What a crazy, fascinating, other-worldly book EARTHLINGS is. After reading CONVENIENCE STORE WOMAN, this was a perfect follow-up as it takes some of the similar themes and ramps them up 100%. This book is an experience. I love books like that, and it doesn't happen all that often, so I'm so excited to announce that this is definitely an EXPERIENCE.

I don't want to give away too much, but the jist of the story is that it revolves around a young girl, Natsuki, who believes her and her cousin (whom she is in love with) are aliens from the planet Popinpobopia. There are tons of twists and turns, some extremely upsetting, but Murata's writing sinks its claws into you and doesn't let go until it's over. It's a super tough read though, but I think it's worth it in the end. It is such an insight into a particular part of Japanese culture, and full of characters I'll never forget. If you have yet to experience Murata, I highly recommend giving her a try.

This must be one of the weirdest books I've ever read and I know this will stick with me for a while in the back of my mind.
The author writes mostly about societal norms and what it means to live outside those boundaries.
It's hard to read at times due to content about sexual and verbal abuse of children, mental health issues, murder and cannibalism.
It certainly packs a punch.

Thanks Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

"Piyyut had taught me the magical power of invisibility. I didn't actually become invisible. I just held my breath and could make myself go unnoticed".

Natsuki's best friend was a stuffed animal, a white hedgehog she named Piyyut. Piyyut "couldn't speak human" but had given Natsuki magical powers. Yearly, Natsuki's extended family met up in the Akishina Mountains during the Obon Festival. Natsuki and her cousin Yuu shared their most intimate secrets. She spoke about the Planet Popinpobopia. Yuu said he was an alien. "I'm always secretly looking for the spaceship that will come and take me home". "The magician would be the girlfriend of the alien...until he traveled back to his home planet". Natsuki dreamed of going with Yuu in his spaceship [as his bride] to Planet Popinpobopia. Connection...closeness...a marriage ceremony officiated by Piyyut...a marriage pledge..."survive, whatever it takes".

Why would Natsuki just "survive"?. In Natsuki's words, "I had to study hard to become a work tool...I had to become...one of society's components...a reproductive organ for the town". Attendance in cram school...private lessons...inappropriate touches..."Weird alarm bells were ringing in my head". Natsuki retreated into her out of body self. Natsuki and Yuu, two innocents, regretful actions...all future trips to Akishina permanently cancelled.

Fast forward twenty three years. There is a push to fulfill societal expectations, to serve "The Factory", focusing on marriage, work and child bearing. It would be shameful to create a life outside the box. The pressure to marry and procreate was immense. Trauma in childhood has created an "otherworldliness', feelings of being an outsider. Must everyone conform to the factory mentality? Natsuki married Tomoyo three years ago. Tomoyo, an asexual male and housemate, had helped create the illusion of a good marriage, a benefit to both partners. Natsuki, Yuu and Tomoyo were on a collision course. Forcing conformity on them will have dire consequences. Long buried secrets will surface and behavior will spiral out of control.

"The Earthlings" by Sayaka Murata creates a society in which rigid expectations are thrust upon its citizens. How did Natsuki, Yuu and Tomoyo become outsiders? Should they be shunned for living against the grain of society? What life experiences factored into their behavior? You must read this tome to find out. Unfortunately, for this reader, as the weirdness factor increased, the enjoyment decreased as the tome barreled to its intense ending.

Thank you Grove Atlantic and Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

In Earthlings, Murata continues to explore themes of fitting in and being different, within the family and in society as a whole. No other writer can portray personal alienation quite like her, through simple, matter-of-fact, heartfelt, personal realities. She is crushingly good at making us feel what her characters feel!

With Natsuki, Murata takes her protagonist's alienation to an entirely different level. What we see as a young heroine's endearing quirkiness quickly escalates, through no fault of her own, to tragedy and trauma. The novel turns dark by Chapter 3, and only grows more so by the page.

The writing is brilliant, the premise is thought-provoking, but the storyline grows so exaggerated as to almost become B-movie horror by the end. For this reason, and because of the many triggering subjects, I find it hard to offer a blanket recommendation of this novel, despite desperately wanting to.

If you are a fan of Murata's do read this; just prepare yourself a bit more than the back cover blurb might suggest when it comes to "shocking."

What the hell just happened
This book was a complete chaotic fiction read. It messed up my brain for one and it was convincingly very well written. I admire the strength of the author to write about themes contrasting to the very worst misogyny in our society. I have always hated the fact about how our society judges everyone's life and this is eerily and very horrifyingly portrayed in the book. The writing and translation was a splendid work which has me engrossed in the book until the very last page and that is something.

