Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Life Ceremony by Sayaka Murata

13 reviews

shuvtterbug's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? N/A
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I genuinely enjoyed this so much and I do think it may be because of how partial I am towards Sayaka Murata and her writing style. While certain stories were a bit eerie they evoked such a strong emotion in me. It’s hard for me to stop reading with Murata’s works. I especially felt that the story hatchling was one I related to the most. While I feel that there’s a real me I often am unsure of which this one is. I encourage anyone to take a stab at at least one of these short stories if not the entire collection.
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kilianisreading's review against another edition

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funny inspiring reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

6 stars tbh
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chrlt's review

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

4.0

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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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mxpringle's review against another edition

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dark reflective medium-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

3.5

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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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katarina_sarmo's review against another edition

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medium-paced

5.0

As usual, Sayaka Murata delivers an oh-so weird and oh-so wonderful novel with each of these stories making me rethink my perspective on societal norms.

Murata has a way of using these very creative (if that’s what you want to call it) and perverse scenarios to put into words and comment on the strange unwritten rules that seem to uphold our society. She somehow makes something so disgusting into an utterly normal and unproblematic concept; if you try to explain these stories to somehow who hasn’t read them, you’ll probably be labelled psychotic and sent away. She has turned cannibalism into a warm fuzzy blanket and it is both horrific and deeply thought-provoking.

A fair warning that this collection can be extremely disturbing and uncomfortable at times (or most of the time, to be honest) so if you find that the idea of cannibalism or wearing human hair makes you cringe, maybe stay away. I couldn’t even find content warnings on StoryGraph that cover the content of this book.
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candiemarsh's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional funny inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

If you're looking for stories that challenge the norm, this is one of the books to read. The collection of stories are dark, wild and triggering. They aren't for the faint-hearted and easily-queasy readers, and will provoke odd thoughts or question certain ideals that society has ingrained in us. But they aren't entirely illogical either; there are definite elements of a possible dystopian future but still includes some heart-warming moments. I enjoyed every story; "Life Ceremony" and "Puzzle" were personally the wildest for me.
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edgaranjapoe's review

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challenging dark reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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