I was overjoyed when Netgalley accepted my request for review. But sadly, the book didn't work for me. Though the book was intense, it felt forced and all the gruesome incidents seemed strained.

What an incredible, bizarre, fantastic, human story. I'll admit, when I began reading this I put it down. It was the story and where I could see it going. It felt like it would be too much at the time. But I picked it up again and finished in one sitting. The flat (although excellent, don't let the word flat misrepresent what Murata has done here) prose makes the most horrific situations feel.... light. The weight of the situations remain. The devastating effects of people acting upon one another. But, unlike too many novels, the horrific events are not the main drive. It's what happens after these events which matter.

I had to DNF this one. I enjoyed Convenience Store Woman (except for the "boyfriend" character), but there's a huge CW for child abuse from more than one adult, including sexual assault.

I won't be reviewing or sharing opinions on social media or through reviews, because I don't want to give it a bad rating, but readers should be aware of the content warnings.

How far are you willing to go to be truly free? This is the question that is at the heart of Sayaka Murara's latest novel 'Earthlings.'

Natsuki is not like other girls. She believes herself to be an alien from the planet Poppinpobobia. She does not fit in with 'Earthlings' and their strange eagerness to join 'the factory' (a.k.a society) where they will be trained to become productive worker bees and 'wombs for hire' for the continuation of the human race. At first, she is desperate to be 'brainwashed' by the status quo, rather than continue to suffer life as an outsider. But when this hope of assimilation fails she makes a pact with her cousin, and fellow Poppinpobobian, Yu that they must survive 'no matter what.'
.
Don't be fooled by the cute cover, this book is as dark as they come, exploring topics such as: trauma, abuse (verbal, physical and sexual), depersonalisation, violence, misogyny, murder, incest and cannibalism, to name a few. Nothing is off limits, no subject is considered too disturbing or taboo for Murato to explore. I particularly love her use of the metaphor of aliens to explore the theme of alienation. Being autistic, the feeling of being from another planet is something I can totally resonate with.
.
This book is social critique at its finest, and most unsettling, and will leave you questioning everything that you know. Though, undoubtedly, shocking, 'Earthlings' is a unique, thrilling, and strangely enjoyable experience and I devoured it like a true Poppinpobobian. It definitely isn't for everyone, but it you can handle the dark subject matter I strongly recommend that you give it a chance.

It feels like the only way to describe Sayaka Murata books is by saying they are Sayaka Murata and this one was VERY Sayaka Murata. We get a similar message in this book that we got in Convenience Store Woman, where we encounter characters that wish to be free of the expectations of society, specifically, of breaking away from the idea that women are only demure baby factories. Except that in Earthlings, Murata pretty much shoves us out of our comfort zones as we follow the life of 11-year-old Natsuki who only wishes to fit in somewhere and to make her life her own

This book is not for everyone but it's a reality that we can't just ignore. Warnings for sex between minors, sexual abuse, child abuse, incest, and more

I loved Convenience Store Woman and was thrilled to read Earthlings. I rarely read about asexual characters so that made this book stand out. I can't try to explain the plot, I'll just say, read this!

Oh my goodness! I wanna say I expected nothing less from SM but this was... this was just.... the only things I kept uttering while reading (from beginning to end) was... wtf...

The social commentary was sharp just like her previous novel, of not more. The entire tone of the book was intensely eerie that gives you a sense of foreboding at every turn of the chapter. It was just an experience reading it and I can’t wait to see what else she comes up with cause she’s definitely becoming a favourite author of mine.

I was happy when Netgalley accepted my request for read this book .

Honestly, I was interested to read the book because of the cute cover. When I just started reading the book it totally cut me off because the storyline kind of fantasy which is I don’t quite read a fantasy book .

As the story goes , the storyline really intense which makes me totally angry towards Natsuki’s Mum and her teacher.

I just could not understand why Natsuki’s Mum not even listened to her when she told her that her teacher is sexual harassment her. Many actions of Natsuki’s Mum treated her are so wrong .

After the sexual harassment case , the storyline become more and more RIDICULOUS. I just feel I can’t even continued reading the book but I want to know the ending makes me keep on reading.

