What a journey this book was. Completely unique, many moments of what is going on here (in a great shocking way😅). Great pacing and kept my attention.

This was an emotional rollercoaster. I wasn't aware of the plot so it caught me by surprise how things came up. Overall I did enjoy the book it's just that I just don't know what to feel.

There is a criticism on how society expects almost everyone to had children and how sex is involved almost in every aspect of daily life, so asexual people or people dealing with traumatic experiences are seen as strangers.

Thank you to Grove Atlantic for providing me with a copy of Sayaka Murata’s latest novel, Earthings, in exchange for an honest review.

Natsuki has always felt different from other people. She is an outsider in her family with her parents favoring her older sister. She discovers the reason for her outsider status when she meets Piyyut, a stuffed hedgehog that is actually an alien from the planet Popinpobopia. Piyyut informs Natsuki that she is also from their planet, which is why she doesn’t fit-in as an earthling.

The knowledge, along with guidance from Piyyut, emboldens Natsuki to stay strong against conforming to societal pressures. But rather than simply not conforming, Natsuki uses her Popinpobopia status as an excuse to engage in taboo human behavior, such as a preteen sexual encounter with her cousin Yuu.

When Natsuki and Yuu are discovered naked in the woods, their family separates them and keeps a close eye on both of them. In efforts to keep her parent’s suspicions at bay, Natsuki eventually marries, but unknown to her family, Natsuki’s husband is also a non-conformist and has an interest in Popinpobopia. They have a sham marriage, yet are mutually committed to pushing against societies taboos. They reunite with Yuu, who is someone who likes to be a follower and has been feeling very lost in his life. The trio may be stuck on earth, but they attempt to live as much of an authentic Popinpobopia life as possible.

I’m left absolutely stunned by Earthlings and I’m struggling to unpack the experience. I’ve never read anything quite like it.

Earthlings plays with ideas of what it is to conform to society, especially interesting as from what I understand, Japanese society places a high value on conforming. However, what happens when you simply can’t conform?

Natsuki has been traumatized. She is both physically and verbally abused by her family, as her sister is shown overt favoritism. When Natsuki meets Piyyut, she is already primed to believe the Popinpobopia fantasy. It is a coping mechanism for her. This goes deeper, when she is molested by her cram school teacher. She has no one to turn to, not even her close friend, who has a crush on the handsome teacher. Natsuki is constantly receiving a message that she is bad and damaged. The only person she can trust is Yuu and when they are forced apart, her mental state crumbles further.

Is Natsuki a victim or an unreliable narrator? I’m choosing to believe that she is a victim of severe trauma and this informs her Popinpobopia fantasy. Victim, however, does not mean innocent. Often Natsuki acts in a predatory manner, including her interactions with the weak willed Yuu. There are points in Earthings where I think Natsuki has clarity that Popinpobopia is not real, yet she uses it to justify her behavior. I think she must force herself to believe it, because the reality of her situation is too horrific.

Earthlings is not for the squeamish or the prude. It is one of the most surprising, graphic, and shocking stories that I have ever read. The ending is a jaw dropper. That said, I’m left feeling that nothing was gratuitous. Ultimately, the story is about how society treats outsiders, including those who have been victimized. Natsuki transforms into something quite monstrous, however, the true monsters are both her abusers and society as a whole, who have turned a blind-eye to her pain.

This one was very much not for me. For the most part I found this book to be just a bit weird, but towards the end it deviated into outright disturbing. At no point did it grab me, but it was the ending that really put me off and made this a do not recommend.

TW: child sexual abuse, emotional abuse, incest, cannibalism

This was a very strange book. Our protagonist, Natsuki, suffers horrific emotional and sexual abuse, which pushes her to extreme coping mechanisms, including dependence on her cousin Yuu and convincing herself that she’s an alien from another planet.

Initially, I was hooked and found her disturbing coping mechanisms an interesting commentary on the impacts of abuse. It was as if Natsuki was trying to overcome her trauma by breaking every taboo she possibly could herself, so no one could ever hurt in those ways, and she had no pressure on herself to face the real world.

But towards the end, it just became too much for me. It became really graphic (cannibalism, incest, etc.) to a point where I couldn’t focus on any metaphors. This may well be on purpose and a commentary on the fact that Natsuki’s horrific coping mechanisms are viewed with more disgust than the horrific acts she faces. But, as someone who doesn’t tend to read any horror books, this wasn’t necessarily suited to me.

