Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Earthlings by Sayaka Murata

74 reviews

bekiethebanished's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Body horror, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Incest, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, Sexism, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, and Violence

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Emotional abuse, Abandonment, and Acephobia/Arophobia

Minor: Pregnancy, Death of parent, Medical content, Vomit, Suicide, Grief, Excrement, Body shaming, and Bullying

emjbarnes's review against another edition

dark sad fast-paced

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

3.5

A very sad and vivid book.

The main character's actions are uncomfortable, but the magical realism/psychosis elements make Natsuki's experiences feel really vivid.

This is very readable but was a tough read. Highly recommend checking the content warnings for this one before you begin

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual assault, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Acephobia/Arophobia, Gaslighting, and Mental illness

Moderate: Suicide attempt and Incest

Minor: Infertility, Death of parent, Bullying, and Infidelity

maddy506'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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Murder, Incest, Adult/minor relationship, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Violence, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Self harm, and Death of parent

tacochelle's review against another edition

dark emotional tense 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

CW: child molestation, incest, murder, sexual assault, cannibalism, probably more that I'm not remembering

This had a lot of the same themes on sexuality, societal norms and taboos as Convenience Store Woman, with the additional theme of how childhood trauma affects your worldview. It's just told in a fucked up way. As detached as our main character is to the events described here, it is still a lot of graphic imagery packed in a fairly short novel. Good, but not for the faint of heart.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Murder, Gore, Pedophilia, Suicide, Death of parent, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Toxic relationship

alexandrabelze's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

oh wow. where to even start? a unique, extremely dark, and satirical take on the constraints and pressures of society’s expectations: a portrayal of extreme anomie. murata did not hold back on the scrutiny. she captured the whimsical and overactive imagination of children so perfectly, especially when it came to processing trauma. this was an amazing portrayal of childhood trauma and how that affects people differently in adulthood. the last two chapters or so were a whirlwind of “wtf” but i was still captivated. extremely excited to read convenience store woman.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Gaslighting, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Blood, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Violence, and Eating disorder

Minor: Bullying, Grief, Pregnancy, Body shaming, Death of parent, and Vomit

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

questionablereads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This book is wild, unhinged, chaotic and depraved, and I absolutely loved it. You're introduced to Natsuki, a strange child who is quite loud about her strangeness. She experiences tragedy that no child should have to face and then you are quickly thrusted into her life as an adult, living quietly against the status quo. This book takes no prisoners and touches on taboo topics such as murder, incest, child abuse, motherhood/parenthood, cannibalism... societal norms as a whole. The book holds a strange dichotomy of reading as it is lighthearted in tone, but the topics discussed are heavy and often uncomfortable. I personally was hesitant to pick this up, but by the end of chapter one I could tell this was going to be one of the best books I have read this year. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Incest, Cannibalism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Death and Death of parent

skylarkblue1's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Representations: https://trello.com/c/3YRo1n9k/85-earthlings-by-sayaka-murata

I honestly don't have the words to describe this book properly. This book is a fucked up, surreal kind of existential depression. I've not seen the fawn response to trauma be so well depicted in a book either - especially with the internal struggles that come with it.

If I say too much about this book, I think it'd ruin the experience you'll have reading it. Essentially it's the story of a severely abused child retreating into delusions and fantasies and never really being able to grow up - while in turn being subjected to intense pressure and scrutany from traditional society to "be normal".

This book very much takes real problems and cranks them up to max. Victim blaming, hiding of abuse, the very heteronormal society's views of your worth being tied to if you can have babies or not and more are explored within the book - and I think it actually does it pretty well. It takes the worst case scenarios for each situation and puts it all together, but still - sadly - having a decently realistic approach.

I would have liked if the 2 side characters had some more "fullness" about them, and it'd be nice to have an epilogue as well just to tie things up and maybe have it end on a *little* bit more of a hopeful tone.

I would highly recommend this but please do take the content warnings seriously. It is explicit, it does not mince words. This is a very sad story. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Gore, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Incest, Murder, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Misogyny, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Death of parent

Child Sexual Assault, Severe Victim Blaming, Depersonalisation/Derealisation/Dissassociation

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

saharz's review against another edition

challenging dark funny tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This book was absolutely insane. At many times it was hard to read, not due to writing style but due to content. It deals with a lot of dark and heavy topics with vivid, vivid description. But for all it’s intensity I could not put the book down, the writing style was simple yet effective

I was constantly questioning myself and the narrator

I found myself to be completely enthralled with this take on trauma and Japanese society. The world was normal, as I know it, and yet the book does an incredible job of presenting to you what is encroaching and dystopian about it, it feels like a different world but simultaneously, you know the rules of it- you know it’s logic and what’s expected and the ways the world reacts to the characters and the ways the characters react to the world have you respect the levels of absurdity the characters go to in response to it. All worlds seem equally absurd. “And why not respect

Pobinpobopia

this is what you allow in this world you’ve chosen to build?” The author seems to ask. 
The ending was insane but beautiful. And I appreciated this type of loved that formed out of confession, radical acceptance, freedom, and taboo. But still, off the f*cking wall. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Murder, Sexual assault, and Violence

This is not a book for the weak. The content can be horrific at times and tries its best to intentional be morally repugnant. Walk carefully and at your own pace with this.