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This Is Why I Hate You
Within these pages wait violent fights, disease, death, controversy, sexuality, tragedy and crime. This journal documents a hateful young man's path to darkness. Many events that occur are based on real events. You will find many moments from the authors own life sewn into the life of Arthur Gale. You can only go so far before all hope of return is lost; this book reaches that point, and goes even farther. James represented the light, Arthur is the dark. There is no hero. There is only Arthur.
156 pages, Paperback
First published September 11, 2015
29 people are currently reading
403 people want to read
About the author
Onision
7 books71 followersGregory Jackson (Born November 11, 1985) known on YouTube as Onision is a YouTube personality that has made 3,000+ videos ranging from music videos to comedy sketches. Onision is known primarily for his comedy sketches in which he plays all of the characters himself, though in most videos his friends will make appearances.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 124 reviews
October 7, 2015
I honestly did not think that the second book could be worse than the first - and was wrong.
One would think that the author has read critiques and maybe considered those before squeezing out another loveless attempt at writing. But he didn't.
The main character is again just a self-loathing, hateful Mary Sue with a god complex and all the other characters are unimportant, not described and barely completely named.
I can't understand how fans can give this piece of crap a five-star-rating with all the technical errors, the badly made characters and the complete absence of a storyline. If the feelings of this character really mirror Greg's, I hope I'll never ever meet him. It's more than scary.
One would think that the author has read critiques and maybe considered those before squeezing out another loveless attempt at writing. But he didn't.
The main character is again just a self-loathing, hateful Mary Sue with a god complex and all the other characters are unimportant, not described and barely completely named.
I can't understand how fans can give this piece of crap a five-star-rating with all the technical errors, the badly made characters and the complete absence of a storyline. If the feelings of this character really mirror Greg's, I hope I'll never ever meet him. It's more than scary.
December 24, 2015
Please, avoid this and rather read something by Stephen King.
I didn't read the book, I listened to it. The person who was reading it (on Youtube) almost lost her mind. I could hear her suffering while reading.
This "book" is some serious bullshit. Onision could've at least done some research before writing, or reread it before publishing.
Actually, you can avoid this and read fanfiction on tumblr, that still would be better reading material.
I didn't read the book, I listened to it. The person who was reading it (on Youtube) almost lost her mind. I could hear her suffering while reading.
This "book" is some serious bullshit. Onision could've at least done some research before writing, or reread it before publishing.
Actually, you can avoid this and read fanfiction on tumblr, that still would be better reading material.
January 7, 2021
I was going to wait longer to read this one, then I thought it might distract me from the fact that multiple mobs of fascists attempted to overthrow the U.S. government. Well, it distracted me.
December 13, 2015
This, this is absolutely disgusting.
December 30, 2015
As with Stones to Abbigale, this is one that I listened to rather than actually read... ranging from annoyingly emotionally negligent to disturbing as shit, this is a story that I have zero desire to return to in order to write a proper review. Avoid this book. Avoid avoid avoid.
Also, I will just briefly say that Arthur/Onision has no clue how to talk to people who are suicidal. Absolutely no clue. The way that scene was written was deeply offensive to me.
Also, I will just briefly say that Arthur/Onision has no clue how to talk to people who are suicidal. Absolutely no clue. The way that scene was written was deeply offensive to me.
May 9, 2016
I don't think it even deserves a one star rating.
November 25, 2021
I recorded an audiobook of this for the clout, here’s the link: https://youtu.be/Tg6oWMdmu8o
Ladies and gentlemen, 104 books later, I finally give you my first 1 star review.
Never thought the idea of a “1-Star book” was possible, as most texts offer some incite into the perspective of another living being.
But this one,
Oh lord
I had three panic attacks this week because of this book.
I had to read self-help books to not go off the deep end, because of this book.
Why? You may ask?
Well, here are some actual lines from this PUBLISHED book.
"We are a curse this planet" (pg 2)
"Take an honest look our species." (Pg 3)
"Every little move me make around other people can change someone's life." (Pg 5)
"Some madman setting of a weapon in a stadium"
(Pg 12)
"This was incredibly painful consider my right foot was still on his neck" (pg 20)
"It would be difficult for them decline beyond the intellectual rock bottom stars they were already in" (pg 30)
all within the first 30 pages...
I made no typos; this is exactly how some sentences are written. And we are just a fifth through this garbage (it’s actually 150ish pages despite what goodreads says)
As for the plot
We have a kid complain about his father and school for 8 chapters
Then he complains about the air force for 9 more chapters
Then his girlfriend leaves him for a girl but he’s fine with that because he respects the LGBT (I don’t know either)
Then he kills three people and gets killed in the process
And his girlfriend says how’s he’s an amazing man.
The end.
If you’re wondering if this is a work of a 33 year old grown-up, who hasn’t grown up, and wants to complain about his immaturity by channeling into a book, then you are 100% correct.
This is a grown mans diary about how he hates the world and how the world should try to be more like him, even though he manipulates and completely ignores his first girlfriend, breaks his fathers nose, whines about the Air Force (which the author whines about in real life when he was temporarily enlisted), and kills people.
Yes, boys and girls, let’s be like him.
Or.
You can realize that the author is the definition of a toxic individual, and do what I was too stupid to do, and not engage in anything he’s a part of.
