggled with), but if we are to assess literature fairly, then it is our duty as readers to acknowledge that we are dealing with an extreme. Literature is a means of perspective and ethical distinctions are contingent on the deplorable insights that it can enable—without these conversations, how else will we induce change? I believe that this novel’s unreliability of narrative works well to recognise and challenge ongoing societal issues.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Suicide

puppygirl_cryptid's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Drug abuse, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Sexual harassment

madkatrob's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

aichaa's review against another edition

dark reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

damn, he's dramatic, huh. R rated jughead fr

also he's all like "women are a different species from men, they make no sense, they're inherently uninteresting and difficult, blah blah blah" and then "i never pay attention to what a woman's saying" ????? THAT'S WHY YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND THEM

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Misogyny, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Forced institutionalization

Minor: Rape