Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

Earthlings by Sayaka Murata

87 reviews

neverlandpages4's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

2.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Abandonment, Violence, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Blood, and Body horror

Minor: Acephobia/Arophobia

catapillar's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

3.5

Masterfully written. Tightly wound, conceptually tight. Weirdly adorable. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Murder, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Cannibalism, Emotional abuse, Death, Violence, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Vomit, and Self harm

Moderate: Incest

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

r_o_s_e's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Cannibalism, Emotional abuse, Incest, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, and Murder

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Gaslighting, and Misogyny

Minor: Violence, Excrement, Pregnancy, and Vomit

xdarkthunderx's review against another edition

dark emotional funny 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Very cute cover hiding a very fucked up book. It really does just keep getting weirder.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Incest, Emotional abuse, Body horror, Gore, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, and Cannibalism

sittingonabar's review against another edition

dark tense fast-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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Incest, Mental illness, and Death

emilyandthewhippet's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Uncomfortable and something that you're not going to forget for a long time. I'm not sure that's a good thing though. The first half was traumatic and the second... I don't even know? Not a nice read but well written.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Eating disorder, Grief, Rape, Sexual assault, Murder, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Violence, Pedophilia, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual violence, Alcohol, Bullying, Body shaming, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Vomit, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Sexual content, Stalking, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Pregnancy, and Mental illness

mel_j's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense fast-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

What the hell did I just read?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Violence, Incest, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Blood, Gore, Alcohol, and Death

Minor: Vomit

snwalsh's review against another edition

fast-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Murder, Rape, and Sexual assault

elanilanella's review against another edition

Do not read this book without first looking at the content warnings!!! Unless you're at peak mental health with no trauma of course, then go forth with my envy.

Picking up this book, with a reviewer using the word 'hilarious' on the front, with its bright green, cute hedgehog plushie and vibrant energy, I thought I was settling in for a lighthearted while at times sad read about a girl who was navigating being different and had a vivid imagination. While those things are true of the book, nothing could have prepared me for the horrors within the pages (though some content warnings would have been much appreciated). 
Before I knew it I had been frozen for half the book, unable to stop reading, my own trauma being triggered time and time again by this innocent looking book rooting me to the spot. At one point I  almost threw up. I know they say not to judge a book by its cover but you'd think there'd be some correlation in tone between the graphic design and the content within. Nothing about the book was 'hilarious' in the slightest, nor was it cute.

It was very well written and I have no doubt it's a good book, but I am currently not robust enough mentally to continue with it, though I might one day pick Earthlings up again when I'm more prepared for what may ensue. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Murder, Acephobia/Arophobia, Sexual assault, Incest, Child abuse, Violence, Suicide attempt, Physical abuse, Pedophilia, and Mental illness

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Forced institutionalization