Reviews tagging 'Death'

Life Ceremony by Sayaka Murata

55 reviews

wordsareworlds's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional medium-paced

• 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

3.5

A solid anthology, Murata uses a lot of extremely weird and unsettling elements as a way to comment on life and society. I enjoyed it, but felt like some of the stories were really heavy handed in their commentary, rather than letting the reader infer anything. 

Not all the stories were weird in a body horror/dealing with mortality way. One was about a love triangle between a girl, her boyfriend, and a sentient curtain hanging in her room, and I did really enjoy that one. My favorite overall was Puzzle. None of them were a complete miss, but there was one (or two nested together) about the ways the relationship between two women could have gone that were the most "normal" but also the least interesting in how they flowed with the rest of the anthology.

There are elements of gender essentialism I find on par with most other Japanese literature I've read, but I don't think it really veers into anti-queer or anti-trans sentiment.

I'd recommend this to people who are looking for the literary version of Black Mirror that deals with society and mortality using bodies and extreme personalities instead of technology. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Body horror, Stalking, Death, and Infertility

jasminrain's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

This is easily one of the strangest books I've read in my life. The content of the stories and where they are heading is completely unexpected and their content varies from reflective pieces to some of the most bizarre literature I have come across. There are absolutely amazing stories that break the boundaries of imagination, but also quite a few stories that just make you go "meh". I enjoyed parts of it but I don't think I'll return to the author. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Death, Cannibalism, and Body horror

Moderate: Pregnancy, Medical content, and Vomit

Minor: Animal death and Stalking

serenspace's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Cannibalism, Sexual content, and Body horror

sarathroughpages's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Vomit, and Cannibalism

Minor: Death

oywiththepoodles's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious reflective fast-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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Cannibalism, and Gore

Moderate: Sexual content

nicolinebl's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

Incredibly weird sometimes, but also wonderful and reflective. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Cannibalism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Sexual content, and Body horror

Minor: Incest, Pedophilia, and Stalking

maggieoc_x's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark funny medium-paced

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

3.0

Sayaka Murata is one weird girl....I like her.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cannibalism, and Sexual content

Moderate: Death and Vomit

Minor: Animal death, Alcohol, and Stalking

aouife's review against another edition

dark funny fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

dystopian short stories exploring human bodies and societal taboos - beautiful, grotesque and silly

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Body horror, Sexual content, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Death

Minor: Incest and Vomit

chrlt's review against another edition

reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Vomit, Death, Pregnancy, Body horror, Toxic relationship, and Cannibalism

farenmaddox's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

4.0

A brilliant short story collection, although I found a couple of the stories a little tepid. The titular story was spectacular.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, and Cannibalism

Minor: Alcohol, Cancer, and Pregnancy