F
Ladies and gentlemen, 104 books later, I finally give you my first 1 star review.
Never thought the idea of a “1-Star book” was possible, as most texts offer some incite into the perspective of another living being.
But this one,
Oh lord
I had three panic attacks this week because of this book.
I had to read self-help books to not go off the deep end, because of this book.
Why? You may ask?
Well, here are some actual lines from this PUBLISHED book.
"We are a curse this planet" (pg 2)
"Take an honest look our species." (Pg 3)
"Every little move me make around other people can change someone's life." (Pg 5)
"Some madman setting of a weapon in a stadium"
(Pg 12)
"This was incredibly painful consider my right foot was still on his neck" (pg 20)
"It would be difficult for them decline beyond the intellectual rock bottom stars they were already in" (pg 30)
all within the first 30 pages...
I made no typos; this is exactly how some sentences are written. And we are just a fifth through this garbage (it’s actually 150ish pages despite what goodreads says)
As for the plot
We have a kid complain about his father and school for 8 chapters
Then he complains about the air force for 9 more chapters
Then his girlfriend leaves him for a girl but he’s fine with that because he respects the LGBT (I don’t know either)
Then he kills three people and gets killed in the process
And his girlfriend says how’s he’s an amazing man.
The end.
If you’re wondering if this is a work of a 33 year old grown-up, who hasn’t grown up, and wants to complain about his immaturity by channeling into a book, then you are 100% correct.
This is a grown mans diary about how he hates the world and how the world should try to be more like him, even though he manipulates and completely ignores his first girlfriend, breaks his fathers nose, whines about the Air Force (which the author whines about in real life when he was temporarily enlisted), and kills people.
Yes, boys and girls, let’s be like him.
Or.
You can realize that the author is the definition of a toxic individual, and do what I was too stupid to do, and not engage in anything he’s a part of.
F
August 5, 2016
Literally the most cringey thing you will ever read in your life. This book seems as if its written by an 8th grader who just got interested in writing and discovered Atheism while finding a nihilist book in the library. Read this if you want to laugh at how psychopathic Onision is and cringe at the terrible writing, plot, and underdeveloped characters.
December 31, 2017
LITERALLY the worst book I've ever read. Thankfully I listened to someone read it for free.
will-never-read
October 11, 2016This guy posts videos on YouTube bashing women who choose not to call themselves feminists, because we know better than to support an echo chamber ideology that is man-hating, anti-white, body-shaming towards thin girls, etc.
No thanks.
No thanks.
January 24, 2016
The biggest piece of crap you'll ever read. I wish we could give zero stars because that's the true rating I'd give this book.
November 25, 2018
I’m not an Onision fan, and I never will be, especially not after this book. I’m disgusted, and I can see why this was self-published, any publishing house would be shamed for publishing something as bad and problematic as this. I wouldn’t even be surprised if this was an autobiography, because this is filled with negative comments about other people and things in general, just like a lot of his youtube videos. No matter if you like him or not, I wouldn’t recommend this book to anyone, and here’s why;
The main character Arthur (or as we all probably like to call him, Greg) writes about his life and how every single person sucks and he’s the only intellectual who understands how the world really works, however, he broke a guys arm because he touched Arthurs girlfriends hips without her permission, beat up his dad for choking him (and of course, that was self defense, but he didn’t stop when his father let go of him. He actually attacked him, kicked him multiple times, got angry after his father bailed him out of jail, constantly talked negatively about his «stupid religion» etc), writes about how he likes to control his girlfriend, yelled at her and her friends because she didn’t want to leave them at lunch, and just acted horrible in general. The worst part is, personally I don’t believe this is a character he made up. I think he made this character based on his own life, acting out on the people in the story because thats what he wanted to do in the situations he was put in.
He constantly talked about how fat and ugly his fathers new girlfriend was, basically told her she was fat and gross in front of her dad, but couldn’t see why his father got mad and attacked him, yet he broke a guys arm for touching his girlfriends’ hips for two seconds. I just don’t understand the logic, this whole book was a mess.
In one of his videos he said this: «The fact that I served in the air force for just under four years, yeah I think I might know what I'm talking about». Weird, considering this book was filled with things the military wouldn’t tolerate or accept from the main character. If someone in the military acted the way the main character acted, they would be kicked out a long time ago. They wouldn’t just brush off the fact that one of their men broke one of his superiors ankle in a fight and wouldn’t stop punching that person until they dragged him away. They wouldn’t just ask if he was a psychopath and let him go like he didn’t do anything wrong.
Someone said they could edit the book for him, give him constructive criticism and correct his grammar, but it doesn’t seem like Greg handles any form of feedback (at all). It seems like he just lives in his own little bobble where everything he does is good enough, and everyone who gives him constructive criticism about anything what so ever gets shut down because «its not necessary», clearly he should’ve taking all the help he was offered, because it was terrible. He tells other people to go fuck themselves because they dislikes his book, and even though I get why he would be upset when someone hates what he’s been working on for a long time, people are allowed to have opinions. If you write a book and publish it, you’re not just gonna get positive reviews. There’s gonna be a lot of people disliking it, especially when it includes typos, insane behavior, manipulating, fat-shaming and negativity.
