Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Earthlings by Sayaka Murata

68 reviews

katyamarcelle's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Cannibalism, Physical abuse, and Child abuse

Moderate: Incest and Acephobia/Arophobia

Minor: Confinement and Suicide

wizardingwisteria's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

4.5

I don't even know what to say. That was horrifying but so beautifully written I couldn't look away. 

The guy behind the register at the bookstore I bought this from tried to warn me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Cannibalism, Pedophilia, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Death of parent, Blood, Confinement, and Vomit

Minor: Pregnancy

auteaandtales's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I don’t think ‘enjoyed’ is really the right word for this. I have a weak stomach so, a lot of the time, I was disgusted and it was a difficult and challenging read. 

Saying that, I did enjoy the social commentary about the ‘Factory’ and how our bodies don’t belong to us. I also enjoyed the storytelling via Piyyut and Planet Popinpobopia. Much like I did with Convenience Store Woman, I really related to the main character and I, too, spent my childhood wondering when my ‘real’ family, the aliens, would come and take me back home (although this was told in a much darker way). 

I’m sure this will be on my mind for a long time, much in the way Convenience Store Woman was. I would definitely read up on the trigger warnings before diving in, though, even if you don’t usually need them. It’s quite disturbing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Acephobia/Arophobia, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Cannibalism, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Incest, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Pregnancy, Mental illness, and Body horror

behindherpages's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Emotional abuse, Incest, Murder, Cannibalism, Rape, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Child abuse, and Death

Moderate: Confinement

svimm2056's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

One of the darkest books I read in 2023. The author doesn't shy away from horrific things that the MC and crew go through, while also having an almost-dreamlike presence, like an out-of-body experience. At the same time, the book has a big emphasis on gender roles and how society pressures people into following said roles, which does more harm than good.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Body horror, Acephobia/Arophobia, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Cannibalism, Incest, Gore, Abandonment, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Confinement, Mental illness, Sexual assault, and Violence

prod_atashi's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense fast-paced

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

3.75

WHAT IN THE ACTUAL FUCK WAS THAT

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Violence, Incest, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Blood, Medical content, Torture, Cannibalism, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, and Murder

shoelace's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Child abuse, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Death, Pregnancy, Self harm, Vomit, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Mental illness, Violence, Bullying, Confinement, Gore, Incest, Blood, Cannibalism, Pedophilia, Death of parent, Physical abuse, and Infertility

stardustdreamer's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Death, Gaslighting, Incest, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual content

Moderate: Bullying, Toxic friendship, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent

Minor: Excrement and Suicide

haruday's review against another edition

I.... can't even rate this. I don't even know how to give this a rating.

I saw the spoiler warnings of graphic content, so I prepared myself before diving into it, but this book was so hyped I thought I could look past it. And I did for the most part.

On the surface, this story is a horror tragedy of a young girl abused and controlled by the adults around her, unable to be taken seriously, losing her voice, autonomy, right to her own body and free will. She struggles to make sense of the world and her womanhood the best she knows how, with no healthy adult figures around to guide her or to rely on. So she disassociates. Believes she is anything but an Earthling. Things become an out-of-body experience, and she is only an observer, biding her time for reasons unknown. The only solace she finds in life is her childhood "sweetheart," Yuu.

The scene after Natsuki is taken advantage of by that fooking pedophilic sicko of a teacher is contrasted heavily by her intimacy with Yuu. Aside from the fact that he's her cousin (sweet home Alabama), at that moment, she's just a child desperate to be with someone she cares about. She wants her first to be with someone who is so starkly different to her grotesque abuser. Yuu is portrayed as shy, soft-spoken, kind, almost feminine. Everything that that "man" is not. And most of all, she trusts him to be intimate with her, even if neither of them understand the repercussions of their actions. Obviously, I do not condone any type of incest or sexual acts between minors, but it does happen. I enjoyed that the author didn't shy away from these taboo topics, and found myself empathizing with why Natsuki had behaved how she did. In a way, it was a very childlike, pure moment - a human instinct - to want to be comforted in that way. This scene stood out the most to me.

Again, unfortunately these types of horrid situations happen, with teachers taking advantage of children, family members that turn a blind eye, parents that are abusive and controlling, "friends" who have something to say about your sex life and family life, people that think they make up for their past actions by having children and contributing to the population... The book is shocking in its subject matter as it slowly unravels these gruesome experiences in an innocent, child-like perspective. Some of the thoughts are almost comedic and very fantastical, with mentions of aliens and magic. But the horror slowly dawns on you as you continue to flip the pages - a feeling that creeps up, slowly but surely, a sure warning for what's to come.

All fine. And then, it gets to the latter half of the book.

One after another, everything hits you on the head like a brick. Things happen. And I drew the last line at the

cannibalism

. Definitely a provocative read that made me feel super queasy at the end. I was literally squinting and skimming through the last few pages trying really hard not to visualize the scenes. Thought I could stomach it, but definitely going to be taking the content warnings more seriously in the future. I'm definitely not a horror girlie.

Overall, I feel very mixed about this book, so I'll refrain from giving it a rating. I can see how it's so divisive, but I did feel like it was very raw and real in the beginning half. I'm glad I was able to power through though and finish for my October reading challenge... you just probably wouldn't catch me reading it through a second time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Pregnancy, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Vomit, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Body horror, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Bullying, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Gore, Incest, and Suicide attempt

cow_png's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.0

ok wow uh, I really didn't expect anything that happened in this book. Please look at the content warning before reading this book. 
In the first few chapters, I felt like the author went a bit too in detail about things and made it longer than they needed it to be like

when Natsuki got taken advantage of in the teacher's house, I felt extremely uncomfortable and kept thinking "ok so this is where it is going to stop" and it just kept going.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Cannibalism, Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Physical abuse, and Rape

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Confinement