Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - Earthlings

Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

emilyandthewhippet's review

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Uncomfortable and something that you're not going to forget for a long time. I'm not sure that's a good thing though. The first half was traumatic and the second... I don't even know? Not a nice read but well written.

Content Warnings

mel_j's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

What the hell did I just read?

Content Warnings

markwillnevercry's review against another edition

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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 :)

Content Warnings

uparrowhead's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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.

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dragon_s_hoard's review against another edition

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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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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