The book seriously dark - the book contains mental illness, sexual harassment, child abuse , incest ,cannibalism .

If you are a person who can stand all of the dark elements , maybe the book is for you.

Seriously , I don’t get what’s the point of writing this kind of book. Then , after have a discussion with my friend about the book.

Maybe , the book is to create awareness about mental illness , child abuse , sexual harassment. Parents need to know parenting tips to avoid their children face mental illness. Parents need to observe and listen to their children.

Oh and, seriously this book totally reminds me of a proverb : “ Don’t judge a book by its cover “. Despite of the cute cover page the book totally not as cute as the cover :p

On GoodReads, this book is categorised as contemporary Japanese literature, literary fiction, magical realism and horror, the latter I wouldn't really agree with apart from the 15% (or so) of the book. It is the most bizarre book I've ever read and has such interesting points about how society functions as a machine or factory and everyone has to play their part or they'll be ostracised and viewed as a part that doesn't work. While it was very bizarre at times, as well as disturbing, difficult to read and horrifying, I found myself compelled to carry on turning the page until I realised that I read the book in just over a day.

It is difficult to read at times especially how Natsuki's mother abuses her, the awful abuse her experiences from her teacher and the final section of the book which is quite graphic and grotesque. Abuse, cannibalism, bullying, murder and incest are all mentioned within the book. I find it difficult to articulately describe my thoughts about this read as it read like a bizarre fever dream with some potentially triggering topics and disturbing scenes but it will also stay with me for a while and I love the musings on society, the role everyone is forced to play and what happens when you feel alien (or Popinpobopian) within your society. I definitely want to read more from this author in the future!

You want crazy? I’ll give you crazy!

This is the most bizarre and unique book I’ve ever read, hands down. Going into this, Geek Love held the title of Weirdest Book Ever, but this book knocked that one off the shelf and stands proudly in its place. Everything in this book is OVER THE TOP (yes, in all caps)! This is just what I needed in a time when our country is over the top in so many ways. Everything in your face, a big deal, all exclamation marks. So why not escape into a book that takes me out of this reality and plops me into a way worse bizarro-land that I can laugh at and marvel at from afar?

I felt nervous at first. Eek, I’d ventured outside my genre. (I seem to be doing that this year.) I was patting myself on the back for that one. I don’t really even know what genre it is. It’s a combo: Dystopian. Sort of. Family drama. Sort of. Horror. Sort of. Here I had landed on the moon, but now what? I was afraid to get out of my spaceship! How bad would it be with moon rocks under my feet? What would I find? Scary!! I finally stepped out, and holy moly was it ever wildly exciting out there!

As I read on, I was getting downright cocky—I’ve got this, oh yeah. For sure it’s one of my favorite books ever! I love every second of it! But then…BUT THEN!! I get to the last scene and it’s WAY too over the top for me. Erase! Erase! Why oh why did the writer go there? But when I think about it, the whole book is so intense and strange, why would I expect anything less as the finale? Suddenly it’s a 4-star read; I can’t give it any less even though I’m pissed that the author went there, went to a place I could not handle. If I take off that final scene (which I can’t, and which I’ll never forget), this is a 6-star read.

It’s hard to talk about the plot without giving too much away, so I’ll just say it’s about a woman who doesn’t fit into society. She wants desperately to conform but she’s no good at it. The book starts with her 11-year-old self. She thinks she’s from another planet (that has a weird, long, and interesting name). Ho, hum, another alienated kid. That part seemed sort of dumb and I wondered if the story would get more interesting (believe me, it does!). Her family is mean and puts pressure on her. There is one very disturbing situation but she takes care of it in the most unusual way. You think she’s pretty cool, but then it gets iffy. Still, you’re on her side.

I could not stop reading. The story is full of nutso ideas and dialogue. At one point, a guy blurts out that he wants to have sex with his grandfather. His friends say it’s not the right thing to do, and then the guy says it’s okay because his grandfather is in a vegetative state. Whaaaaaat? I realize that doesn’t sound funny; you had to be there. You can see what I mean when I say it’s over the top.