<i>What...</i> and I cannot stress this enough... <i>the fuck</i>.

Also, that cover. That cover is too cute. That cover is so utterly... nice. Fluffy. Friendly. Enticing. Like the light of an anglerfish, it lures unsuspecting prey that will soon be swallowed whole and torn into tiny pieces by hundreds of pointy teeth.

<i>What the fuck, man.</i>

So.

At first, there's this girl, right? Natsuki. And she's a bit weird and she thinks she's a magical girl, Sailor Moon style, with powers from the planet Popinpobopia, and she has to save the world. Except clearly she isn't, and she's making it up. Because her family is abusive and dismissive.

And her cousin Yuu's family is similarly kind of abusive and dismissive, and he's an alien himself.

They're ten or eleven or something. And they really like each other, but they only see one another during summer, when they go to their grandparents' house for a festival. So they "marry". It's a bit cute. A bit weird. And then it just goes weirder and weirder, in ways that are, in themselves, spoilery, but, wtf, book. The tone remains so light and cheery even as everything becomes more absurd and disturbing.

Content warnings: <spoiler>underage sex, familial abuse, child sexual abuse, murder, possible delusions, cannibalism, vore.</spoiler>

<i>Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for offering a free copy in exchange for an honest review.</i>

Sayaka Murata grabbed me by the THROAT yet again! I have no idea how she comes up with these stories but I'm glad she does. She is a genius! Read this in less than 24 hours and have already recommended to friends. I don't want to give any details because it's better to experience this book with no prior information, so just pick it up and start reading.

Started off as a book about children and how they fit (or don't fit) in with others. Then tangentially into something quite strange. Tried to like it but lost the plot when it lost the plot. Not gor me but I might have been missing something.

I did not expect it to be how it was!
So dark and witty.

With the chapters progressing, the story creeped me out, but I wasn’t able to stop.

statutory rape, incest, emotional abuse and neglect, murder, cannibalism....this book like actually went too far for me at times which i gotta give it credit for. it simply doesn't happen that often and while it's not a pleasant experience, i can't say i'm mad about being pushed in a book. how else would i know the boundaries and form of the taboos i respect. i wish this book could be a little stronger though. i did like it and i do think it's a worthwhile read, but the extreme traumatic content plus what i would call some pretty shoddily drawn characters make me hesitate before ever saying to anyone "oh you should check out this book." i'm looking particularly at the main character's husband who I'm sorry i just could not STAND. he wasn't a person (maybe i'm supposed to question that??) but a plot device. and yet still one of the main characters.... there were some other events in the book as well that just seem so poorly paced. still i love how murata is able to write about characters like this main character, pulling them from the fringes of society and into our minds. as aliens, of course they would break almost every taboo us earthlings hold dear

My review for Booklist is here: https://www.booklistonline.com/Earthlings-Sayaka-Murata/pid=9737447

The review was also cross-posted to Smithsonian BookDragon: http://smithsonianapa.org/bookdragon/earthlings-by-sayaka-murata-translated-by-ginny-tapley-takemori-in-booklist/

I loved Convenience Store Woman and was hoping this novel would wow me like that one did but, alas, it failed to grab me. Even from the very first pages, it was clear this book was not for me. I'll try this author again. To me, this was an experiment that did not work, at least for me.

Holy god this book is dark and VERY disturbing. Massive content/trigger warnings for graphic rape/sexual assault of a child, physical and emotional/verbal abuse of a child, and child sex. And that's not even getting into the cannibalism, etc. toward the end (which was, to me, way less disturbing)...I was expecting a horror novel, but not this level of trauma porn...

Earthlings by Sayaka Murata is a book I really wanted to love but just didn't. I read and loved Convenience Store Woman and was hoping Earthlings would be just as odd and insightful and though provoking. It was all of those things but just too much. I don't mind odd/weird books but this one just wasn't for me. The writing is still amazing and I will for sure be picking up Murata's next book.

I have read the author's Convenience Store Woman and reading this one felt like a world different from the previous one. Like both the stories being part of two different fictional universes. This doesn't mean in the negative sense but in the simple sense, that readers should expect something wholly different from the last book.

