Reviews with content warning for Rape - Maan asukit

Wow, this is an absurd and disturbing book! Stomach-turning and dark, which makes it a challenging read. Beware that this book is not meant for the faint of heart! I recommend looking up content warnings if you're a sensetive reader. Don't let this adorable cover fool you! 🦔

It's hard to describe what this book is about without giving away too much. Gernerally, I would describe this as a horror book about a very unorthodox girl who doesn't fit in society, feeling like an alien in society, wanting to break free from societal norms.

Especially in the beginning, I felt so sad and protective of her. Some scenes were so hearth wrenching! The depiction of society (the 'factory') and the feelings of the characters on society are strangely relateable at times, even though everything that happens is bizarre and weird. Oddly enough, you might find yourself kind of rooting for characters to break free.

The writing is simple and straightforward and includes a lot of dialogue wich makes it a fast read. The words almost sound childlike at times. However, I don't know if this simple writing is due of the translation or if this was an intentional artistic choice.

Content Warnings

whimsicalish's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

Earthlings follows the same themes of from Convience Store Woman; not fitting in society's roles, pressure to conform, and feeling isolation. Sayaka Murata knows how to create an engaging story with these same themes as page turners.

This wasn't as hopeful as the previous novel, but the message was more visceral in imagery. I couldn't help but feel sadness for the characters.

I look forward to more work from this author. I only wish I could read it as it was originally written rather than translation.

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cruisinglove's review against another edition

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challenging dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

lollipup's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-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

3.75

I borrowed this audiobook from the library knowing only that the genre was horror. I definitely should have looked into it more before diving in. This book is very very dark.
I genuinely still don't think I even understand what I just read. If you like crazy mindfuck stories you will probably like this. Just check the content warnings for sure.

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frenchkey's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.75

This is probably the most disturbing book I've ever read. Hugely compelling, fantastically translated and completely horrifying. Murata creates so much sympathy for the characters and then tests exactly how long that can last. This book will haunt me for a long time.

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leila0105's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

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

2.5

Content Warnings

skylarkblue1's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.5

Representations: https://trello.com/c/3YRo1n9k/85-earthlings-by-sayaka-murata

I honestly don't have the words to describe this book properly. This book is a fucked up, surreal kind of existential depression. I've not seen the fawn response to trauma be so well depicted in a book either - especially with the internal struggles that come with it.

If I say too much about this book, I think it'd ruin the experience you'll have reading it. Essentially it's the story of a severely abused child retreating into delusions and fantasies and never really being able to grow up - while in turn being subjected to intense pressure and scrutany from traditional society to "be normal".

This book very much takes real problems and cranks them up to max. Victim blaming, hiding of abuse, the very heteronormal society's views of your worth being tied to if you can have babies or not and more are explored within the book - and I think it actually does it pretty well. It takes the worst case scenarios for each situation and puts it all together, but still - sadly - having a decently realistic approach.

I would have liked if the 2 side characters had some more "fullness" about them, and it'd be nice to have an epilogue as well just to tie things up and maybe have it end on a *little* bit more of a hopeful tone.

I would highly recommend this but please do take the content warnings seriously. It is explicit, it does not mince words. This is a very sad story.

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