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rorunyon96's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Cannibalism, Emotional abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, Sexual violence, Violence, Physical abuse, Incest, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, and Child abuse
Moderate: Kidnapping, Body horror, Gore, Bullying, Pregnancy, and Blood
reading_112's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Mental illness, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Murder, Kidnapping, Adult/minor relationship, Stalking, Sexual violence, Gore, Emotional abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Rape, Cannibalism, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Incest, Suicidal thoughts, and Blood
⚠️strong topics of pedophelia, cannibalism, incest, and intercourse between minors.⚠️purrsonu's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Cannibalism, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, Incest, Murder, Sexual content, Kidnapping, and Suicide
_n_'s review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Incest, Murder, Sexual harassment, Pedophilia, Bullying, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Gaslighting, Gore, and Sexual violence
uparrowhead's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
Survive, whatever it takes.
To say that this book was eccentric and absurd would be a wild understatement, and I truly don't think that there's any words to describe the story I have just read.
In truth, I'm torn between whether I like it or not, but what I am certain on is that people should make sure they check the content warnings for this book before reading it because it really gets crazy.
I understood the overall message of the novel — a call for individuality and being unique in a world where conformity is praised and weirdness is seen as taboo — but the execution of this in the book left me speechless, for better or for worse.
Natsuki's character constantly hangs over me like a pendulum, swinging from being a relatable character to someone who's just far too strange for me to be able to understand. The book gets rough many times, exploring the difficulties Natsuki faced and getting quite disgusting by the end of the novel.
Coming straight from my reading of Convenience Store Woman, I find this book very difficult to unpack, and tenfold more intense (low-key traumatising, if I'm honest). Overall, Murata still managed to create an interesting and engaging read, but a lot of it was at the cost of my mental health. It's entertaining, but read at your own risk.
Graphic: Incest, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Cannibalism, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Pedophilia, Vomit, and Murder
Moderate: Alcohol, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Suicide, Abandonment, and Acephobia/Arophobia
cuteling's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
4.5
TW FOR THIS BOOK: pedophilia, domestic abuse, rape, incest, cannibalism, murder
The story is about a little girl named Natsuki, who is 11 at the beginning of the book and who is verbally and sometimes physically abused by her own mother and sister, and overlooked by her father.
As the story unravels, we are presented with pedophilia, incest, domestic abuse, murder, cannibalism but also the delusion of a little girl unable to cope with everything coming her way. Because of this, Natsuki seems to be under the impression that her plush hedgehog Piyyut, that she's bought with her own money when she was only 6 years old, is an alien from a planet called Popinbopibia, talking to her and giving her magical items that help her deal with feelings so great they don't fit inside her fragile little body.
Piyyut tells her that she's the only one who can save the Earth and that's why she has to do certain things (to avoid spoilers i won't elaborate any further), but in reality she's taking desperate measures in order to save herself.
Deeper into the story we follow Natsukis desperate journey to be, once again just as in the other two books, accepted by the "Factory" (that is what she calls the society) until the very end of her sanity.
Overall I recommend this book just would suggest reading it third with the order being
Life Ceremony (it gives you the best idea of what kind of a writer Sayaka Murata is, in my opinion)
-> Convenience Store Woman (shorter, milder compared to the other two, cleanses your pallet)
-> Earthlings (the most disturbing and strange of the three, HUGE TW for: pedophilia, incest, cannibalism, rape, domestic abuse, murder).
The book is very well written and never had me bored and i was surprised at just how explicitly described some of the scenes were.
I give it 4.5/5 ★, making it my favorite of the three.
Graphic: Incest, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Murder, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Toxic relationship
justmys's review against another edition
- 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
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
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.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Gore, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Cannibalism, Death, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, and Rape
Moderate: Confinement, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Fatphobia, Kidnapping, Alcohol, Bullying, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide attempt, and Body shaming
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 Cannibalismfedelikeslego's review against another edition
- 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
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.
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
kibiiiariii's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Vomit, Abandonment, Death, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Rape, Acephobia/Arophobia, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Body horror, Incest, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual harassment, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Confinement, Cursing, Body shaming, Bullying, Cannibalism, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Murder
irenelpynn's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Cannibalism, Sexism, Rape, Forced institutionalization, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Incest, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Gore, Blood, Violence, and Misogyny