Earthlings

A true definition of don't judge a book by its cover 🤣🥲

I'll give it 3 stars just because I didn't know what to feel after reading. It's so chaotic and interesting at the same time...that's it. All I can say is WTF did I just read??? Definitely not for everyone. So, read at your own risk 🫡

The term ’earthlings’ implies there are other inhabitants named after their home planets. Venusian.

I love weird Japanese lit.

Extreme trigger warnings before reading this, do NOT go into this blindly like I did. This is the type of novel that you have to make a distinction between liking something because it makes you feel good versus liking something because you can acknowledge it made you feel something at all. This was good but not enjoyable; I don’t even know if I can truly recommend it because it was emotionally very disturbing. The main character resorts to escapism in the most violent, depraved way. Weirdly, I needed to keep reading it. It is definitely not for everyone (I don’t even know if it was for me), just consider this my warning.

a creative and provocative way of exploring societal expectations, and trauma and coping. Pls read the content warnings lol

i wish i was illiterate

I thought I'd be prepared for this after reading Life Ceremony but boy I was so WRONG

earthlings is an enigmatic and equally horrific escape from the human factory —  where you have to serve as an efficient reproducing tool — to the mountains of akishina. a place of overwhelming saddening nostalgia that exists only in summertime and memories of which become so vivid with age that they inevitably get intertwined with meticulously woven, unintentionally made up details of the time when the world seemed bigger, the river seemed deeper, and the space between the house and the bridge was immense for such small legs.

the main characters deem this escape to be the only solution catering to the aliens’ needs. a society based on factory principles hurts some individuals so badly they have to reinvent reality to cope with this, with the understanding that they have been failed by everyone they ever met. when normalcy is so abnormal and abusive, what is there to look up at? in such a world of harassment, injustice, and reproductive pressure even the aliens’ sense of rationality seems more logical to those inhabiting the pages of earthlings.

sayaka murata is a genius when it comes to portraying women-specific suffering in a stinging, sobering way which is devoid of lame preachy lecturing. it’s sharp, and it aims right at the eye, inflicting the most excruciating of pains. some of the conclusions the young main character had come to were more believable, and some were less, natsuki’s parents and sister lacked multidimensionality, and the use of words and concepts felt repetitive at times but. overall, it was a very solid and fresh narration, maybe because i found there what i had been expecting from it, what i was ready for. earthlings are good for consumption right after life ceremony, when you are still able to recreate its echoes, but you are not scared of this extraterrestrial experience anymore.  

the ending truly leaves you at a loss for words, but could there be a mundane, earthly ending for a story about “non-earthlings”? or a tale of taboo and eternal damnation? we should invent a society where women feel like their bodies belong to them, where human bodies are more human bodies than tools, and where every child is safe and protected in their nest. but that would really have to be a society existing somewhere in unknown depths of outer space, huh? 

“my town was a collection of nests, a factory for manufacturing babies. i was a tool for the town’s good, in two senses. firstly, i had to study hard to become a work tool. secondly, i had to be a good girl, so that i could become a reproductive organ for the town. i would probably be a failure on both counts…”

Never read a more normal book in my life.

I still feel sick weeks after reading this. Truly wish I never had. Where were the trigger warnings?????

I don't know what to say.

3.5 stars rounded down This book is the definition of bizarre. Just when you thought some moments where crazy, the next chapter ended up making you feel so creeped out. I believe that the themes of Convenience Store Woman is very visible here; and i think will continue to reflect on her upcoming works as well, though this book definitely have waaay darker tones. Nevertheless, I had a pretty great reading experience.

I started this as an audiobook and I do love Sayaka Murata…however…I did not get far into the book without going “huh” and then rushing to google for content warnings and spoilers. I will say! Check the content warnings for this one! I will probably revisit it in the future when I learn to cope with certain topics better.

Murata explores the experience of coping with trauma in a surreal way, unlike anything I've read before. From trauma-bonding amongst the characters to exploring the anxieties of the female experience in Japanese society, Murata paints a vivid, colorful portrait full of twists and turns. Whenever I thought I'd pinned down where the book was going and what it was saying, Murata would prove me wrong. It is unpredictable, and at times horrifying. In a book full of crazy events, however, the scariest parts are the societal truths that surround them. This book expands on the themes of Convenience Store Woman and dials them up to a 100, thus cementing Sayaka Murata as one of my favorite authors. This is a page turner, it is entertaining, fast-paced, shocking and extremely sincere. There's no holding back, and I was left thinking about this book way past the time I finished it. It is admittedly not for everyone, but give it a shot and I'm sure you'll find something worthwhile in it.

that’s what’s up

I got lured in by the cute hedgehog :|

This book was insane, has some trigger warnings and deals with the idea of social construction really well.

The way Sayaka Murata views the world through the eyes of the protagonist is so captivating and thought provoking – it is a worldview that only a child with a vivid imagination could picture, or perhaps an actual alien; but as you dive deeper into the book and watch the protagonist grow, you realise how her perception of this world, although seeming very peculiar, is closer than the truth than many of our own. With vivid descriptions, magical realism and a little bit of gore mixed with symbolism; it was an memorable and entertaining read, will dive deeper into Murata's works.

a book you finish reading and then realise you will never be able to explain to anyone without sounding disturbed

absolutely no words to describe what i have just read. there are themes of cannibalism, child abuse, murder, sexual assault, and incest. it’s not something i’d wish anyone to read but unfortunately it's so well-written.

i'm not sure whether to give this a two stars rate or three but what i'm sure of is that i really really like sayaka's writing and i can't stress enough how relatable her characters/writing is and i know it's kinda dumb to say that she's so realistic but oh well, this is probably the darkest dark comedy i've ever laid my hands on(since i watched the death of stalin that is), and the abusive parts were too much for me to swallow it made me so uncomfortable but unfortunately they're realistic,it has some unnecessary stuff going on too so two stars had to go. this is a huge TW so whenever you feel like you just can't keep on reading don't hesitate this is not for anyone.

Initial reaction: cute cover & aliens? This will be fun! 😇✌️😙

Me: 😧😶🫨✝️

Unhinged and not for the faint of heart. Similar vibes as Oyasimni Punpun & Homunculus. Need to read a cheesy romance to cleansed my palette.

3.5 stars (view spoiler)[when natsuki said, “sometimes i thought being a popinpobopian was effectively a mental illness that i had needed in order to protect myself, and the only way i would ever recover was by becoming a slave of the factory.” I WAS LIKE ??? GIRL YOU ARE ACTUALLY MENTALLY ILL… WDYM. (hide spoiler)] trigger warnings include - incest, cannibalism, rape, alien themes and murder. this book was really tough for me to read due to the incest and rape themes which i hate, but oddly enough, i found myself not being able to stop reading. initially, i thought they might really be (view spoiler)[aliens (hide spoiler)], but as i got deeper, i realized that they weren’t and things got even weirder. essentially, i think the main idea revolves around resisting society's expectations, but the author takes it to a different level. also, natsuki’s childhood experiences were too traumatic which is why i kinda understand why she became that way… (by the way, mr igasaki deserved what happened to him IDGAF. i wished natsuki’s mother also got what she deserved, cause that abusive motherf-cker made my blood boil just as much)

WHAT THE ACTUALLY FUCK????