The main character Arthur (or as we all probably like to call him, Greg) writes about his life and how every single person sucks and he’s the only intellectual who understands how the world really works, however, he broke a guys arm because he touched Arthurs girlfriends hips without her permission, beat up his dad for choking him (and of course, that was self defense, but he didn’t stop when his father let go of him. He actually attacked him, kicked him multiple times, got angry after his father bailed him out of jail, constantly talked negatively about his «stupid religion» etc), writes about how he likes to control his girlfriend, yelled at her and her friends because she didn’t want to leave them at lunch, and just acted horrible in general. The worst part is, personally I don’t believe this is a character he made up. I think he made this character based on his own life, acting out on the people in the story because thats what he wanted to do in the situations he was put in.
He constantly talked about how fat and ugly his fathers new girlfriend was, basically told her she was fat and gross in front of her dad, but couldn’t see why his father got mad and attacked him, yet he broke a guys arm for touching his girlfriends’ hips for two seconds. I just don’t understand the logic, this whole book was a mess.
In one of his videos he said this: «The fact that I served in the air force for just under four years, yeah I think I might know what I'm talking about». Weird, considering this book was filled with things the military wouldn’t tolerate or accept from the main character. If someone in the military acted the way the main character acted, they would be kicked out a long time ago. They wouldn’t just brush off the fact that one of their men broke one of his superiors ankle in a fight and wouldn’t stop punching that person until they dragged him away. They wouldn’t just ask if he was a psychopath and let him go like he didn’t do anything wrong.
Someone said they could edit the book for him, give him constructive criticism and correct his grammar, but it doesn’t seem like Greg handles any form of feedback (at all). It seems like he just lives in his own little bobble where everything he does is good enough, and everyone who gives him constructive criticism about anything what so ever gets shut down because «its not necessary», clearly he should’ve taking all the help he was offered, because it was terrible. He tells other people to go fuck themselves because they dislikes his book, and even though I get why he would be upset when someone hates what he’s been working on for a long time, people are allowed to have opinions. If you write a book and publish it, you’re not just gonna get positive reviews. There’s gonna be a lot of people disliking it, especially when it includes typos, insane behavior, manipulating, fat-shaming and negativity.
November 30, 2017
If you read some of the reviews for this book and others you'll find stuff like "This book has bad grammer, bad spelling, poor character development, lack of most things you'd find in a novel but I LOVE ONISION SO 5 STARS!". That says a lot.
I couldn't get through the entire book, stopped about 3/4s of the way in. Tried my best to read it objectively and just... why? I don't even know where to begin. Bad everything. Why did he not have an editor? I don't think the author has picked up a single book in his life.
I couldn't get through the entire book, stopped about 3/4s of the way in. Tried my best to read it objectively and just... why? I don't even know where to begin. Bad everything. Why did he not have an editor? I don't think the author has picked up a single book in his life.
August 18, 2016
This Is Why I Hate YouTube Books
March 11, 2019
I was honestly thinking of ending it all today, however, it turns out im NOT the most pathetic human alive. So two stars for the laugh.
February 5, 2018
REMEBER: CONSISTENCY IS KEY.
Alright, brief re-cap. Arthur is a high school emo boy who hates his dad. His mom died and he blames everything on his dad's new girlfriend. After assaulting his dad, popping his girlfriend's cherry and getting expelled for breaking a fellow student's arm, he leaves for the military.
There he meets another girl, tries to pop her cherry, fails and moves to Korea. There, he rolls around the haybale with another girl, but the second girl comes to Korea too. They have a menage a trois. Then, the second girl gets in trouble, the third girl also gets in trouble, he tries to save them but something happens. (I won't spoil this work of art).
Again, probably the best book I have ever read. I think that it is even better than Twilight. I think that Twilight was probably too interesting compared to this book. Everyone needs something bland and boring to waste an hour of their lives on.
Both of his books are riddled with grammar issues, but it did not affect the experience one bit. It just added to it. The mistakes do not make my brains hurt and make me lose brain cells. To prove to you and myself, I will write my take on the characters in what I perceive to be the style of this book. To you know, give you a taste.
NOTE: The following review is a hyperbolical result of losing a couple IQ points in order to understand this book. I will, however, leave out grammatical issues unless it is unintentional.
Arthur: He is the writer of the literal diary. Joins the military and is super strong. Loves push-ups and laughing at pussy jokes. Only if it's a man though. If a woman makes a joke I will correct them. Also, the human species should just die. I hate people who watch sports. I hate my dad. He is literally the worst. (Yes the perspective changes. Even in the book consistency is not key.) I hate vegetarians and I love leg-sweeping bullies. I must protect my girlfriends and property.
Girlfriend one: Arthur is hot. We had sex and then he joined the military and I am never mentioned again.
Girlfriend two: You literally don't know what I look like. I like girls. That is a problem.
Girlfriend three: I have a biiiig butt. Authur literally calls me booty. That's not degrading.
Dad: My son thinks I hate him because I try to discipline him. Also, I am vegetarian. You don't know my name.
Dad's girlfriend: You don't know my name or how I look like. Arthur calls me horrible names that are not demeaning at all.
This is a fun way to review. What a great book. 10/10 would read again.
Alright, brief re-cap. Arthur is a high school emo boy who hates his dad. His mom died and he blames everything on his dad's new girlfriend. After assaulting his dad, popping his girlfriend's cherry and getting expelled for breaking a fellow student's arm, he leaves for the military.
