Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

Earthlings by Sayaka Murata

75 reviews

markwillnevercry's review against another edition

0.25

Yeah, no, thanks, I'm good, me and Sayaka Murata are just not chilling together, such is life sometimes. This was just not good, not for me at least. I kinda get what the author was going for, but just because an idea exists, it does not mean that it should be put to life. The amount of trigger warnings that this book needs is way to big, even tho it says basically the same thing as Convenience Store Woman. I will not continue with this author.

Reading notes:

Just a reminder, that we have two sex scenes, where Natsuki is 12.

The second she started talking about copying the way her friends talk it was just like "Ah yes, this is just reskinned convenience store woman".

There is victim blaming. 

This book is published in 2018 and there is talk about how Natsuki does not have permission from her husband :)
Why are we here :)

Ah yes, Natsuki has the responsibility to have sex with her husband :)

-//- 

Ah yes, Natsuki was so lucky that her teacher was in love with her :)

Of course only Natsuki cares about love, it is not a manly thing :)

I am tired :)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Incest, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Abandonment, Blood, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Ableism, Death, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Bullying, Grief, Pedophilia, Confinement, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Violence

addyruth17's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-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

4.25

Highly disturbing, cannot stress that enough. But this book is special to me as a former alien child. It's a plea for others to be kind to us, and one for us to take care of ourselves in healthy ways. The writing/translation works to bring you into a dreamlike state, that quickly becomes a nightmare.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Incest, Pedophilia, Gore, Mental illness, Child abuse, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Pregnancy and Suicide attempt

skyeuqx's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Blood, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Violence, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Physical abuse, Self harm, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Sexism, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Confinement, Eating disorder, Excrement, Infidelity, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual harassment

daylark's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

4.5

oh WOW. this book was a whole-ass experience. I read it in one long go, though it's not a super long book either. I was totally drawn into the experience, the trauma, the metaphor. I really love this author's writing and how she deals with taboo themes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, and Emotional abuse

anninaso's review against another edition

adventurous dark medium-paced

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

4.5

It was recommended to be a book where you finish and think "What the fuck did i just read" and I can say, this really holds true. 
I want to add tho, that this book is incredibly dark on a psychological level through and through and i was really caught off guard. 
I also would have wished for a more interesting end.
Still, it held what it promised. I would recommend if you‘re looking for an unusual read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Pedophilia, Suicide, Murder, Self harm, Cannibalism, Death, and Incest

Minor: Violence, Body shaming, Bullying, Eating disorder, Gore, Pregnancy, Vomit, and Murder

erebus53's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

2.5

CW: before going in, this book is very unsettling and deals with horror, trauma, and sexual abuse.

This is a book I read as part of book club. I seem to have been the first to finish it, probably because I started it before the month technically started (and my timezone favours me too). Set in Japan, it tells the story of a woman who approaches life quite differently from other people. She is traumatised as a child and this also affects how she interprets things happening around her as she grows to womanhood. The story is told in 2 timelines, childhood and adulthood.

The story starts out as though it's a serious critique of culture but by the end of the book has devolved into a complete mess of horror and depravity that seems deliberately contrived to unsettle the reading audience. It also seems to have less of a grip on reality at the end and disappointingly bibbles off into impossibilities. I was prepared to suspend disbelief and I would have been very happy for things to have become some fluffy candy fantasy, but instead it veered in a much more darkly destructive direction.

Three main characters each seem to have lived scarred lives, and it seems like the author blames most of those woes on their mothers. I don't know if this is just misogynistic internalisation, or a critique of the treatment of women in Japanese society. There is a lot of critique... some of which is valid, and some which is pretty much destructive nonsense.

I'm not sure if the messy disaster that is the end of the book is supposed to be a reinforcement of the necessity of social controls, or just a flight of dark fancy given gory wings and teeth. I tend to think that it's mostly the latter, and if this is supposed to be a sensible discussion about the oppressive nature of a coercive culture that demands that people force themselves to marry and procreate to meet the needs of the societal Factory, then there are better ways to have that conversation.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Physical abuse, Vomit, Sexism, Violence, Gore, Grief, Sexual assault, Death, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual content, Toxic friendship, Body shaming, Cannibalism, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Child abuse, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship

jasperkelley2015's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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? Yes

I despise this book. There is no need for the amount of triggering details included in this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Murder, Gaslighting, Forced institutionalization, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Cannibalism, Body shaming, Sexual violence, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Bullying, Sexual assault, Violence, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Incest, Gore, and Body horror

fedelikeslego's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Unlike Convenience store woman, which I hated and couldn’t keep myself to finish it, I liked this. I read it in one sitting and I’m giving it 4 stars just because I enjoyed reading it.

I’m so confused I feel like I’m high. That’s what it feels like at the end of the “experience ”. I felt so high that their discussions had perfectly made sense.

I think that the book could be divided in two parts: 

• The first ⅓ of the book. Here incest and rape/pedophilia were extremely explicit and I’m not sure I liked that. Even if the love story between the kids was so cute (they were so innocent it didn’t “bothered me that much”), I don’t think that it was necessary to explicitly write for pages about all the sexual intercourses that the protagonist had. It was too much.

• The last ⅔ of the book. This part was a bit more enjoyable, and it’s more centred about what it means to live in this world and in particular in Japan. Murata definitely makes a perfect description of the Japanese society (it would probably make sense only if you lived in Japan or a similar asian country), it’s just so sad and frustrating. In the last chapter, as i said, I felt like I was high. I’m still trying to process what I red. I’m just confused, nothing else. 

Movie reccomendation: The Holy mountain (1973), I felt the same way reading the book and watching the movie. Different plot, different settings, same vibes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, Incest, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Gore, Grief, and Violence

Moderate: Infertility, Vomit, Body shaming, Bullying, and Death of parent

_p0ssum_'s review against another edition

dark emotional sad 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Incest, Sexual assault, Cannibalism, Terminal illness, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Sexual content and Pregnancy

rachaeldev's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Death, Cannibalism, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Murder, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Incest, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Domestic abuse, Infertility, Suicide, Body shaming, Pregnancy, Sexism, Body horror, and Death of parent