A review by weavingmythos
Life Ceremony by Sayaka Murata

Thanks to @allenandunwin for sending a copy of this book my way

2.5 stars
TL:DR
- super weird, maybe some of the strangest stories I've read
- Some pose philosophical questions while others just, make no sense ngl
- I loved 1 story from this but the rest weren't for me

I'd recommend this to
- people who love anything weird
- fans of her other works
- fans of Japanese short story collections

This is a collection of short stories, where most of them aren't related but have something to do with life. Either death, birth, or consumption and more. The stories range in length from a few pages, to 20+ and I think that helps keep the reader engaged.

Overall this was a really easy and quick read, the writing was engaging and there was nothing inherently wrong with it! However it WAS weird, and if you're not a fan of weird books, or if you haven't read anything by this author before it might not be for you. I have to admit that the last story made me feel a little like ??!!?!?! but the first story was so good! It was weird yes, but there was this purpose behind it, and then there was another story like it too. I think there are a few hidden gems in here, but they're just covered by some weird dirt, y'know?