There he meets another girl, tries to pop her cherry, fails and moves to Korea. There, he rolls around the haybale with another girl, but the second girl comes to Korea too. They have a menage a trois. Then, the second girl gets in trouble, the third girl also gets in trouble, he tries to save them but something happens. (I won't spoil this work of art).
Again, probably the best book I have ever read. I think that it is even better than Twilight. I think that Twilight was probably too interesting compared to this book. Everyone needs something bland and boring to waste an hour of their lives on.
Both of his books are riddled with grammar issues, but it did not affect the experience one bit. It just added to it. The mistakes do not make my brains hurt and make me lose brain cells. To prove to you and myself, I will write my take on the characters in what I perceive to be the style of this book. To you know, give you a taste.
NOTE: The following review is a hyperbolical result of losing a couple IQ points in order to understand this book. I will, however, leave out grammatical issues unless it is unintentional.
Arthur: He is the writer of the literal diary. Joins the military and is super strong. Loves push-ups and laughing at pussy jokes. Only if it's a man though. If a woman makes a joke I will correct them. Also, the human species should just die. I hate people who watch sports. I hate my dad. He is literally the worst. (Yes the perspective changes. Even in the book consistency is not key.) I hate vegetarians and I love leg-sweeping bullies. I must protect my girlfriends and property.
Girlfriend one: Arthur is hot. We had sex and then he joined the military and I am never mentioned again.
Girlfriend two: You literally don't know what I look like. I like girls. That is a problem.
Girlfriend three: I have a biiiig butt. Authur literally calls me booty. That's not degrading.
Dad: My son thinks I hate him because I try to discipline him. Also, I am vegetarian. You don't know my name.
Dad's girlfriend: You don't know my name or how I look like. Arthur calls me horrible names that are not demeaning at all.
This is a fun way to review. What a great book. 10/10 would read again.
September 18, 2019
As a Gay, I can say that this is not how a Gay is.
Okay, besides Corey (or however the hell it's spelled) I can safely say that reading this is a pain. Gurg really outdid himself! When I read Shmegma's first book, I took many WEEK long breaks to make sure I'd avoid puking but I also laughed at his 13-year-old-with-a-wattpad-account style terrible writing.
That didn't happen here. In here I cried tears of pain, I projectile vomited all over my computer screen and I took many MONTH long breaks to be sure I'd make it.
The only thing I can say to Gargamel is: STOP MAKING SELF INSERT FANFICS AND SELLING THEM AS ORIGINAL WORKS! And, for the love of God (fuck you, Arthur, or Greg, as I like to call you) STOP USING THE WORD IMPREGNATE EVERY SENTENCE, YOU FUCKING PREDATOR PIECE OF SHIT!
So, I'm sorry to inform Gegry, everyone's least favorite domestic abuser and anthropomorphic onion, that his book is only a 1 out of 5.
Okay, besides Corey (or however the hell it's spelled) I can safely say that reading this is a pain. Gurg really outdid himself! When I read Shmegma's first book, I took many WEEK long breaks to make sure I'd avoid puking but I also laughed at his 13-year-old-with-a-wattpad-account style terrible writing.
That didn't happen here. In here I cried tears of pain, I projectile vomited all over my computer screen and I took many MONTH long breaks to be sure I'd make it.
The only thing I can say to Gargamel is: STOP MAKING SELF INSERT FANFICS AND SELLING THEM AS ORIGINAL WORKS! And, for the love of God (fuck you, Arthur, or Greg, as I like to call you) STOP USING THE WORD IMPREGNATE EVERY SENTENCE, YOU FUCKING PREDATOR PIECE OF SHIT!
So, I'm sorry to inform Gegry, everyone's least favorite domestic abuser and anthropomorphic onion, that his book is only a 1 out of 5.
April 25, 2019
If Narcissistic Personality Disorder was a book...
November 4, 2015
Worst book ever.
November 22, 2015
Terrible
March 12, 2018
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
May 9, 2016
Okay, sure. This book has a strange character development, poor description, a distinctive lack of most things you'd expect to find in a normal book, several basic spelling and syntax errors, and a strange grammatical structure. If you are looking for an interesting book to read, or simply to philosophically challenge yourself, this isn't the book for you. If you start reading this book with a negative mindset, you won't be disappointed, and I'm sure you'll love taking apart all of errors contained within this book.
I bought this book as a fan of Onision's channel. I saw it had a bunch of hateful reviews, and I bought it anyway. I started reading it, and could not put it down. Flawed as it is, I love it.
I bought this book as a fan of Onision's channel. I saw it had a bunch of hateful reviews, and I bought it anyway. I started reading it, and could not put it down. Flawed as it is, I love it.
March 25, 2019
The basis on real events in Onision's life is used sparingly, it's about %98 self insert fantasy fulfillment that somehow manages to be more garbage than any horny teenager's fanfic.
March 17, 2019
yikes
Read
April 20, 2021Ahh...Onision, if ever a psychotic buffoon such as this could exist. His mere existence makes you question if there is justice in this world or if there is a benevolent god. His mere presence might even discredit the idea of justice and every organized religion that's been in history.