The author is Japanese and the book is translated. I wasn’t conscious of the fact that it wasn’t written in English, always a good sign. The writing is simplistic and has a YA feel to it, but note that this cannot be called YA. And the simplicity works because it contrasts so well with the intensity of the story.

I read the author’s earlier novel, Convenience Store Woman, and I liked it. That book, too, is about a woman who doesn’t conform. Of the two books, Earthlings is the knockout. I will follow this writer anywhere.

You have to enjoy bizarre, dramatic stories and have a tolerance for the horrific to like this book. For me, the upsetting scenes were trumped by the wonderfully crazy plot and characters, but this book is not for everyone.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy.

What a very strange book. Lots of taboo subject matter. The story follows the main character as a 12 year old and then picks up with her as an adult. As in the author's other book, Convenience Store Woman, the main character is very outside the main stream and refuses ( or can't) live life as expected. In this book I think that could have been portrayed without so much of the weird. The over-the-top weird pulled me out of the book and brought me away from the message I think the author was trying to make about societal norms? <- Big question mark there.

Unfortunately this book just didn’t work for me. It was difficult to read through the majority of the novel due to a lot of gross scenes inserted for the sole purpose of shock factor.

I am sorry but I have DNF it.
I really tried with this one, because as far as I have read it is pretty unique, and I really appreciated Natsuki. She is a child who is trying her best to make sense of the world (and let's be honest, it is hard for us grown-up, for a child is a real challenge!) and she is smart, she tries to figure out all, and her self-explanations aren't bad at all. Quite naive, yes, but bittersweet and real. Also, not farfetched at all.
But this book is just too much for me. It made me just so mad (and not because the book is poorly done, it is that it is too well done, and you are there, with Natsuki and with all the adults of her life. The adults that should cherish her, protect her, and make her feel special and brilliant and precious, but that betray her time and again) and it hurts so much. It was overwhelming, and it was just the beginning so I had to stop the reading because it was just too much.

But if you think that this book can be right for you, please give it a chance, because for what I have read of it (I had to stop before hitting 30%, sorry) it is well done and it really deserves to be read.

While there were some very interesting and underlying aspects to this story and the cultural elements added to it. This was probably one of the strangest, most unexpected, and at times disturbing stories I have ever read. Overall it was good - just really weird.

TW for physical & sexual abuse, and graphic violence.

EARTHLINGS by Sayaka Murata is an original coming-of-age story that revolves around Natsuki. As a child, she was abused by her parents and they favored her sister. Her best friend, a plush toy hedgehog named Piyyut, tells her that he has come from the planet Popinpobopia on a special quest to help Natsuki save the Earth. In one summer, when Natsuki was visiting her grandparents, her cousin Yuu reveals that he is an alien that wants to go back to his home planet.

What did I just read?! Through a utterly bold plot, Murata does a brilliant job of writing a heavy commentary on humanity and social expectations in modern society. Murata masterfully makes use of metaphors to explain human nature and tackles issues on oppression, identity, conformism, life's purpose and procreation. Instead of being repelled by the endless disturbing scenes, I was even more absorbed and able to capture the story's message.

When it came to Natsuko early life's abuse, I was angry at her mother's negligence concerning her own daughter. I applaud the cleverly-crafted analogies between factory and society/ conformism and brainwashing in regards to human's life stages - this creative approach is unlike anything I have ever read. Also, the author blatantly examines the (standard) natural course of life - such as marriage and have kids - and questions whether there's a pre-determined path to happiness.
While the characters weren't exactly captivating, they were perfect in showing multiple perspectives and hence a deeper understanding. Lastly, when you think you couldn't be more stunned, there's a shocking ending!

Different from her debut novel "Convenience store woman", EARTHLINGS is an unconventional work and has a completely opposite take. It is an insane journey which the readers will have to trust on Murata's intention.

