Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Earthlings by Sayaka Murata

983 reviews

hannahmg's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.0

I wonder if I hadn't found the first half as triggering would I of liked it more? The first few  chapters about her childhood was to much and was it all necessary. The description and the cover is misleading. 
The themes were interesting, the lack of censorship had the effect I believe was intended. 
The whole earthlings and isolation was well done. The writing was good. The structure was good. 
This is horror and personally it was too much for me.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Suicide, Body horror, Death, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Rape, Child abuse, Gore, Incest, Sexual assault, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, and Cannibalism

Minor: Vomit

nathalienadamas's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

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

emk2008's review against another edition

3.75

W....T....F.......did I just read?! Chaotic, horrific, creative? Most importantly, trigger warnings, trigger warnings, trigger warnings! Not really my cup of tea content/story wise, but I think the writing style and over all storying telling was captivating and creative.

TW: child abuse, child sexual assault/abuse, violent murder, cannibalism (?!)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Cannibalism

balfies's review against another edition

challenging dark fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

I'd heard that this book was messed up and I was rolling my eyes at that assertion for the majority of the book until it got to the end. This book is unimaginably gory, chilling, and emotionally shattering. What a compelling, deeply impressive, batshit crazy book. Content warning for domestic violence, incest, murder, sexual abuse, and cannibalism.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual violence, Cannibalism, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Domestic abuse, and Rape

chianna's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

3.25

PLEASE READ THE TRIGGER WARNINGS BEFORE READING THIS BOOK
I enjoyed the writing style but the sheer graphic nature of this book made it very very hard to digest. I liked the section on family dynamics and relationships the best, and the book really made my stomach churn in the second half.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Incest, Murder, Cannibalism, and Pedophilia

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

ash_na61's review against another edition

dark

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Murder, Cannibalism, and Rape

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

willow1113's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Blood, Sexual content, Bullying, Cannibalism, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Sexual assault

fishreads's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

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

2.0

I really enjoyed reading 'Convenience Store Woman' by this author and I was foolish enough to assume I would probably enjoy Earthlings too. I went into this without reading the summary, when the plot took much more darker turn than expected I continued on with trepidation but still not giving up on my conviction that it will be worth it in the end. I told myself that I just have to be strong enough and get through the horrible

child abuse and detailed descriptions of sexual abuse of a child in chapter two

. I comforted myself by actually taking the time and reading all the rave reviews printed on the cover that I skipped before I started reading.

I was through the worst of it and I could even see some parallels with 'Convenience Store Woman' with the characters struggling with the pressures of society to conform to its rules. I was still telling myself that reaching the end will be worth it for sure.

Except, with so little of the story left, the plot took a turn towards grotesque. The ending was completely batshit crazy. I was wrong, this was not worth it at all.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Murder, Suicide attempt, Vomit, Incest, Pedophilia, Gore, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Misogyny

Minor: Suicide