Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Confessions of a Mask by Yukio Mishima

12 reviews

jupen's review

challenging dark emotional reflective tense slow-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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse and Sexual content

_tabby_'s review

dark fast-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

4.0

"Confessions of a mask" is the second book by Mishima that I have read and its safe to say that it held up expectations from my initial impressions of his work that "life for sale" left me with.
Mishima delves into the dark and obsessive nature of a Japanese school boy who simultaneously delights in and struggles with his sexuality as a result of his intense obsessions over what he finds to be the definition of beauty. Throughout, he compares his current obsessions with those of his childhood crushes such as Antonious and Joan of Arc (before he found out she was a woman) and holds them to an almost biblical standard.
Art and beauty run his life.
The beginning half of the book is very expected (very true to the description) as it focuses on the obsessions I listed above as he finds himself in his youth and convinces himself that his desires are sub-human. A VERY common theme in Mishima's books. Needless to say, this half of the book was my favourite.
However, I couldn't rate it 5☆ because I felt like the second half of the book diverted a bit too much. Yes, the main character is now an adult and his views have matured but to me it felt like he almost went out of character and I found myself rather bored with his new personality

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Stalking

Moderate: Chronic illness and Misogyny

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Pedophilia

narumii's review

dark emotional reflective slow-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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content

Moderate: Body horror

nerdkitten's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, and War

Moderate: Cannibalism, Acephobia/Arophobia, Blood, Classism, and Death

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Colonisation, Infidelity, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Racism, Sexism, Suicide, Terminal illness, Gore, Violence, Xenophobia, Death of parent, and Pedophilia

seanamcphie's review

dark funny reflective slow-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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death, War, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Homophobia, and Gore

viviheve's review

dark reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

I liked it less the second time I read it, probably because the moment of my life I was in then when I first bought it (obsessed with BL, having mood swings and the tendency to sadness, a like for twisted and dark stories). But as for now, whereas it's a good book that explores taboo topics such as sexuality and death, I still didn't feel great emotions from it. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Blood

happydays024's review

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content and Gore

connormahon's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Sexual content, and Death

nickvc's review

reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Gore

unknight's review

dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

The narrator is very human in his contradictions-- who has not faced doubt, like he has? Mostly, the novel gives an intense and morbid look into the intimate details of the narrator's life, his fascinations with death and his own sexuality, and the ways in which they are linked. It's a very intense and introspective novel, worth a read, especially if you're interested in post-war queer lit. The ending

is not the one you might expect from a novel about death and a queer man in WWII, but was a good fit all the same.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Gore, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts