Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

Earthlings by Sayaka Murata

63 reviews

gabrielaresende's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Self harm, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, and Death of parent

markwillnevercry's review

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

plumdustsuns's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Murder, and Gaslighting

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

fairygodfish's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark fast-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

4.75

The only thing stopping me from giving this a full five stars is how uncomfortable the first two chapters made me feel. But I also don’t think this story could have been told without it. And I think I’m glad this story was told. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Incest, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming, Gore, and Vomit

Minor: Infertility, Infidelity, and Death of parent

anninaso's review

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

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

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

dragon_s_hoard's review

challenging dark emotional tense

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

3.0

I can’t decide whether this is a chilling indictment on collectivist society’s imperative to conform, the lack of supports provided to traumatized peoples, and the profound effects of formative trauma, or whether it is a chilling indictment on the lack of supports provided to traumatized peoples, the profound effects of formative trauma, and a cautionary fable about the need for both support and societal control because otherwise people go off and do absolutely bonkers things. </spoilers>

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Acephobia/Arophobia, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Infidelity, Suicide, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol

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

jasperkelley2015's review

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

justmys's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

3.75

So...uhhh...right. This book. Sure does umm book doesnt it? I feel like I need a hug haha!

Sayaka Murata has a hell of a skill in making you deeply, deeply uncomfortable very quickly. This book begins following an autistic girl who doesn't fit in with the world but has found her coping mechanisms through fantasy and a friend in her cousin who thinks similarly. And then...we just yeet ourselves off the cliff entirely. 

We go from child using fantasy to find understanding in a world that's always just to the left of their understanding, to SA to finally

a cannibalistic mini cult who fully believe they are aliens

. 

I mean, hats off to Murata for the book. Just as disturbing and powerful as Convenience Store Woman. She writes neurodiversity and the way the world is viewed with such terrifying accuracy and isn't afraid or ashamed to tackle hard topics through their lenses. 

But, yeah, fair warning going in this gets wild and dark fast. The ending felt like I'd stepped off the edge of a hill and was rolling fast to the rocks below. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Blood, Vomit, Cannibalism, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, and Alcohol

Please read Trigger Warnings before going into this one if it's something you require. The most notable right off the bat are: Child SA Grooming Child Abuse SA Cannibalism