Reviews tagging 'Eating disorder'

Earthlings by Sayaka Murata

76 reviews

spooky_coochie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Pedophilia, Incest, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, and Murder

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Violence, Misogyny, Sexism, and Acephobia/Arophobia

Minor: Vomit, Suicide, and Eating disorder

slime_retro's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.0

I don’t think I enjoyed this book but that’s hardly here nor there. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Child abuse, Incest, Rape, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Cannibalism and Suicide

Minor: Eating disorder

angorarabbit's review against another edition

challenging dark sad fast-paced

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

4.0

TLDR: Very good book, major trigger warnings.

Context: I thought I’d read a short novel after finally finishing Dahlgren. The cover is cute. The blurb is interesting, a nice coming of age story of a Japanese woman. Nice and light.

I was not ready for chapter 2 (the book is short, 6 chapters). Chapter 6 though was downright mind crushing. 

Ms Murata is a very good writer. I have read books where children are abused before. Never have I read a book where the author describes the disassociation and alienation that can be caused by that abuse so truly. She takes you to the edge, then a little more. You really can’t leave until she is done with you.

I will be thinking about chapter 6 for a long time. End of life hallucination or reality?

I will read more of Ms Murata’s fiction, just not right after finishing something akin to Dahlgren, if I can help it, and with more attention to trigger warnings.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Gore, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Cannibalism, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Blood, and Bullying

Minor: Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, and Alcohol

auteaandtales's review

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

jcsie's review against another edition

dark reflective 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

3.75

chapter 2 had me almost crying on the subway, so thanks for that

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Gaslighting, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Pregnancy, Eating disorder, Cannibalism, Murder, Incest, and Death

Moderate: Alcohol

Minor: Drug use

reading_112's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Murder, Kidnapping, Adult/minor relationship, Stalking, Sexual violence, Gore, Emotional abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Rape, Cannibalism, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Incest, Suicidal thoughts, and Blood

⚠️strong topics of pedophelia, cannibalism, incest, and intercourse between minors.⚠️

mog261's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

3.5

this was the most demented book i've read for ages. i feel like i lowkey need therapy after reading it. it needs many, many trigger warnings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Cannibalism, Misogyny, Death, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Rape, Bullying, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Gore, Incest, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Blood, Eating disorder, and Suicidal thoughts

soph183's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective fast-paced

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

2.75

This book was wild- I absolutely tore through it but feel like I have whiplash after finishing it. The blurb really was the tip of the iceberg, and the story was not what I expected at all. Also psa- despite the blurb mentioning ‘buried horrors of (the main characters) past’ take this as a big fat trigger warning as SA told from a child’s perspective is a rough surprise when you’ve had no indication it’s coming.

Although this was a powerful but sad look at dissociation to cope with trauma and questioning one’s  purpose in modern society, by the end of the book felt like I had lost my mind a little. As I was reading at such speed some parts felt like I must have skipped over sections as I struggled to make sense of the plot, but the ending reassured me it was just a wild ride. The last few pages were some of the strangest I’ve read for a while felt slightly unnecessary (but maybe that’s the point- to challenge what you know to be possible?). Also found the character of Tomoya really hard to stomach and even understand which made for difficult reading.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Rape, Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Eating disorder, Death, and Suicide attempt

snerp_reads's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-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

2.75

The concept for this book was very interesting, and worth exploring, but I feel this book fell flat. 
I did enjoy the small tidbits of world-building around Natsuki's belief in Popinpobopia, and

how she used said beliefs to mask her coping mechanisms and responses to abuse as magical powers in her young mind.

 
I thought we would've gotten a longer narrative through her childhood,

but 40% into the book there was a pretty long time skip, which I felt threw off the pacing.

This would have been fine by itself, but the story seems to unravel too quickly and without satisfactory explanation

in the last quarter of the book.

Alongside those pacing issues, a lot of the heavier topics depicted seemed slightly ham-fisted in and included mainly for shock value, instead of for relevance or genuine exploration. There does seem to be an issue with the characters, especially Natsuki. The voice of her childhood self and her adult self are identical, in a way that both makes her sound too old as a child and too young and naive as an adult. This weird contradiction is prevalent from the start, and never goes away. The ending did not make sense or feel very thought out to me, and the few twists at the end didn't have much foreshadowing. 

However, I did find Natsuki and her husband's relationship interesting, and a refreshing change of pace from most written marriages.

The mechanic of framing Natsuki's vision of herself as an alien was also one of the main things I liked about this book.
I enjoyed the concept Murata created, and was drawn in to read more when she used it to explore Natsuki's feelings and reactions to the mistreatment of her by the adults around her, but I feel the book ultimately veered too hard into shock-value territory, and caused any potential messages or analysis to be flung out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Cannibalism, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, Domestic abuse, and Child abuse

Moderate: Drug abuse, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Vomit, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Infidelity, Eating disorder, Death, Stalking, and Infertility

pennywise30's review against another edition

The only book I wish I DNF, because of these labels that should have been listed. Be in a good headspace if you choose to read this book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Incest, Death, Sexual content, Grief, Cannibalism, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gore, Eating disorder, Child abuse, Sexual harassment, and Mental illness