Reviews with content warning for Physical abuse - Earthlings

Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Earthlings by Sayaka Murata

409 reviews

rocketrae151's review against another edition

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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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shirumoon's review against another edition

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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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willow1113's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.75

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mellbutrin's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

3.5

"Magical powers. I have to summon my magical powers. The power of darkness, the power of wind--any magical power will do, but I need something. I have to use my magical powers on my whole body before my heart feels anything."

Murata tells a horrifying, yet beautifully written, story of Natsuki, an elementary school student, experiencing sexual abuse from her teacher and emotional and physical abuse from her close family. To cope with this abuse, Natsuki creates a magical system and imagines herself as an alien wizard, distinct from the "Earthlings" around her.

As a grown woman, Natsuki's belief that she is an alien only intensifies, a consequence of her husband believing in both her fantasies and her description of society as a "Factory" for reproducing and working. This folie à deux encourages the couple to perform despicable acts in order to escape the "Factory" and distinguish themselves from "Earthlings."

Natsuki is vividly brought out as a character. She is compellingly sympathetic, and though Natsuki's actions frequently go against social taboos, Murata’s careful exploration of Natsuki’s philosophy and psychology makes it easy to understand why she performs them.

I cannot recommend this book to anyone. However, for those who can endure painfully explicit scenes of sexual and physical abuse, suicidal ideation, incest, and cannibalism, this book offers a worthwhile portrayal of self-discovery and survival, along with decent social commentary.

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dnvrdnvr's review against another edition

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loudonuts's review against another edition

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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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