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inspiring
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Amazing short story collection! I absolutely loved every wild ride - and each of the stories really was a wild ride.
I'll certainly return to this book and reread my favourites again! I especially enjoyed "A Magnificent Spread", "Two's a Family", "Life Ceremony", "Body Magic", "Eating the City", and "Hatchling". Impressive to find so many favorites in a collection of short stories!
I'll certainly return to this book and reread my favourites again! I especially enjoyed "A Magnificent Spread", "Two's a Family", "Life Ceremony", "Body Magic", "Eating the City", and "Hatchling". Impressive to find so many favorites in a collection of short stories!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism
Moderate: Gore
Minor: Stalking, Acephobia/Arophobia
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cannibalism
challenging
dark
funny
reflective
medium-paced
The first thing I thought when I stumbled upon this audiobook under "New Releases" at my library was Oh hell yeah. I love Murata's work and was super excited to read some weird shit. The longer heavy hitters are mostly back-loaded -- I found Lover on the Breeze and Eating the City to be standouts. But some of the shorter ones towards the start like Poochie are more like dine-and-dash situations: filling, smacking you in the face, and not waiting around too long. I think if you've read Murata's full length novels coming into this, you can really see a lot of the early groundwork in the ideas/themes for those books while they're still nascent & before they've been fully developed, and I think that's super cool but simultaneously maybe a little ehh.
Small thing: just like with the rest of Murata's work, if you're really not into body horror & cannibalism content in your books (even if tongue-in-cheek & slyly dark humor vibe), I'd skip this collection lol.
Small thing: just like with the rest of Murata's work, if you're really not into body horror & cannibalism content in your books (even if tongue-in-cheek & slyly dark humor vibe), I'd skip this collection lol.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Cannibalism
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Sexual content, Vomit, Cannibalism
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Uncomfortable... Really uncomfortable. I really liked A First-Rate Material, Life Ceremony and Hatchling.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Vomit, Cannibalism
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Cannibalism
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Grotesque. Nauseating. So BLOODY BRILLIANT!
Murata had sealed to be my new favourite author this year.
These collection of short stories are nothing short but UNIQUE and just BRILLIANT . Sad that these are the only books that she’s written so far, but lowkey, Life Ceremony was just a well-curated collection of short stories, that leaves you stupefied, horrified but extremely impressed.
5🌟 (ALL THE STARS IN THE WORLD)
In the collection of 11 short stories from Murata, Life Ceremony caters around the topic of humans subjecting to the word “normal.” Consistent in her tone and way of writing, Murata had wrote a variety of stories that will have you laughing at some, gobsmacked with a few and overall leaving the book just feeling… well.. things :’) Murata has that effect on you and lord do I love her books.
“Normal is a type of madness, isn’t it? I think it’s just that the only madness society allows is called normal.
What made me absolutely in love with Murata is her Writing Style . Murata is consistent in all of her books, with almost a monotonous tone that , when read, it felt that whatever horrendous things that the characters in the book are doing … is well… considered …… normal 😂 It will caught you off guard if you’re not used to her writing, but coming in from Earthlings and CSW, well, we expect nothing less from Murata and that is why she’s a literal queen :’)
I love how she goes against everything and wrote on how humans act if the roles are reversed in this world. In one of the stories Eating The City and A Magnificent Spread , it showed the irony of the human mind in being feeble, especially in following a certain rule. Humans have been trained to follow a certain societal standard that when someone goes against it, they will considered “Weird” and “Different.”
I like how Murata portrays “Normal” is something as a perception of human beings into being able to accept something. The whole book portrays in how the society’s voice impacts an individual’s personality so much, to a point that we often wear masks to ensure that we can be acceptable in society.
While some stories are worth pondering upon, there are some stories like Puzzle which is one of my favs and is one of the most unique stories I’ve read, but lord it was nauseating 😭😭 I almost vomitted at certain parts to how descriptive Murata had wrote certain parts. This particular story had been exceptionally well-written in a sense of exploration of a human body in another perspective. While its absolutely effed up and took a whole weird turn towards the end, it was a story that showed Murata’s strength in writing.
Another of Murata’s strength is being relatable in the most creative way. Life Ceremony , the story that was made the title of the book is by far my favourite story in this book and the longest one as well. It was unique how Murata perceived the concept of “Everlasting Humanity” into something that is (literally) be inserted in a human.
“ The world is but a brilliant mirage, a temporary illusion. I mean, it’s an illusion you can only see now, so how about enjoying it to the full while you can.
An exploration of sexuality, life and pertaining to societal standards, Murata had narrated a collection of short stories that I will remember for a very long time. It’s addicting, weird but super well done. I’m in love.
CW: Cannibalism, Death, Sexual Exploration
(Yes , I know… the content warnings sounds ring bells in showing me being .. well.. but dont be weirded out and try reading this at least once in ur life)
Biggest thank you to @definitelybooks (Pansing Distribution) for this gorgeous copy
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Suicidal thoughts, Transphobia, Excrement, Vomit, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
As always with Murata - amazing writing and characterisation, could be much less cannibalism and incest
Content Warnings
Graphic: Incest, Cannibalism
Moderate: Cancer, Terminal illness, Vomit
Minor: Sexual content
adventurous
dark
hopeful
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Of all of Murata’s works I’ve read, this one was still strong but not my favorite. As always, she does the alienated outcast character thing well. The collection was thematically very rich, covering things like the idea of self, what is “normal” and what is “abnormal,” the wisdom of children, being an individual, and how societal expectations change over time. I think the best stories were Life Ceremony and Hatchling (I also though Poochie was fun even though it was too short to do anything super meaningful). Her books are hard to beat, but this still has all of the darkness and humor that I have come to expect from her writing!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism