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I loved the novel. I don't care what people say. If you don't like it, why are you even reading it? I found the novel insanely addicting. It's very well-written, and I also found all the characters well-developed and interesting.
People say it's worse than Non-Zero Zum and No Reason, but I strongly disagree. I'd say the dark parts, are darker; however, in Bad Life, the characters are way more developed and interesting. In Non-Zero Zum and No Reason there's absolutely no logic behind the ML's behavior, or any other character for that matter, and they get no development, and the whole thing is literally just torture porn and rape. At least in Bad Life, the mangaka gave it some logic and developed the characters properly. Jerome and Simon are interesting, unique characters. And yes, you might not be convinced by the logic, but the mangaka did at least give some in comparison to Non-Zero Sum and No Reason.
The MC is also tough; although, I personally disliked this sometimes, because it felt unnatural in some parts. I care more about a character being well-developed than "strong". But I also don't think people are "weak" for being unable to fight against relentless abuse anyway. I think Simon is the most well-developed, consistent and unique character. But I enjoyed Jerome more as a character, and found him interesting, even if he's somewhat irredeemable, based on his reasoning for abusing the MC. But I personally don't care if Jerome's reasoning is redeemable, I care more about the character itself being interesting. Also, the intention of the manga matters, like No Reason was obviously made just to torture the MC, so I don't expect the ML to have any deep reasoning either, even if I'd prefer it.
Furthermore, Bad Life has a more varied setting than Non-Zero Sum and No Reason. We follow the MC over 15-20 years, as he lives his life, so it's not just about torture and abuse, even if it's a big part of it. And the MC, also does get revenge, which is more satisfying than most other works like this.
I'm saying this as a person who enjoyed all those works, but that's because I like dark things, and I don't care that much if it's problematic. And to be fair, the abuse and rape is highly detailed and graphic, so it's obvious it's for people who like works like that. But I don't seek out works I don't enjoy. For example, I'm very picky about fluffy stories, so if I don't enjoy it, I don't seek out tropes I don't like, go around bashing it, ruining the experience for everyone else. If you don't enjoy works like this, no one forced you to read it.
Anyway, if you are fine with really dark works, I'd highly recommend the novel. It's mostly dark constantly in the beginning, and then it mellows out somewhat towards the latter parts. But overall, it's an insanely addicting novel, where all the main characters are well-developed and the plot is engaging.