Reviews with content warning for Suicide attempt - No Longer Human

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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pbeeandj's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny sad 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

5.0

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sydneyunyi'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? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book delves on in this character Yozo as he has grown up reflecting on all of his flaws and blaming himself for everything. He believes in the fact that he is no longer considered a human being and questions what it means to be living. He also convinces himself that others see him that way too. The story navigates its way through childhood all the way to adulthood, and really shows how he dealt through with his depression durning that time.

Content Warnings