Reviews with content warning for Incest - No Longer Human

This book is a piece of art but WOW I should have looked up some content warnings before I started reading. It took me several months to get through this book because I kept having to put it down for weeks at a time. I would recommend this book to anyone in a heartbeat, with the caveat that it covers some heavy topics.

CW: Ableism, Abuse, Addiction, Classism, Death, Depression, Grooming (grown man with a 17-year-old girl), Incest, Rape, Suicide, Suicide ideation

Content Warnings

tayamay's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

Read this because of the anime three years ago, and I’m not mad.

Content Warnings

sawwy_'s review against another edition

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dark tense medium-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

3.75

absolutely harrowing book

Content Warnings

royourboat's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Such a captivating book. Yozo is an apathetic narrator who mostly speaks in short sentences, which made the book hard to read at first but once I got used to it I was able to appreciate how genius the writing style/decision was.

The writing style was extremely affective at portraying Yozo’s isolation and alienation. And while I recognize that it was a genius decision, because it accurately represents the thought process of a fractured mind, it did make the book less enjoyable at times, which is why I’m not giving it 5 stars. Yes, it succeeded in portraying the protagonist’s disconnection from the world around him, but it also made me feel disconnected from the story.

Nevertheless, the decision to have a very plain, monotonous narrator did make the book more compelling in a way. Yozo always got straight to the point in an almost shocking way which made me eager to know what happens next.

I have very conflicting feelings about our protagonist, I dislike him but I also feel for him at times. The misogyny was revolting, and since this book is semi-autobiographical it really makes you wonder which of these thoughts belong to the protagonist and which belong to the author himself?

I really disliked the epilogue. It was so unnecessary. I wouldn’t say it ~ruined the book for me but I would have definitely enjoyed it more if I hadn’t read the epilogue.

Finally, here are 2 things to keep in mind to make your reading experience more powerful 1) Osamu Dazai committed double suicide alongside his lover right after this book was published and 2) Japan’s views on topics regarding mental illness and how taboo they are to this day, let alone when this book was first published 70 years ago. Osamu Dazai was a brave man.

Content Warnings

pissdrawerlmfao's review against another edition

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dark reflective 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

3.5

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