TW: incest, attempted suicide, cannibalism, sexual abuse, murder, trauma

“Convenience Store Woman” author Sayaka Murata brings us the story of another Japanese society outsider in her most recent novel, “Earthlings.” Natsuki has always felt alienated from those around her, whether it be her parents, who dote on her self-centered sister Kise, or the math teacher who sexually assaults her under the guise of teaching her, or the community, referred to by Natsuki as “the Baby Factory,” which dictates that she must marry and have children to be of any value. When she was young, Natsuki dealt with this alienation by pretending that her plush hedgehog, Piyyut, was an alien being who bestowed magical powers on her; her equally societally-estranged cousin Yuu clings to the belief that he is actually a native of Planet Popinpobopia, a fantasy which Natsuki wholeheartedly embraces and which leads to some unexpected consequences.

Fast forward a few years later and Natsuki is now married to Tomoya, a man she met on a website “where people seeking to evade society’s gaze for some reason...could appeal for information or find collaborators.” Tomoya becomes Natsuki’s ultimate collaborator against the Baby Factory, as the two settle into a “pleasant” but sexless marriage of convenience. But when the demands of society and the Factory eventually start to encroach on Natsuki and Tomoya, they—along with Natsuki’s cousin Yuu—decide to retreat further and further from it and into the resurrected world of Planet Popinpobopia—with devastating results.

This is a hard book to review—it’s quirky and weird and disturbing and totally original (the closest book I’ve read to it might be “My Sister the Serial Killer”). I admired the almost delicate way Murata uses the device of a child’s plush toy to depict the horrific psychological consequences of assault: Natsuki’s belief that Piyyut has taught her the “magical trick” of floating above and outside her body is a clear manifestation of psychological dissociation. But all delicacy disappears by the last act of the book, as an unexpected (and somewhat outrageous) plot development sends “Earthlings” hurtling into the realm of graphic and almost gratuitous violence—made even more jarring by Murata’s flat and affectless delivery. In the end, I admired the skill evident in “Earthlings” more than I enjoyed the novel, but I will definitely read other Sayaka Murata books—she’s a strangely compelling and original voice.

Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Press for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The degree of trust Murata places in her readers—that they will connect with the broader conversations in the narrative and not see the sexual violence or extremities in the plot as gratuitous—is mutual. The reader also must trust that Murata has a purpose to it all. Reaching the end of this text, my understanding of where Murata was taking the conversation shifted at times. The representation of the characters as cogs in the greater social wheel, this “factory” as she articulated it, allows for a nuanced conversation around purpose and identity, particularly around gendered understandings of procreation. What she puts her protagonist through in the plot pushes this conversation, and it felt intentionally shocking to read. For me there was a shift in the direction the narrative took in the latter part, and without giving away any spoilers, felt it became more meta even than these initial discussions that had been prompted.
.
I couldn’t put this one down and honestly read it with my eyebrows raised for the majority of the book, stopping to let it swirl once I’d finished. It takes a lot for a book to completely catch me off guard and engage in such important discussions in a way I hadn’t anticipated. Read it if you want to continue thinking about some of the conversations she raised in CONVENIENCE STORE WOMAN particularly.
.
Many thanks to @groveatlantic for a review copy.

What did I just read? I don't know how to describe this book. Let me take a deep breath first.

I was so happy when my request was approved by Netgalley and eager to read this book. But the story beyond my imagination and expectation. Despite the cute book cover, the story is not that cute. This book is dark, intense, odd, creepy, weird and insane! Some of the plots still lingering in my mind. The writing is simple but the message is complicated. I only like Uncle Teruyoshi and didn’t like all the other characters but I will remember them. I hate Natsuki’s mom and Mr. Igasaki, the irresponsible adults. Shame on them!

What I can say is this book is not suitable for all. Please think twice before picking up as the book contains trigger warnings such as sexual child abuse, mental illness, incest and cannibalism. If you’re a sensitive person, I advise you not to pick up this book.

Overall, this book is not for me.

Review of Earthlings: Earthlings is the second translated book by Sayaka Murata (Convenience Store Woman is the first). It’s the story of Natsuki, who the reader meets as a child, and how she doesn’t think she’s from Planet Earth. Her mission is to fit in while looking for her spaceship; along the way, she has to figure out a way to fit in with her family. She has one cousin, Yuu, who she can relate to but he’s struggling with his own family too.

