Dark and unsettling novel that culminates in a shocking and disturbing ending for Natsuki and her cousin Yuu. This book is not for the faint-hearted. Trigger warning: includes cannibalism.

"Earthlings" by Sayaka Murata is a thought-provoking and surreal novel that explores themes of societal expectations and the pursuit of individuality. The narrative follows the unconventional and rebellious Natsuki as she grapples with societal norms and seeks escape from the pressures of conformity. Murata's writing is both haunting and captivating, drawing readers into a world where the line between reality and fantasy becomes blurred. The novel delves into the darker aspects of human nature, challenging readers to question the cost of societal expectations on personal freedom. With its unique narrative and unsettling exploration of human behavior, "Earthlings" is a compelling and disturbing work that lingers in the mind long after the final page.

I usually love Japanese fiction, but I just cannot get into this author's books. Convenience Store Woman was interesting, but this one honestly bored me.

A disturbing and yet captivating read that spirals into the bizarre. A darker read than Sayaka Murata's other books but pulls you in just the same.

DNF @ 21%

This is too much, I can’t make myself read anymore. I usually love Murata’s stories but this is just…no. And I’m pretty sure it gets worse, too.

By worse, I mean weirder and darker and grosser. I can't deal with that so I'm going to put this to the side and move on, patiently waiting for whatever Sayaka Murata brings out next as I will definitely give it a shot as I loved Convenience Store Woman and Life Ceremony A LOT.

Fell in love with Murata after Convenience Store Woman and will absolutely read anything she puts out. I do recommend treading lightly with this one as it covers some heavy topics readers may be sensitive to.

Wow. This is one of the weirdest books I've ever read and I'm not sure I've ever been so uncomfortable in my life. Before I go any further, know there are plenty of content warnings within this story: depictions of children having sex, sexual assault, incest, cannibalism, parental neglect and abuse, pedophilia

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The book starts with two 11(ish) year-old children who are cousins, but "marry" themselves to each other and continue to have sexual relations. The scenario is fairly graphic, and I wanted to put the book down so badly. I felt nauseous, absolutely sick to my stomach, and highly uncomfortable about the fact that this was what I was actually listening to. Ashamed, really.

Books are a form of art, and are meant to make you feel things. Sometimes those things include discomfort.

I pushed through the book, which was an incredible commentary on today's society, and though I'm less familiar with Japanese culture and heritage than say, American culture and heritage, I could still see how true the commentary rang across nations.

Earthlings is a heartbreaking story in many ways, but it's also absolutely horrific. The book takes a turn and becomes an actual horror story. It was unexpected, and once again, I felt nauseous. The entire story is sickening, but the story-telling was phenomenal.

I can't say whether or not I would recommend this book. It's truly a work of art, and it's unlike anything I've ever read before. But the content is so disturbing, it'd be hard to tell everyone "hey read this!" It's more of an "enter at your own risk" kind of situation.

This book is VERY weird, much more so than Convenience Store Woman. Some of the topics are really difficult. I think it mostly succeeds in what it's trying to do but the weirdness would probably be too much for most readers.

I'm not sure what I have just read. Or how to feel about it. I only know that I couldn't put it down. But maybe like how you can't stop doomscrolling or looking at crashes as you pass by in the car.

I don't often include trigger warnings but this needs massive TWs for incest, paedophilia, abuse, mental illness and cannibalism.

I've read some weird books in my time but this... well. Speechless.

You can read my full review of this book in the October 2020 issue of The Brooklyn Rail.

Sayaka Murata’s (Convenience Store Woman, 2019) new novel is a deeply disturbing exploration of one woman’s attempt to try to survive outside cultural norms in Japanese society...Over the course of six chapters and 23 years, Natsuki strives to find a delicate balance in a world she sees as “the Factory” where humans exist only to reproduce and those who don’t marry or reproduce are marginalized and maligned.

I loved reading Convenience Store Woman and Earthlings was just as quirky and fascinating! I loved the unique narrative!

What a strange little book. Devastating, disturbing, and enlightening all at once, Natsuki's story will be seared into my memory for years to come. While far darker in tone and subject matter, I will say that I did notice a lot of the same things I had absolutely loved from Convenience Store Woman in this book as well, and this has done absolutely nothing to quell my excitement for the release of Murata's short story collection coming out soon.

I have so many questions but frankly, I don't know if I want answers.

A strange little book that seems to want more than anything to shock the reader.

At its core, Earthlings is a book about childhood trauma and how that trauma is processed (or not) as adults. Respectable voices (Sally Rooney! Elif Batuman!) seem focused in blurbs on how hilarious the author, Sayaka Murata is, which to me is wildly misleading because this book is DARK and sad-it’s all just hidden behind a deep layer of weird that perhaps overshadows everything else.

I left feeling unsettled, but wanting more of Murata’s truly unique, but still highly readable writing.

Thank you netgalley and grove atlantic for an arc of this book.

I've heard amazing stories about this author's other book but this is the first thing that I've ever read. This book follows three young people as they feel alienated from society through a series of childhood traumas. It is quite strange. The writing is excellent and very engaging. Definitely a book I'll be thinking about for a while.

This one just wasn’t my taste. It lacked the charm of Convenience Store I’d been searching for. This was quirky and the writing was excellent, but content just kinda grossed me out. I don’t do aliens.

Full review is on instagram but in short, this was excellent and I loved it and haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. A fave from 2021.

Absolutely incredible book. I enjoyed it so much. I was very impressed by the ploting and the writing skills. It remind me of the best works by Banana Yoshimoto.

Utterly deranged and has no sense of boundary, how one absorb Earthlings commentary on suppressed childhood trauma, and social conformity depends on you level of tolerance on its boundless insanity.

200+ pages is the perfect length for the story it's telling. While I was engrossed throughout, Earthlings will never be a book I recommend in earnest, simply because there are too many triggering events present that can potentially be interpreted as exploitative and crass, even though their existence align with the story's overarching theme: criticizing the suffocating docility of our society through the eyes of those who don't fit in. The graphic contents are so sensational, they tend to overwhelm the core message underneath. Earthlings is also heavily set within the Japanese way of living, I can see readers unfamiliar with that aspect be even more at loss, and missing some of the commentary.

I think most people will stuck on ridiculing the literal happenings depicted in Earthlings (definitely some of the most outlandish, ridiculous scenes I've read this year), and not bother decoding what it's really trying to say. Nevertheless, it's still an interesting, deranged little book, if you have the stomach for it.

I posted a full review of this over on my bookstagram @abbeysbookshelf a while back and I still can't quite put into words how I feel about this book or what happened.

Earthlings was very different to anything I've ever read before, however, Murata is fantastic at challenging stereotypes and the traditional idea of what women should be doing - just like she did in Convenience Store Woman.

I would recommend reading up on what issues are raised before reading this, but ultimately, I enjoyed it (not sure enjoy is the right word) and would recommend to others.

I loved Convenience Store Woman. Unfortunately I could not finish this one. The themes and characters are a bit too despicable for my liking. Absolutely not my cup of tea.