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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Well there are a lot of statements here that are heard LOUD AND CLEAR. There is quite the escalation! Super interesting book that delves into a really awful side of conformity, societal expectations, and trauma. This is NOT a book for a sensitive reader. This just have been quite the trip to write. Very creative.
challenging
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
4/5 I can see why this book divides opinion. Check your content warnings on this one. Deceptive is the harmless happy hedgehog on the cover. Probably one of the more surprising novels I've read in the last decade. This is not for the faint hearted, proceed with caution.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Violence, Cannibalism, Murder
Moderate: Bullying, Gore, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Blood, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Vomit, Grief
All I’m gonnna say is this book isn’t just “a weird book”, it’s so much more than that
The book follows protagonists whose only way of rationalizing their traumatic childhood and the relentless abuse that defined them is to convince themselves that the reason they are tormented by human beings is because they, in reality, are not human.
When they become adults they are so utterly disconnected and dissociated from their lived reality that the characters start doing outlandish acts and causing chaos because they want to escape “the factory” (society as we know it)
What happens throughout is heartbreaking, jaw dropping, crazy, graphic and unbelievable scenes I could never have imagined
The ending… wtf!! It left me staring at the ceiling thinking “what the HELL did I just read” and “was that real?!”
The book follows protagonists whose only way of rationalizing their traumatic childhood and the relentless abuse that defined them is to convince themselves that the reason they are tormented by human beings is because they, in reality, are not human.
When they become adults they are so utterly disconnected and dissociated from their lived reality that the characters start doing outlandish acts and causing chaos because they want to escape “the factory” (society as we know it)
What happens throughout is heartbreaking, jaw dropping, crazy, graphic and unbelievable scenes I could never have imagined
The ending… wtf!! It left me staring at the ceiling thinking “what the HELL did I just read” and “was that real?!”
challenging
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I literally sat speechless when I finished reading this… easily the most insane* book I’ve ever read. (* I don’t even think that’s the right word… absurd, batshit, bizarre, outlandish) I went in completely cold on someone’s recommendation – and I loved the author’s other book, Convenience Store Woman, so was expecting quirkiness and criticism on society’s suffocating structures, but this one needed a trigger warning. I have a higher tolerance for somethings, but wish I had a heads up on child SA, incest, and cannibalism. (If you’re reading this you’re probably thinking what tf kind of book did she read) Weirdly though, I think it works** and if you really get into the mind of the main character, the story it tells about trauma and the extremes you can go to cope hit hard. (**I will be thinking of this book often and with no one to talk to I know it’s gonna be rattling in my head with no where to go)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Incest, Sexual assault, Cannibalism
Moderate: Mental illness, Murder
Natsuki and her cousin Yuu believe they are from the faraway planet Popinpobopia, spending their summers in their grandparent’s house in the mountain dreaming of a spaceship to take them back to their true home. Half of this book features the perspective of a young Natsuki, and half focuses on her as an adult, in an asexual marriage, coping with the trauma of her childhood.
Murata does not hold back in painting this portrait of how childhood trauma can so deeply affect your perceptions of the world as an adult. Natsuki is somebody who simultaneously wants to conform to societal expectations that are so heavily pushed onto her - marriage, raising a family - but finds she cannot do so; a coping mechanism that found her comfort as a child is still so deeply ingrained as an adult. The depictions of abuse are equally as heartbreaking as seeing Natsuki’s mental state continue to deteriorate when she is not given the support she seeks out in her family and peers.
Eventually the book starts to take bizarre turns, as the characters begin to partake in taboos in attempt to defy their humanity. Not only are the events that take place in this book deeply upsetting and disturbing, but the tone of voice Murata uses to contrast young Natsuki and adult Natsuki is executed flawlessly - both voices are distinctly unique and believable, but still fully interlinked between the two periods of her life. Murata also does an excellent job of making us question which aspects of the book are reality or which are pure fantasy, leaving you to wonder if there might even be shades of truth to be had in her theories of the world.
This is not a book to take lightly despite the cute cover - while an excellent portrayal of non-conformity and the effects of abuse, this book contains a plethora of content warnings, including sexual assault, pedophilia, incest, violence and even cannibalism.
Murata does not hold back in painting this portrait of how childhood trauma can so deeply affect your perceptions of the world as an adult. Natsuki is somebody who simultaneously wants to conform to societal expectations that are so heavily pushed onto her - marriage, raising a family - but finds she cannot do so; a coping mechanism that found her comfort as a child is still so deeply ingrained as an adult. The depictions of abuse are equally as heartbreaking as seeing Natsuki’s mental state continue to deteriorate when she is not given the support she seeks out in her family and peers.
Eventually the book starts to take bizarre turns, as the characters begin to partake in taboos in attempt to defy their humanity. Not only are the events that take place in this book deeply upsetting and disturbing, but the tone of voice Murata uses to contrast young Natsuki and adult Natsuki is executed flawlessly - both voices are distinctly unique and believable, but still fully interlinked between the two periods of her life. Murata also does an excellent job of making us question which aspects of the book are reality or which are pure fantasy, leaving you to wonder if there might even be shades of truth to be had in her theories of the world.
This is not a book to take lightly despite the cute cover - while an excellent portrayal of non-conformity and the effects of abuse, this book contains a plethora of content warnings, including sexual assault, pedophilia, incest, violence and even cannibalism.
dark
The ending had my jaw on the floor and that is literally only the second time a book has done that to me
challenging
why is it so weirdd?!? why jap fictions are so weird?? are they okay? guess im happy im not born in japan haa
I tried so hard to finish, the csa was already difficult to stomach, but the incest was too much for me. I am not the right audience for this.