Reviews with content warning for Cannibalism - Life Ceremony

Reviews tagging 'Cannibalism'

Life Ceremony by Sayaka Murata

160 reviews

thedistortionist's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

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lucyduller's review against another edition

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challenging dark slow-paced

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

3.5

I love a short-story collection; it’s a great way to get to know an author’s style and get vignettes of many different stories. I also really like Sayaka Murata’s novels, in particular the wildly popular Convenience Store Woman, which I highly recommend you read!

This however, was really disappointing. It’s tricky because for many of these stories, I get what she is doing…I think.

I think she’s trying to subvert norms and tell a story from the perspective of a societal outsider. In some cases, I think that worked quite well. The short stories I actually enjoyed were: Hatchling, A Summer Night’s Kiss, Two’s Family, The Time of the Large Star, A Clean Marriage and Body Magic

The rest however were pretty disturbing. Cannibalism, being a human building, an affair with a curtain (yes a literal curtain). Some of them felt like half formed ideas, where the story gave gruesome detail about the weird disturbing parts without the reflection or the zoom out on the bigger picture that makes the story make sense. So for a lot of this book, I had a confused face, as pictured in the post, teehee.

I can confidently say these stories are unlike anything I’ve ever read before. I think it would be interesting for anyone interested in social anthropology to read, but otherwise, I’d recommend skipping this one and read Convenience Store Woman instead. Unless of course you would like to read some disturbing, disgusting, gruesome, odd stories — if that is the case then this collection of short stories is for you!

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nialiversuch's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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corinnajl's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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bigblackclock's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ (3.5/5)

Life Ceremony is a collection of 12 short stories. Although they are different stories, the themes encompassing every story in this book are similar to one another.

A First-Rate Material: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5)

I am captivated by how Sayaka Murata is obsessed with this theme and how well she writes her prose.

A Magnificent Spread: ⭐⭐⭐ (3.5/5)

Very creative but rudimentary

A Summer Night’s Kiss: ⭐⭐⭐ (3.75/5)

Unlikely for her to create stories like this, powerful message.

Two’s Family: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4/5)

This might be one of my favorite stories in this book, wholesome and beautiful.

The Time of the Large Star: ⭐⭐⭐ (3.25/5)

I think this was effective since it was from a POV of a child.

Poochie: ⭐⭐ (2.75/5)

This was kind of gross and funny.

Life Ceremony: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.25/5)

Murata is really embracing indifference to societal norms.

Body Magic: ⭐⭐⭐ (3.75/5)

This was kinda like [book:Earthlings|50269327] but milder.

Lover on the Breeze: ⭐⭐ (2.5/5)

Another unconventional story from Murata, a love triangle story.

Puzzle: ⭐⭐⭐ (3.75/5)

I was definitely puzzled by this (no pun intended), but Muarata's imagination was wild and this story was thought-provoking.

Eating the City: ⭐⭐⭐ (3/5)

Another story on societal norms

Hatchling: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ (4.25/5)

This story was well-written, I understand why this was the last story and the power of its message. The resolution might be lacking though (??)

Content Warnings

ellenisntcool's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective medium-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? Yes

5.0

I'll write my full thoughts later, right now I have to sit and figure it out

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chubble's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

4.75

Content Warnings

jamieann123's review against another edition

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Heavy focus on cannibalism and use of human body matter. The writing is incredibly jarring for the subject matter.
Understand this is the aim of the writer but too much for me-and I am usually a fan of horror.

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grunbean's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

A real mix of stories, all weird, all confrontational, all wonderful. If you are uncomfortable with ideas that are a bit gross it could be a challenge to read. I really enjoy ‘weird’ books, and I was hooked on these stories. My favourites were Life Ceremony and Eating The City.

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alisarae's review against another edition

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dark funny hopeful reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

The off-the-beaten-path Sayaka Murata that we have come to love! I honestly adore all her characters. They are so quirky and embrace their outsiderness. And the very very teensy tiniest bit of horror flavor was a nice touch too.

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