Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Earthlings by Sayaka Murata

329 reviews

rocketrae151's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

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

shirumoon's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.25

In the first one or two chapters, I was so enthralled with what I'm reading, both stylistically and the setup of the story but unfortunately it didn't unfold in a way that I would have wanted to. Some things that I disliked: 
The main character is kind of running in circles, no matter how much time passes. Sure, might have been a deliberate choice and trauma does stifle your development but the main character's struggling just felt redundant at some point. Also what I generally fail to relate to is that endless enduring of

family absue and coercion

but I guess that's an integral part to the book's social commentary on Asian culture and family dynamics. It was frustrating to read though and made it predictable that at some point... they would lose it. And then the gore increased to unneccessary levels.

To be honest, I'm not quite sure whether I struggled more with the idea of the book itself or with the execution? It just didn't feel new and revelatory to me, just not really a deeper message there beneath that one layer of critizising society. Nicely written nevertheless and it had good pacing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Murder, Body horror, Cannibalism, Incest, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Mental illness, Blood, Physical abuse, and Vomit

Minor: Alcohol, Infidelity, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Infertility

roesalow's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Eating disorder, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, and Murder

loudonuts's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious reflective 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

3.25

as expected of murata san, loads of intense existential issues that i could really relate to. in the last hour it all got kind of insane, which was also expected. this was definitely not for the faint of heart. unfortunately i did not feel as attached to the characters and story as i did in CONVENIENCE STORE WOMAN, but it was still a wild read that will stick with me for a while.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Murder, Cannibalism, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual harassment

pryingblackbird's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes

4.75

Unhinged and dark, cynical and surreal, and yet much too real. Some people said it's "hilarous" or "funny", to me it read more like a horror novel about the terrors of being a child, of being forced into society, of being a woman, of being different. It never made me laugh, it just filled me with unease. I enjoyed it immensely, but I am hesitant about recommending it. This one comes with a lot of content warnings and will leave you unsettled.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexism, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Rape, Cannibalism, Acephobia/Arophobia, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Child abuse

Moderate: Body shaming, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Gaslighting

Minor: Incest

oatmilky's review against another edition

challenging dark funny tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Only after adding the content warnings did I realize how freakish this book is. Great read - gets gory and gooey, treads the line btwn dark humor and just dark.

For those that liked The Vegetarian by Han Kang minus the mundane with more taboo.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Incest, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Gore, Cannibalism, Emotional abuse, Blood, Mental illness, and Adult/minor relationship

minamouse's review

dark emotional funny reflective sad 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

4.25

Wtf was this book?

And why could I not put it down?!

I was shocked at how enthralled I was with this novel. Everything about it is weird, and unsettling. But I also felt like there was this aura of reliability embedded in its pages. Do I believe I am an alien from another planet, no. Do I occasionally have moments in my life where I feel like I don't understand society as a whole, yes. It's strange, it's creepy, it's worth the read. 4.25 out of 5 ⭐.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Child abuse, Body horror, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Incest, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexism, and Sexual harassment

strange_abalone's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective 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

5.0

Initial reaction:
I have no idea what to rate this…. I have no idea what I just read… a brilliant depiction of society and trauma…. But also, what did I just read?????

Reaction after sitting with it for a day:
I think the initial reaction is to be stunned, and that makes a lot of sense, it’s a very diabolical read. But a lot of the reviews here seem to be shocked by the nature of the book without exploring more into what ideas are being presented. It’s deranged to make a point, and in that way it is exceptional. The “factory” and popinpobopians are concepts that will sit with me forever. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Emotional abuse, Vomit, Child abuse, Death, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Body horror, Gaslighting, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Bullying, and Suicidal thoughts

wrenjuniper's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I read this all in one day, its very graphic and extremely hard to get through

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Bullying, Mental illness, Cannibalism, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Rape, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Vomit

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