A review by awanderingweasel
Life Ceremony by Sayaka Murata

dark reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

Life Ceremony by Sayaka Murata was an interesting read, but it ultimately did not impress me a lot. For the most part, I found the stories to be too short, making it hard to develop a real attachment to the narrative and the characters. With that being said, the first story, "A First-Rate Material", and the titular story, "Life Ceremony", were good, and I think that they go hand in hand. I almost would have preferred seeing a short story collection from Murata that exclusively explores unconventional ways of upcycling human bodies post-mortem. The first story was, again, a bit too short for my taste, and I found that it ended abruptly -- like many other stories in this book. Had the tension between the engaged party been drawn out a big longer and the stakes raised, I don't doubt that it would have been a 5-star read. "Life Ceremony", on the other hand, was really really good. I enjoyed learning about the relationship between the characters and the lore behind life ceremonies, and I thought that the story arc was well-executed with a satisfying ending. In my head, these two stories would work wonderfully as Black Mirror episodes.

Thanks to NetGalley and Grove Press for providing me with an ARC of this book! All opinions are my own.