Reviews with content warning for Fatphobia - Earthlings

Earthlings is a deeply upsetting critique of society, focused largely on the impact of unresolved trauma from childhood abuse. This book is important and incredibly well written, but don’t take the content warnings lightly.

Content Warnings

justmys's review against another edition

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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.

Content Warnings

areen's review against another edition

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dark funny hopeful reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

spang's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad medium-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

4.0

I don't really know what to say about this one!

Content Warnings

saj04's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

3.75

Content Warnings

cyntismiles's review against another edition

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dark sad tense fast-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

3.0

I think I picked out this book for the magical realism tag on StoryGraph but should have looked into it more. For some reason, I thought it was a book of short stories? It really should have been obvious it wasn't by "a novel" in the title. This is all just to say I really went into this one blind. Anyway on with the review!

I thought this book explored some dark responses to trauma and how our early experiences trying to figure out how the world works either help or hinder us. It is an interesting thought piece on the expectations of society and how they are often duplicitous. It is very gut-wrenching seeing how the main character(s) react to their various traumas. This is told from a perspective that is questionable in a way where we can both witness their perspective and as a reader see beyond their perspective. It is a horrifying and sad tale often crossing lines that leave the reader asking "wait, really?". There were many moments where I thought to myself "this has really gone off the rails!" and then it got even wilder.

I found the twists and turns of the story very disturbing. The author did a wonderful job of leading the reader in certain directions where it felt like things might get better and then twisting the narrative this way and that. I wish I could read the original text to compare because I felt like there were some areas in which the translation may have been lacking. Alas, I do not know Japanese so I don't know if this was the original writing or translation. It wasn't that big of a deal, just some word choices that I felt were odd.

I don't know that I can "recommend" the book per se as it is so graphic and disturbing. I believe the author executed the premise well and it's a quick read which I think is to its benefit considering the content. It is to the point and gets its point across well. If you are interested in this book, I highly recommend reading the content warnings as I did not. I use StoryGraph which has a good program for content warnings.

Content Warnings

shrimpseas's review against another edition

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fast-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

the reviews are correct: this is fucked up as hell. it's written almost entirely in a cutesy middle-grade voice, and the fantasy aspects match. cws for literally everything. a look into the interplay b/w childhood trauma & society & capitalism, i suppose. i literally dont know what to say about this. it does what it sets out to do, that's for sure.

Content Warnings

lipstickitotheman's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad medium-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

3.75

Content Warnings

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