Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Life Ceremony

Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Life Ceremony by Sayaka Murata

75 reviews

maggieoc_x's review against another edition

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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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aouife's review against another edition

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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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rhythmixia's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

I love Murata’s writing style and unique perspectives on sexuality and society. This short story collection shares some similar themes to her novels, with mostly fresh and interesting ideas, although a couple of stories covered similar ground.
I can’t wait to see what she writes next!

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scribblinginthemargins's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny medium-paced

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

4.25

I love how these stories have such nods towards masking, being baffled by the social norms around you when others accept them without thought of problem. As a neurodiverse reader I felt such connection and empathy towards this collection of stories: Murata sets up worlds organised around totally bizarre or borderline grotesque social norms (life ceremony itself is particularly vivid in it's weirdness!) And I can't help feeling she's nudging us towards understanding what it's like to be totally baffled and disgusted by the "normality" of our society and culture and learning how to mask and "fit in" with what's expected, even when it seems repulsive or needlessly complex.

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nzmerchant's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark reflective 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? It's complicated

3.25

Errr…. A bit odd. Fantastically written and had really enthralling analogies. But a lot of bodily fluids and rather grotesque bodily descriptions. Made my skin crawl but in a good way??? I breezed through this and enjoyed how quirky the stories were! Not for the faint hearted.

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farenmaddox's review against another edition

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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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blau_elmo's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

3.5

I see the merit in this book, the stories presented are set in a world that is similar to our own, with tiny adjustments that make it feel unsettling and off-putting. This discomfort, I believe, is the point of this book.

However, I find some of the stories a bit draggy. Perhaps it is just my attention span, but I was not heavily invested in some of the stories.

Nevertheless, an interesting, short read.

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