Reviews with content warning for Vomit - Life Ceremony

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Life Ceremony by Sayaka Murata

76 reviews

themadbloodstone's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I shouldn’t be surprised at the bizarro worlds Murata creates. Seeing things through the eyes of humans who see humans and human society as alien feels so natural despite its “abnormality”.
Each short story is unique and strange. “Life Ceremony” and “Hatchling” express Murata’s themes more explicitly and were my favorite stories from this collection, “Hatchling” being a relatable horror story.
I can’t wait for her next story.

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icarusandthesun's review against another edition

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adventurous funny mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

3.5

i mean, normal is a type of madness, isn't it?

this book explores possibilites, ideas, wild concepts and social constructs. it's a mess—sometimes sickening with themes like cannibalism and incest—but soooo interesting in terms of social commentary and sheer creativity.
weirdly reassuring and comforting if you've ever felt like you didn't belong.
also, murata's writing is fantastically addictive.

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dearbhlanoonan's review against another edition

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funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

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madelonpaige's review against another edition

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adventurous fast-paced

4.0

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taratearex's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

4.0

A fun and fantastical collection of short stories about animals, nature, food, and relationships. All of these stories have a bit of weird or absurd, some of them are gross and will make you cringe, but they are all unique and interesting. Every story has a fantastical quality that feels grounded, yet pushes the boundaries of reality- whether it's questioning what is "normal" or actually reaching into fantasy worlds- they will all keep you guessing as to where they are going and make you think.

This is the first book I've read by this author, but it definitely made me want to read her previous books. I'd recommend this if you like the quirky and weird, with some grotesque mixed in. CW: death-both animal and human, cannibalism, body horror.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced e-book copy to review.

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house_of_hannah's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective fast-paced

3.75

Thank you so much to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC; it is greatly appreciated.

A First-Rate Material - What an interesting start to the collection ! This short story follows a couple engaged to be married that live in a time where human’s are used as materials. Hair is used for sweaters, bones for furniture & jewelry, and skin for anything from books to lampshades. The couple completely disagree with each other on the ethics of this, but have to confront these differences as their wedding date looms closer.

I think this story brings up a fantastic point. Why do we use animal parts as accessories, but not human ? I do think we may be headed in this direction though. It is becoming popular to turn cremated loved ones into diamonds for example. Dinosaur bones are turned into rings, and antlers are turned into chandeliers. We are also animals, so where should the line be drawn ? 4.5/5

A Magnificent Spread - The way this one is written just feels a little off to me, and I can’t exactly pinpoint why. It’s basically about cultural foods, and how what one person finds delicious, another may find revolting. There isn’t much substance here, so it is not the most interesting story. 2/5

A Summer Night’s Kiss - Ok, I want a whole book about these two old ladies ! This one is just a few pages, but is actually quite a cute story about friendship. 5/5

Two’s Family - This seems to be about the two old ladies from the previous story, but their lives are a bit different. They have lived together for 40 years as platonic friends. I think this is an interesting subject, as I am hearing about more and more people with this arrangement due to the housing crisis. Their friendship is simply beautiful. 5/5

The Time of the Large Star - This is another one that is just a few pages. I honestly do not know how to interpret this one. A girl and her father move to a country that literally never sleeps. The people stay inside during the day, and only come out at night. 3/5

Poochie - What the fuuuuuuck…So this one is about two school children who keep a middle aged man as a pet in a shack on a mountain behind their school. They refer to the man as “Poochie”, and true to his name, he behaves as if he was a dog.

This story is just completely bizarre. It reminds me of the true life cases where people have kept girls chained up in their basement. I’m wondering if this story is just flipping the script and doing the complete opposite of what those situations usually entail ? 3/5

Life Ceremony - This is by far the most wtf story so far. Within 30 years humanity has adopted the custom of cooking and eating the dead after they pass as a celebration of life ceremony. At these events people are encouraged to pair off and have sex, which is now only called insemination, in the hopes of getting pregnant due to the dwindling population. The descriptions in this one got to me a bit, and it made me quite uncomfortable, which is probably the point. I personally just cannot ever imagine eating another human. 3/5

Body Magic - This one was definitely a reference to Sayaka Murata’s other book, Earthlings. This story has been the most uncomfortable, because it deals with the sexuality of 11-12 year olds. The messages here are quite interesting though, as it discusses how most of the kids are just regurgitating things they have heard adults say or in porn. Instead of thinking for themselves, they are going through the motions of what is expected of them by their peers. In opposition to this we have Ruri and Shiho (Shiho being a character from Earthlings) who wish to do things their way, and be comfortable in their own bodies. Since this is a Sayaka Murata story it isn’t exactly that simple or clean-cut though. 4/5

Lover on the Breeze - I’m a bit speechless by this one. It’s beautiful, but weird as hell all at the same time. All I’m going to say is that it’s a story told from the perspective of a curtain. I think this one is my favorite so far. 5/5

Puzzle - Don’t read this one right after eating. This story just didn’t sit well with me. It’s one of the more confusing ones, and is from the perspective of a woman who doesn’t view herself as a living being. 2/5

Eating the City - This story starts off rather normal, but then slowly shifts to the odd and unusual. It isn’t as shocking or thoughtful as the other stories, so it doesn’t have as much intrigue. Murata is very good at displaying unique points-of-view though. 3/5

Hatchling - Wow, this one really hits close to home. It’s about how people change their personalities based on the group of people they are currently around. This is pushed to quite an extreme in this story, but it’s very effective. 5/5

Sayaka Murata has no qualms about pushing boundaries to get her messages across. Not all of them are easy to understand, but her mind works in such a fascinating way. This was the third book of hers I have read, and I consider her to be a “must read” author for me. As for my rating: I have averaged all the individual scores, which brings the overall rating to 3.75.

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