In all seriousness, I'm still baffled how this man still has a presence on the internet even after all of the heinous shit that he's done over the years. It's almost Trump levels of baffling of how such a megalomaniacal, narcissistic sociopath is still somehow on Youtube and still has a platform. It's almost like he wants to push things to the limit to see how far he can go before he loses everything that's dear to him.
As I've mentioned before, there are authors out there who can write about repugnant, unpleasant characters. But I don't think that Onision is one of those authors, from what of his books that I've read, I find that they're more of an extension of his fucked up, twisted psyche than an artistic exploration of human depravity and insanity. From the bits that I did read and what I heard from the other reviewers, I wasn't very impressed with it and I was reminded of Axl Barnes' books in its mean spirited, self indulgent tone that I found throughout my readings through Onision's work. It speaks more to the man I often see, a narcissistic, creepy guy who is unable to grasp that he's the author of his own problems, and can't accept that he is the cause of his own misery.
I may despise Razorfist, but at least the guy has the intelligence to understand when people have actually taken him to task, and can admit that he's wrong. But if you've paid attention to anything that this man has ever done, then you'll quickly grow to understand that this is not possible with him. Everything that he's ever touched, he has turned to shit. Even when he tries to do what's 'right' in his demented, twisted view of the world, he is unbelievably incompetent, ignorant, and hypocritical.
So no, I won't be supporting this guy's work, or anything that he ever finds himself doing in the future. His works have earned a hard pass from me.
Note: If you want a more cohesive review of Onision's books and works, check out Krimson Rogue's reviews here, here, here, and here.
In all seriousness, I'm still baffled how this man still has a presence on the internet even after all of the heinous shit that he's done over the years. It's almost Trump levels of baffling of how such a megalomaniacal, narcissistic sociopath is still somehow on Youtube and still has a platform. It's almost like he wants to push things to the limit to see how far he can go before he loses everything that's dear to him.
As I've mentioned before, there are authors out there who can write about repugnant, unpleasant characters. But I don't think that Onision is one of those authors, from what of his books that I've read, I find that they're more of an extension of his fucked up, twisted psyche than an artistic exploration of human depravity and insanity. From the bits that I did read and what I heard from the other reviewers, I wasn't very impressed with it and I was reminded of Axl Barnes' books in its mean spirited, self indulgent tone that I found throughout my readings through Onision's work. It speaks more to the man I often see, a narcissistic, creepy guy who is unable to grasp that he's the author of his own problems, and can't accept that he is the cause of his own misery.
I may despise Razorfist, but at least the guy has the intelligence to understand when people have actually taken him to task, and can admit that he's wrong. But if you've paid attention to anything that this man has ever done, then you'll quickly grow to understand that this is not possible with him. Everything that he's ever touched, he has turned to shit. Even when he tries to do what's 'right' in his demented, twisted view of the world, he is unbelievably incompetent, ignorant, and hypocritical.
So no, I won't be supporting this guy's work, or anything that he ever finds himself doing in the future. His works have earned a hard pass from me.
Note: If you want a more cohesive review of Onision's books and works, check out Krimson Rogue's reviews here, here, here, and here.
March 17, 2021
not a spoiler but cw self harm because i have an inability not to overshare on the internet
needless to say i didn't give any money to the author; this is one of the rare instances in which i condone book piracy.
needless to say i didn't give any money to the author; this is one of the rare instances in which i condone book piracy.
February 4, 2018
First things first. How could anyone expect a megalomanic ass like onision to create anything good? This book is garbage. A barrage of bad writing and plot holes. Hate it and onision equally
January 3, 2020
Why am I writing this review? Well, because 1) I don't fucking learn and 2) people need to be warned. Within these pages lies madness. And not the fun kind. Not the interesting kind. Not even the scary kind. Just the annoying kind.
So Onision is bad at writing good characters. Maybe he'll write a good evil character! It's probably closer to home, and they say to write what you know! Let's do an exercise. Start listing your favorite evil characters. If you're me, you'll start thinking of Mrs. Coulter from Pullman's His Dark Materials series, Walter White from Breaking Bad, Hannibal Lecter, the Duke of Ferrara, Count Cenci, the Joker, Magneto, Negan from The Walking Dead, Father Comstock from Bioshock Infinite, maybe, or Father Joseph, if you're more of a Far Cry fan. I've got a soft spot for Steven King, so let's throw Pennywise and the Pet Sematary demon in there, too. What makes them interesting? Complex psychological processes, unnerving similarities to ourselves juxtaposed with bizarre and unpredictable behavior, recognizable quirks and personalities, sure. But all of those things fall under the heading of one thing: GOOD WRITING. Something Gerg is incapable of.
Let's start at the beginning. The main character is another intolerable little teenage asshole who hates fucking everyone and everything. He hates his dad because he drives him to school, is vegetarian, and believes in God. I'm no Bible-thumper, but this kid can't go two sentences without taking a shit on religion. He has a dead mom, who taught him how to fight and to never feel sorry for himself. Apparently she didn't do either of those things very well, because this dude is a chronic victim and gets in three fights: he gets his tooth pounded out in the first, and wins by snapping the guy's arm at the elbow, an ungentlemanly move at any rate, and ends the third with a hatchet buried in his cerebrum. Spoiler alert. He wins the second by clawing out the eye of a dude who stood too close to his girlfriend. He hates his dad's girlfriend because she's fat, and he can't go two fcking seconds without mentioning it.