A mild or major Trigger Warning for this one and maybe not be for the faint hearted.

What I really loved about Sayaka Murata’s Convenience Store Woman is the way she writes about social norms. She looks at social situations and asks the question, “What do we consider normal, and why it is so important?” Keiko was happy with her situation as a convenience store attendant, but the world and even her family wanted to push her to want more from her career and life. Murata seems to take this idea one step further in Earthlings.

The novel follows Natsuki, who even from a very young age felt like she did not belong here on earth. Both Natsuki and her cousin Yuu considered themselves to be aliens from another planet left on earth. Even when she got older, Natsuki had this viewpoint, and considered earth to be just a baby making factory. To keep her family off her back she married and hoped to just have a quiet life with her husband. However, her family kept demanding she have children and the pressure continuously grew to unhealthy levels.

Earthlings is a weird book; it explores the social pressures of reproducing but it does take a disturbing turn. I like the way Sayaka Murata looks at social issues and pushes the boundaries to show just how damaging they can be but I am also not a fan of the way this book ended. I do not think it is worth discussing the ending and if you have read the book, you know what I mean. I feel that the focus should be on how alienating social norms can be, and the way it made Natsuki feel. I have been married for eleven years and I know how frustrating it is when people ask me and my wife why we do not have children. This question is none of their business and tend to lead to awkward moments if you do decide to share the reasons. This novel plays with the social expectations of reproduction by constantly referring to the world as a baby making factory, like life has no value except creating children.

Sayaka Murata loves to push the boundaries with her characters and I am not going to try and diagnose these people in her books. I have seen far too many people claim Keiko was autistic in Convenience Store Woman, but does that really matter? You could probably label both Natsuki and her husband as asexuals in Earthlings, but it feels weird to label a fictional character. I am not a psychologist, so I do not want to diagnose Keiko with autistic and while I understand it is useful to show representation or to use psychoanalysis to analyse a book, I often find myself questioning the motives. If the author has not mentioned it, are we just projecting ideas onto a character? Granted this can be useful for understanding but it can also mean we are pushing these characters into a label and not letting them show us the problems with the world around us.

The writing of Sayaka Murata might not be for everyone, but I am looking forward to seeing what Ginny Tapley Takemori translates next. I want to read more books like this, where the author challenges social ideas and does it in interesting ways. This is a dark but very entertaining novel, and I am glad that Murata has done so well for herself in the English speaking world.

Written by Sayaka Murata, bestselling author of Convenience Store Woman, Earthlings follows Natsuki from childhood to adulthood as she struggles to conform to the social expectations of a woman in modern Japan. From an early age Natsuki knows she is different and often finds comfort in a small toy hedgehog named Piyyut. Piyyut is an alien who has given Natsuki magic protection powers making her a witch, or perhaps an alien herself. Her cousin Yuu, whom she makes a pact with to “survive, no matter what”, is also an alien from the same planet as Piyyut. In an effort to reclaim her body after being sexually abused by her teacher, Natsuki becomes intimate with Yuu. Once discovered by the family, Natsuki never sees Yuu again until adulthood. In an attempt to escape the demands of society, Natsuki and her asexual partner flee to the countryside home where along with Yuu they attempt to live off the grid and transcend being human. What starts as a seemingly pedestrian coming-of-age novel grows into something much more surreal and eerie leaving you with a “what did I just read?!” feeling.

This was a really weird book, but in a good way! Nothing like I was expecting. This was my first by this author.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

Another delightful exploration of the strange and quirky from Sayaka Murata. This won't be to everyones taste, as it requires some trust and imagination from the reader. If you are not a fan of speculative fiction or magical realism, I would skip this one. I really appreciated the asexual representation that was featured in the main relationship of this novel. There was a lot of thematic allegorical that appeared the further we explored the main narrative arc. I do think the first half of this book was strong and more tightly plotted, it did fall a part a bit towards the end for me.

Indeed the cover is misleading.. a cute hedgehog plush toy from outer space causes mayhem!
Natsuki is an outcast from an abusive family. She doesn't fit in and does all she can to escape from the Factory, the baby making society that does not condone outcasts and forces them to conform.
The novel quickly escalates towards the end, sensitive readers beware!
All in all a very very weird but gripping read.