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amynoelle's reviews
449 reviews
Earthlings by Sayaka Murata
5.0
This book will definitely not be for everyone but I freakin loved it. The story revolves around the idea that humans are brainwashed and society is essentially a baby making factory. If that sounds interesting, and you can deal with dark subject matter and unhinged characters, you might like this too.
Our main characters feel like aliens because they either can’t fit in (despite trying) or simply don’t want to be what everyone around them says is normal & appropriate. They want autonomy and freedom and find it very difficult to survive easily in this world. As someone who also feels very alien like and is not an active participant in “the factory”, I related quite a bit to some of the ideas the book was centered around, and I think that’s what really made this book work for me. This a translated work out of Japan so the social commentary and familial pressures expressed in the book stem from that culture, but it still definitely works for elsewhere in the world.
The main pov is of Natsuki, we follow her from childhood into adulthood and during that time see the traumas inflicted upon her and how those experiences influence who she is as an adult. Once into adulthood she finds like minded individuals and together they explore what it means to be earthlings, or not.
This book gets very dark & unhinged at times so please see content warnings if you avoid certain subject matter. Despite the rather taboo topics and hard to read moments, there was something about the way that some of the scenes were written that made it feel not as intense and read almost comically odd. I liked that a lot, obviously, but I did listen to the audiobook so it’s possible I felt that way due to the narration style. I can’t be sure.
But overall I thought this was a very interesting, entertaining, and thought provoking read. I very much enjoyed my experience and will definitely be reading more from this author!
Our main characters feel like aliens because they either can’t fit in (despite trying) or simply don’t want to be what everyone around them says is normal & appropriate. They want autonomy and freedom and find it very difficult to survive easily in this world. As someone who also feels very alien like and is not an active participant in “the factory”, I related quite a bit to some of the ideas the book was centered around, and I think that’s what really made this book work for me. This a translated work out of Japan so the social commentary and familial pressures expressed in the book stem from that culture, but it still definitely works for elsewhere in the world.
The main pov is of Natsuki, we follow her from childhood into adulthood and during that time see the traumas inflicted upon her and how those experiences influence who she is as an adult. Once into adulthood she finds like minded individuals and together they explore what it means to be earthlings, or not.
This book gets very dark & unhinged at times so please see content warnings if you avoid certain subject matter. Despite the rather taboo topics and hard to read moments, there was something about the way that some of the scenes were written that made it feel not as intense and read almost comically odd. I liked that a lot, obviously, but I did listen to the audiobook so it’s possible I felt that way due to the narration style. I can’t be sure.
But overall I thought this was a very interesting, entertaining, and thought provoking read. I very much enjoyed my experience and will definitely be reading more from this author!