Like James, Arthur thinks he's better than everyone else, simply by dint of being an atheist, a non-sports fan, and a huge fucking misanthrope. He has a girlfriend, who he manipulates into dressing like a goth in a show of "loyalty" and letting him fuck her raw. Because Greg's gross fucking pregnancy fetish has to make it into a book about seventeen year olds. Also, the girlfriend, Ashley, is SO EXCITED to fuck Arthur that she has to run around the house before they do the deed, like your dog doing laps around the living room because you asked him if he wanted to go for a walk. No one has ever been that excited to see Gerg's weiner. Ever. I guaran-damn-tee it.
If this book just took a direction and ran with it, it might have the potential to reach mediocrity. I'm interested in psychology and the dark side of humanity, and I thought a person with antisocial leanings sublimating their desire for violence by joining the military was an interesting concept. Sort of a Dexter ripoff, but cool nonetheless. But Gerg vacillates wildly between proclaiming how DARK and EDGY Arthur is and ham-fistedly suggesting that SOCIETY is the real evil, and Arthur is the only sane man in a world of blind fools. For a serious example, Arthur, who hates everyone and thinks all humans should die, except for him (and maybe a girl he can put his raw, shriveled dick into), is the only Air Force trainee to stop a (virtual) suicide risk from pulling the trigger. How does he accomplish this wonder? He tells him that he has so much to live for! To be fair, if Arthur tried to stop me from killing myself, I'd listen. I would not only pull the gun out of myself to shoot him first, I'd empty the clip just to make sure that fucker was dead for reals. For a stupid example, when Arthur gets in a fight with John, a jock, Greg censors the word "pussy." In a book filled with graphic descriptions of underage unprotected sex, eye attacks, brutal violence, murder, attempted rape, and countless savage insults about characters' weight, gender, appearances, religion, and place of birth, the word "pussy" is too offensive. That's like Jeffery Dahmer refusing to eat a hitchhiker with a salad fork.
The book's pacing is unbelievably jerky, skipping forwards months or even a year at a time. It's formatted like a diary, which is stupid, because Arthur is always breaking the fourth wall, which a diary doesn't have, and explaining stupid shit to the reader, which diaries aren't supposed to have, and every entry begins with "IT'S BEEN AWHILE SINCE I'VE WRITTEN." Put a goddamn date. This herky-jerkiness is a sign of an inexperienced, easily bored writer who doesn't want to bother with world-building or character development, and wants to skip straight to the action. There is no balance between plot and character development, which could be a little forgivable if the plot wasn't so goddamn stupid. Some books are character-heavy, where the plot fades into the background, like Beckett's plays (I'm thinking of "Endgame" and "Krapp's Last Tape" in particular. Some books have incredibly intricate plots and employ some more lightly rendered characters, like The Lord of the Rings or His Dark Materials. In This is Why I Hate You, neither of these aspects was given any care. The humor is a mix between the Fred videos my little brother made me watch in the early 2000s and a scientific study on the theoretical limits of cleverness. I did not care for it.
People have been comparing this to fan fiction. Let me be clear: when I was an undergrad, I came home and, after a night of restless sleep, found a small binder under my mattress. My younger sister had filled it with Supernatural fan fiction she had printed out and she had forgotten to move it. Every single one of those incest-pornography and cliché filled printouts had more artistic merit and more care put into it than all of Onision's books combined, and I will repeat this assertion to anyone, anywhere, anytime. I have honed the skills I learned within the fan community. For every twelve year old on Wattpad trying to use Sonic the Hedgehog to come to terms with their budding sexuality is a promising writer editing their work, honing their craft, and producing a product they're proud of. Slander fan fiction with Gerg comparisons no more! I would rather turn that binder in to my advisor as my thesis than This Is Why I Hate You.
Don't read it. That's not a challenge. You don't have anything to prove. For the love of God, you have families. Don't do this to them.
So Onision is bad at writing good characters. Maybe he'll write a good evil character! It's probably closer to home, and they say to write what you know! Let's do an exercise. Start listing your favorite evil characters. If you're me, you'll start thinking of Mrs. Coulter from Pullman's His Dark Materials series, Walter White from Breaking Bad, Hannibal Lecter, the Duke of Ferrara, Count Cenci, the Joker, Magneto, Negan from The Walking Dead, Father Comstock from Bioshock Infinite, maybe, or Father Joseph, if you're more of a Far Cry fan. I've got a soft spot for Steven King, so let's throw Pennywise and the Pet Sematary demon in there, too. What makes them interesting? Complex psychological processes, unnerving similarities to ourselves juxtaposed with bizarre and unpredictable behavior, recognizable quirks and personalities, sure. But all of those things fall under the heading of one thing: GOOD WRITING. Something Gerg is incapable of.
Let's start at the beginning. The main character is another intolerable little teenage asshole who hates fucking everyone and everything. He hates his dad because he drives him to school, is vegetarian, and believes in God. I'm no Bible-thumper, but this kid can't go two sentences without taking a shit on religion. He has a dead mom, who taught him how to fight and to never feel sorry for himself. Apparently she didn't do either of those things very well, because this dude is a chronic victim and gets in three fights: he gets his tooth pounded out in the first, and wins by snapping the guy's arm at the elbow, an ungentlemanly move at any rate, and ends the third with a hatchet buried in his cerebrum. Spoiler alert. He wins the second by clawing out the eye of a dude who stood too close to his girlfriend. He hates his dad's girlfriend because she's fat, and he can't go two fcking seconds without mentioning it.
