Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - Maan asukit

This book is highly offensive. I don't mind gore or some disturbing scenes, but going into detail about a little girl's sexual abuse and her first time having sex should be illegal. It was child pornography and I think anyone who liked the book is sick. It is one thing to imply, it is another thing to have anything detailed involving children. It is wrong. Period.

Content Warnings

pussyslayer3000's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

So weird, but definitely a page turner! I enjoyed the writing style and I’m impressed how the author can write about the most disgusting topics in an almost innocent/ naïve way.
Absolutely check trigger warnings before reading though!
The reason why I don’t give it a higher rating is, that in my opinion only the very last three pages could be titled as horror. So the tags that it is horror and magical realism don’t fit. I was expecting more grotesque magical elements- maybe something more supernatural, but the story went into a totally different direction. Not that it is bad how it turned out, but I had different hopes for this book due to misleading advertisement. Still an interesting read and would recommend to people that more feel like an alien than an earthling on this planet and people with a strong stomach!

Content Warnings

jiujensu's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

4.5

I think the story was compelling - I kept reading past two in the morning to finish this story that just kept getting weirder and weirder. I gotta say I didn't see, not by a long shot, how the horror would keep increasing. I didn't think this was in that genre, lol. It took a turn!

But definitely content warning for rape, abuse, murder, incest and cannibalism. Yikes on bikes. I don't know that I would say I loved the storyline or many of the characters, but I couldn't stop reading it, that's for sure.

On the surface, I suppose it's about unaddressed childhood trauma. I liked (initially anyway) the sort of detached view of everyone doing those very predictable things (school, marriage, kids) calling her town the factory and uteruses and testes components. It was Breakfast of Champions-esque that way. It's good to critique and think about behavior and goals society tells you is correct

There's a very relatable theme about being an alien too. I'm sure we all have felt that way. Some more than others, though. Maybe that comes from PTSD, introversion, or neurodivergence - I think you could make a case for any/all AND either take the alien thing literally or figuratively. Is it horror or scifi? I couldn't tell you.

There were super relatable bits but set in oddly mundane and horrific circumstances, this was a really wild ride.

I think Life Ceremonies was the one recommended to me and Convenience Store Woman is supposed to have similar themes but go less hard. This was the one the library had. For whatever reason.

Content Warnings

stella_petit's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

buzzabelle's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

Definitely read the tags before you read the book. Some of these descriptions shocked me, and I was just not ready for the way this book went. That said, this was really interesting and a lot different than anything I’ve read.

Content Warnings

xdarkthunderx's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Very cute cover hiding a very fucked up book. It really does just keep getting weirder.

Content Warnings

eviea's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

This book made me feel a lot of things, mostly negative. But then I guess that means it was doing its job. Tbh some moments were so grotesque I almost had to stop but it really got under my skin and I felt I needed to finish it to be able to move on. I think Murata manages to write the horrific events in such an absurd way that they’re almost laughable and therefore bearable. Idk probably wouldn’t recommend it to a friend but I also really need to talk to someone about it

Content Warnings

silksupmysleeve's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark fast-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

More...