Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Earthlings by Sayaka Murata

120 reviews

jesssicawho's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Without a doubt, the weirdest book I’ve ever read. Themes of assimilation, alienation, abuse - check the CWs because this one is HEAVY. I honestly don’t know how to rate this. Strange, unpleasant, but somewhat affecting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Body horror, Incest, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Cannibalism

sammyghost19's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Cannibalism, Violence, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Misogyny, Infidelity, Death, and Child abuse

vermethys's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Pedophilia, Misogyny, and Incest

Moderate: Murder, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

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

mefrou's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Incest, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Cannibalism, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Blood, Murder, Rape, and Suicidal thoughts

snerp_reads's review

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

fomko's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

4.0

Wtf

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Suicide attempt, Pedophilia, Suicide, Incest, Violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Death, Emotional abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Body horror, Mental illness, Cannibalism, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Acephobia/Arophobia, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse

emjbarnes's review against another edition

dark sad 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? It's complicated

3.5

A very sad and vivid book.

The main character's actions are uncomfortable, but the magical realism/psychosis elements make Natsuki's experiences feel really vivid.

This is very readable but was a tough read. Highly recommend checking the content warnings for this one before you begin

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual assault, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Acephobia/Arophobia, Gaslighting, and Mental illness

Moderate: Suicide attempt and Incest

Minor: Infertility, Death of parent, Bullying, and Infidelity

gia0203's review against another edition

challenging emotional tense fast-paced

5.0

parts of this book made me cry because I understood so deeply how the protagonists felt. this is for anyone who has experienced trauma and anyone who has felt like they are an alien in this world. have you ever just thought to yourself, why is this world the way it is? why are we pressured to do certain things, to play a certain role? I’m tearing up again as I think of this. this book is about escapism and about wanting to be free. I, too, understand wanting to be far away from the factory. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Cannibalism, Pedophilia, and Child abuse

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, and Incest

biobeetle's review against another edition

adventurous dark relaxing tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Sexism, Sexual assault, Cannibalism, Child abuse, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Murder, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Vomit, and Pregnancy