Like James, Arthur thinks he's better than everyone else, simply by dint of being an atheist, a non-sports fan, and a huge fucking misanthrope. He has a girlfriend, who he manipulates into dressing like a goth in a show of "loyalty" and letting him fuck her raw. Because Greg's gross fucking pregnancy fetish has to make it into a book about seventeen year olds. Also, the girlfriend, Ashley, is SO EXCITED to fuck Arthur that she has to run around the house before they do the deed, like your dog doing laps around the living room because you asked him if he wanted to go for a walk. No one has ever been that excited to see Gerg's weiner. Ever. I guaran-damn-tee it.
If this book just took a direction and ran with it, it might have the potential to reach mediocrity. I'm interested in psychology and the dark side of humanity, and I thought a person with antisocial leanings sublimating their desire for violence by joining the military was an interesting concept. Sort of a Dexter ripoff, but cool nonetheless. But Gerg vacillates wildly between proclaiming how DARK and EDGY Arthur is and ham-fistedly suggesting that SOCIETY is the real evil, and Arthur is the only sane man in a world of blind fools. For a serious example, Arthur, who hates everyone and thinks all humans should die, except for him (and maybe a girl he can put his raw, shriveled dick into), is the only Air Force trainee to stop a (virtual) suicide risk from pulling the trigger. How does he accomplish this wonder? He tells him that he has so much to live for! To be fair, if Arthur tried to stop me from killing myself, I'd listen. I would not only pull the gun out of myself to shoot him first, I'd empty the clip just to make sure that fucker was dead for reals. For a stupid example, when Arthur gets in a fight with John, a jock, Greg censors the word "pussy." In a book filled with graphic descriptions of underage unprotected sex, eye attacks, brutal violence, murder, attempted rape, and countless savage insults about characters' weight, gender, appearances, religion, and place of birth, the word "pussy" is too offensive. That's like Jeffery Dahmer refusing to eat a hitchhiker with a salad fork.
The book's pacing is unbelievably jerky, skipping forwards months or even a year at a time. It's formatted like a diary, which is stupid, because Arthur is always breaking the fourth wall, which a diary doesn't have, and explaining stupid shit to the reader, which diaries aren't supposed to have, and every entry begins with "IT'S BEEN AWHILE SINCE I'VE WRITTEN." Put a goddamn date. This herky-jerkiness is a sign of an inexperienced, easily bored writer who doesn't want to bother with world-building or character development, and wants to skip straight to the action. There is no balance between plot and character development, which could be a little forgivable if the plot wasn't so goddamn stupid. Some books are character-heavy, where the plot fades into the background, like Beckett's plays (I'm thinking of "Endgame" and "Krapp's Last Tape" in particular. Some books have incredibly intricate plots and employ some more lightly rendered characters, like The Lord of the Rings or His Dark Materials. In This is Why I Hate You, neither of these aspects was given any care. The humor is a mix between the Fred videos my little brother made me watch in the early 2000s and a scientific study on the theoretical limits of cleverness. I did not care for it.
People have been comparing this to fan fiction. Let me be clear: when I was an undergrad, I came home and, after a night of restless sleep, found a small binder under my mattress. My younger sister had filled it with Supernatural fan fiction she had printed out and she had forgotten to move it. Every single one of those incest-pornography and cliché filled printouts had more artistic merit and more care put into it than all of Onision's books combined, and I will repeat this assertion to anyone, anywhere, anytime. I have honed the skills I learned within the fan community. For every twelve year old on Wattpad trying to use Sonic the Hedgehog to come to terms with their budding sexuality is a promising writer editing their work, honing their craft, and producing a product they're proud of. Slander fan fiction with Gerg comparisons no more! I would rather turn that binder in to my advisor as my thesis than This Is Why I Hate You.
Don't read it. That's not a challenge. You don't have anything to prove. For the love of God, you have families. Don't do this to them.
August 7, 2019
Tw: sexual assault
I was given this book by a friend and encouraged to read specifically because the book is a train wreck. Not only is the writing awful, the main character is an unredeemable sociopath. It's written as a journal entry, but the author directly addresses the audience throughout the book. The women in this book are like white walls that exist for the protagonist to bounce his own ego off of, for example, he hooks up with a chick in order to comfort her about her brother being shot in a school shooting, and he hooks up with another woman by talking about how pretty her make up is after she confesses to him that someone sexually assaulted her. There's literally no character development of anyone in this book.
It's obviously an attempt at explaining what it feels like to be the weird outcast guy that no one understands or likes, but it's not done well. There's so much "fake deep" in this book, it feels like it was written by an incel that felt someones boob once, and now feels like he's the most bad ass alpha male in the world. And that's not just me saying that, the protagonist in the book often calls himself an alpha male, and compares human desires to animal desires, while going on long drawn out rants about how meaningless life is, and how dumb everyone is, and how he's the only one that "gets it".
