Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Earthlings by Sayaka Murata

175 reviews

bookishtraveler's review against another edition

I loved "Convenience Store Woman" for its life perspective and Sayaka Murata's quirky, tender writing.  And "Earthlings" was very similar in writing style and theme.  HOWEVER, the triggers in this book were much darker and more than I could take in a New England winter.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Pedophilia, and Sexual harassment

thesapphiccelticbookworm's review against another edition

dark medium-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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Murder, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Incest, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Violence, Vomit, and Alcohol

roskoff's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

3.5

Extremely well written but also extremely difficult to read, painful, deeply disturbing, horrifying, near traumatic. I couldn’t put it down, but I felt sick the entire time and afterwards. I’m glad I read it now that I have some distance from it but if you’d have asked me immediately after I finished the book, I’d say I regretted it. But it accomplishes what it sets out to do as a book, which I think is to convey alongside its meanings a feeling of utter distress and discomfort, to force readers into a position like the protagonist’s. It’s a horrible and sickening life and you feel it yourself. So, not an enjoyable reading experience, but a powerful one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Sexual violence, Incest, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

mog261's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

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

3.5

this was the most demented book i've read for ages. i feel like i lowkey need therapy after reading it. it needs many, many trigger warnings. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Vomit, Murder, Physical abuse, Sexism, Cannibalism, Misogyny, Death, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Rape, Bullying, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Gore, Incest, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Blood, Eating disorder, and Suicidal thoughts

purrsonu's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Cannibalism, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, Incest, Murder, Sexual content, Kidnapping, and Suicide

snerp_reads's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

2.75

The concept for this book was very interesting, and worth exploring, but I feel this book fell flat. 
I did enjoy the small tidbits of world-building around Natsuki's belief in Popinpobopia, and

how she used said beliefs to mask her coping mechanisms and responses to abuse as magical powers in her young mind.

 
I thought we would've gotten a longer narrative through her childhood,

but 40% into the book there was a pretty long time skip, which I felt threw off the pacing.

This would have been fine by itself, but the story seems to unravel too quickly and without satisfactory explanation

in the last quarter of the book.

Alongside those pacing issues, a lot of the heavier topics depicted seemed slightly ham-fisted in and included mainly for shock value, instead of for relevance or genuine exploration. There does seem to be an issue with the characters, especially Natsuki. The voice of her childhood self and her adult self are identical, in a way that both makes her sound too old as a child and too young and naive as an adult. This weird contradiction is prevalent from the start, and never goes away. The ending did not make sense or feel very thought out to me, and the few twists at the end didn't have much foreshadowing. 

However, I did find Natsuki and her husband's relationship interesting, and a refreshing change of pace from most written marriages.

The mechanic of framing Natsuki's vision of herself as an alien was also one of the main things I liked about this book.
I enjoyed the concept Murata created, and was drawn in to read more when she used it to explore Natsuki's feelings and reactions to the mistreatment of her by the adults around her, but I feel the book ultimately veered too hard into shock-value territory, and caused any potential messages or analysis to be flung out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Cannibalism, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Mental illness, Domestic abuse, and Child abuse

Moderate: Drug abuse, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Vomit, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Infidelity, Eating disorder, Death, Stalking, and Infertility

cvntresss's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Violence, Mental illness, Murder, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Cannibalism and Incest

slaywithsteph's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Incest, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Murder, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Sexual assault, and Rape

Minor: Death and Toxic friendship

eerikaanni's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

A beautiful depiction of a fucked up life, from traumatizing childhood to mentally ill adulthood, from unhealthy coping mechanisms to violence and group psychosis. Absolutely brilliant.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic friendship, Incest, Sexual violence, Murder, Pedophilia, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

digifae's review against another edition

dark funny inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Sexual violence, Rape, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Cannibalism, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Domestic abuse, Suicide attempt, Incest, Murder, Suicide, Sexual assault, Violence, and Emotional abuse