A review by yogomagpie
Earthlings by Sayaka Murata

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

4.5

Dang. Daaang.

This was a tough read (check the content warnings). But wow, Murata challenges us to question the purpose of life with alien eyes. We are taught to follow orders and obediently obey others (grownups, followed by teachers, followed by employers), even if we don’t want to. Because it’s the only way to survive? Follow the rules of society or else you are deemed Abnormal (Alien) and not a part of society: Grow up, get a job, get married, produce babies, raise them and grow them up, repeat. Natsuki and her husbands break that cycle for the pursuit of their own independence. But to break away from society, they delve into all sorts of inhumanity. Yeah, the ending is wild. 

Earthlings is surreal, disturbing, and pushed to the max. The plot is U-shaped in that it starts and ends with extreme scenes. I couldn’t stop reading. I only knock my score down a little bit because The Factory message/theme is a little heavy-handed at times.
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