He's also extremely violent, without real consequence, throughout the book. He assaults two different men in this book for hitting on his current love interest in some way. One touches her hip and says hello, so the protagonist decided to break his arm. The next is later in the book after the protagonist joins the airforce. A man walks up to his girlfriend, and says he wants to fuck her, so the protagonist breaks this dudes knee and pulls out his eyeball. Nothing happens to him for either of these actions, because plot armor. He never grows or learns anything. He seems to live for two reasons, to stroke his own dick about how much smarter he is than everyone else, and to bang chicks with no real personality or thoughts while also taking advantage of the traumatic situations he puts them in.
If i didn't know better I would honestly believe this book was satire. It mocks itself almost at every turn. But after doing some research about the author, I honestly believe this book was some kind of honest attempt at some form of reflective work. And was an earnest attempt at writing.
I was given this book by a friend and encouraged to read specifically because the book is a train wreck. Not only is the writing awful, the main character is an unredeemable sociopath. It's written as a journal entry, but the author directly addresses the audience throughout the book. The women in this book are like white walls that exist for the protagonist to bounce his own ego off of, for example, he hooks up with a chick in order to comfort her about her brother being shot in a school shooting, and he hooks up with another woman by talking about how pretty her make up is after she confesses to him that someone sexually assaulted her. There's literally no character development of anyone in this book.
It's obviously an attempt at explaining what it feels like to be the weird outcast guy that no one understands or likes, but it's not done well. There's so much "fake deep" in this book, it feels like it was written by an incel that felt someones boob once, and now feels like he's the most bad ass alpha male in the world. And that's not just me saying that, the protagonist in the book often calls himself an alpha male, and compares human desires to animal desires, while going on long drawn out rants about how meaningless life is, and how dumb everyone is, and how he's the only one that "gets it".
He's also extremely violent, without real consequence, throughout the book. He assaults two different men in this book for hitting on his current love interest in some way. One touches her hip and says hello, so the protagonist decided to break his arm. The next is later in the book after the protagonist joins the airforce. A man walks up to his girlfriend, and says he wants to fuck her, so the protagonist breaks this dudes knee and pulls out his eyeball. Nothing happens to him for either of these actions, because plot armor. He never grows or learns anything. He seems to live for two reasons, to stroke his own dick about how much smarter he is than everyone else, and to bang chicks with no real personality or thoughts while also taking advantage of the traumatic situations he puts them in.
If i didn't know better I would honestly believe this book was satire. It mocks itself almost at every turn. But after doing some research about the author, I honestly believe this book was some kind of honest attempt at some form of reflective work. And was an earnest attempt at writing.
February 21, 2016
I read this when it first came out back in September (3 months ago) I still haven't quite figured out if it's meant to be a joke or actually taken seriously. Which is why it has taken me so long to actually try review it. I can only hope it was meant as a joke.
I tried the sample first and thought it was great since I was going through an "I hate everything and everyone" stage, I bought the full book and even as arrogant and obnoxious as I was and can be, even I was very quickly disgusted.
I honestly don't remember why I gave the first book 5 stars, but this was like a (bad) copy of it. I'm very willing to suspend any disbelief while reading, but even I struggled with this one. One example Just, what even??
As for the main character, what a horrible human being.
If this was written as an example of how NOT to behave, I may believe that, but knowing who wrote it, well...Don't get me wrong here, Onision has helped me sometimes with his videos, but I have to say, if this book is serious and he wants people to pay to read it, then I don't think he has much right to be constantly laughing at and making fun of others. Just saying..
I'm almost afraid to even post this, just thinking of that, but well, I've written this much already. Let him tweet this, laugh, whatever. See if I care. In my defence, I want to say that I'm not saying I can write myself, in fact I actually deleted my two published books as I didn't think anyone should have to pay to read such crap. Not that I'm saying Onision's books are crap, I mean I kept on reading, just, I don't even know. As horrible as I can be to people myself at times, this book just scares me. And makes me want to hide and never want to speak to speak to anyone again, ever. Even more so that I already do...
Just changed my rating (added two stars) because I hate everyone too. Except Onision. Sometimes.
I tried the sample first and thought it was great since I was going through an "I hate everything and everyone" stage, I bought the full book and even as arrogant and obnoxious as I was and can be, even I was very quickly disgusted.
I honestly don't remember why I gave the first book 5 stars, but this was like a (bad) copy of it. I'm very willing to suspend any disbelief while reading, but even I struggled with this one. One example Just, what even??
As for the main character, what a horrible human being.
If this was written as an example of how NOT to behave, I may believe that, but knowing who wrote it, well...Don't get me wrong here, Onision has helped me sometimes with his videos, but I have to say, if this book is serious and he wants people to pay to read it, then I don't think he has much right to be constantly laughing at and making fun of others. Just saying..
I'm almost afraid to even post this, just thinking of that, but well, I've written this much already. Let him tweet this, laugh, whatever. See if I care. In my defence, I want to say that I'm not saying I can write myself, in fact I actually deleted my two published books as I didn't think anyone should have to pay to read such crap. Not that I'm saying Onision's books are crap, I mean I kept on reading, just, I don't even know. As horrible as I can be to people myself at times, this book just scares me. And makes me want to hide and never want to speak to speak to anyone again, ever. Even more so that I already do...
Just changed my rating (added two stars) because I hate everyone too. Except Onision. Sometimes.
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