For such a thin book, this has so much action jam-packed into it! Natsuki holds herself apart from her mom and her sister who take out their rage about their own lives on Natsuki. It’s hard to tell whether she always has had trouble relating to them, meaning there might have been a spectrum disorder that made it difficult for her to relate to them from an early age, or if their terribleness to her caused her to dissociate until she really believes she’s not from this planet.

When this results in a predatory teacher being able to abuse Natsuki, she tries to take back power. This ends up being explosive (it rips her family apart) and destructive (things don’t end well for that teacher). The explosive scenes are heartbreaking in the end because two kids have so little control over their lives are struggling to take it back. The destructive scenes I kind of cheered on because that teacher had it coming.

Skip ahead to Natsuki being an adult and married (the book makes a time jump that’s a bit jarring but ultimately works for the size of the novel). She and her husband are managing to get along with some strict rules in place. They don’t sleep in the same room. They don’t interact. They’re in charge of their own lives. It’s kind of brilliant. They managed to find each other and are able to function even as their families and their parents interfere with their lives.

I wish that could have been a weird, but functional happy ending for them but of course that wouldn’t be enough. Natsuki and her husband Tomoya each have families that are harping on them to have kids. This isn’t something they’re open to doing and by pushing them, Tomoya wants to retreat. Natsuki tells him stories of going to her grandmother’s house and he wants to go there to retreat from the world, at least for a little bit. Natsuki reluctantly talks her family into allowing this and this is where things go off the rails.

For one thing, Natsuki and her cousin Yuu haven’t seen each other in years. But they realize they still believe they aren’t from this planet and they convince Tomoya of the same. This time I don’t have the same wish for them to live happily dysfunctionally ever after. The three of them, hounded by their families, are on a collision course with destruction.

Remember Natsuki’s sister tormenting her for sport? She’s not over that and it not only affects Natsuki but also Yuu and Tomoya. Because she sends people after Natsuki to exact revenge on her. Revenge for what isn’t entirely clear but in Natsuki’s sister’s mind, she is responsible for all the unhappiness in the world.

The familial relationships that aren’t Natsuki’s, Tomoya’s and Yuu’s are disturbingly normal. It’s hard to say if that’s deliberate or not but it’s a perfect contrast to how terrible their relationships are with the people who are supposed to love and care for them. I kind of understand why Natsuki, Tomoya, and Yuu would band together. They care for each other despite their final relationship and acts of love towards each other being the most destructive out of the whole book.

This was an interesting book that read like a movie since it moved so quickly. It was odd; it was disturbing; it was hard to read at times but it was great for anyone interested in psychological horror.

Earthlings is surprising, sad, infuriating, horrifying, and compassionate. It is not at all what I expected. Murata takes the basic premise—a young girl thinks she is from an alien planet—and turns it upside down, shattering any light-hearted preconceptions I had in the beginning.

Natsuki, our protagonist and observer, uses her alien origin story as a defense mechanism for some truly horrible abuses that are piled on her. At one point, I had to put the book down for awhile, as I was so furious. We follow her as a child, and then as an adult, as she reunites with her childhood friend and cousin, Yuu, accompanied by her husband. The story of these three characters is about self-preservation, and finding a way to live as a free individual in a society that values the community's desires and goals over one's own. All three are viewed as outsiders in society, where they reject certain norms, but come together to create a new world where they all feel safe and able to explore.

While the plot is bizarre, and the ending grotesque and shocking, the implications of the actions of our trio of outsiders gives one a lot to think about. Through this darkness, Murata expertly questions what it is to be normal, and what it means to live vs. what it means to survive. The way Murata constructs Natsuki's world view is refreshing and allowed me to consider some aspects of human society from an outsider's perspective. I don't know much about Japanese society, but this book gives a glimpse into how important conformity is, and how everyone has to sacrifice something to uphold their end of the social bargain. There are also really interesting, and sad, observations about gender roles and expectations throughout the story. It was shocking to read at times, as issues that seem like not a big deal to me, as an American, cause so much conflict in Natsuki's life.