I will never forget these characters and will never be able to erase just how much this book says about the damned society of ours. The planet and alien references were innocent at first but then got out of hand very quickly. The failure of being a loving parent to her daughter Natsuki was what made me so sad. I just couldn't stop reading this disturbing book, it made sense yet seemed so wrong. The very idea of the triggers of sexual abuse of children, minor sex, murder etc.. was jarring and my brain needed breaks at times.

This book is highly disturbing and I urge you to think twice before picking it up if you are a sensitive person. It has the vibes similar to 'The Vegetarian by Han Kang' and this was my first book from this author. I'd love nothing more but to discuss this book but then I'll have the revisit too many spoilers and so I'll stop here. Thankyou netgalley and Grove Atlantic for the review copy and I enjoyed reading this book is a bittersweet way. #earthlings #netgalley #sayakamurata

If you have read Convenience Store Woman, about the outcast, Keiko. That was just an amuse-bouche compared to Earthlings.

It starts innocent enough and then spirals from 0 to 60 into verbal abuse of a child, a graphic child sexual abuse scene from the POV of the child, to gruesome murder, violence and cannibalism. The story is so fascinating and WTF? that you can't stop reading.

I can only categorize it like a dark fantasy critique on (Japanese?) society. It focusses a lot on misogyny.

If you like reading horror, you will like this. And I say this as someone who doesn't like Stephen King but found this book fascinating.

WTF did I just read?! Why did I love it? I don’t know whether I’m more disturbed by the book or the fact that I enjoyed it. It’s five outrageous, shocking, weird, uncomfortable and controversial stars from me.

Let me just start stating this book is not for everyone #MarmiteBook (love it or hate it). The synopsis does not give away the wild journey you’re about to embark on. I can’t explain it without giving the plot away or sounding insane. If you’ve read Convenience Store Women then you’ve had a glimpse of Murata’s writing style and “theme” of human anomalies. Earthlings takes that to THE next level.

Earthlings is a radical view of “The Factory” aka society and the social norms we conform to. Beneath the craziness, Murata beautifully depicts the story of Natsuki, an outsider to chooses to live a life against the status quo. This book does comes with a lot of trigger warnings which I’m not going to disclose as they are plot spoilers and I think you should experience this book knowing as little as possible. (Story Graph now has content warnings)
Happy reading Earthlings 👽🖖🏾

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC eBook in return for an honest review.

So what happens to a child who never feels like a real part of society? One who who never hears a supportive word, who is regularly put down by close adults, who experiences sexual abuse? This is quite an interesting novel of 3 such children grown to adulthood and the bond they form to survive. The writing is deceptively simple but the message is quite complex. I didn’t feel a close bond with these characters but I will remember them.

Thanks to NetGalley and Grove Press for the ARC to read and review.

This book is outrageous! It is so odd to say at least. As I try to explain this book, I must sound insane. If you want to read something unique, this could be on your hook, but you need to be aware this story could cause a stormy stir.
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This book contains quite a few trigger warnings of abuse, pedophilia and other grotesque description. While I was reading this, at times my heart was deeply ached by the darkness of the story and some parts made me nauseous. I read crime books a lot, so I'm no stranger to the grotesqueness, but the way this book describes the scene hit a nerve for me more than others I've read. Hence, please be aware before you pick this one.
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The story is actually simple, following Nastuki's childhood to adulthood. We learn how she copes with a variety of abuse and becomes a woman with a phony marriage. She goes through a lot and pursues even more bizarre ways.
It was very interesting how Nastuki sees the world as a reproduction factory. This book describes so well the psychological trauma, furthermore, also captures the social pressure on adults in a bit of an exaggerated term. However, I didn't expect such an ending at all!!
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It's hard to talk about this without spoiling, so I'll stop here, but this book contains A Lot! When I finished this book, I was like "What the hell I've just read?". It's difficult to rate this book even though I was completely absorbed from the first page. It's grim and disturbing. I feel I'm not grasping this entirely, however, I don't have courage to reread for a while even though it's a short book...

I marked this book as 3.5-4 stars.

DNF @ 20%
(I give it 3 stars here because you can't submit the review without a rating; I will be leaving the star rating blank on other media sites)

I was very happy to be approved for this book, and I'm very sorry to be unable to finish it and give a proper review. When I requested it, I didn't know it would severely trigger me. I will not be able to comment about what triggered me because it's highly personal, but the book may be triggering to victims of abuse, so please read other people's reviews to learn more about the triggers before you pick this book up.

I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the ebook in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.

This was an unexpectingly graphic book about child abuse. I had read her earlier book which was also odd but I didn't expect it from this book. The cutesy cover and description leave anyone reading it in for a rude awaking. I didn't find it offensive or upsetting but it was quite graphic and the later plot points of cannibalism and incest were also a bit unexpected from publicity materials.

TW: parental neglect and abuse, physical and psychological abuse, grooming, pedophilia, incest & cannibalism
(there might be more but I didn't finish. I added incest and cannibalism since it was mentioned in other reviews)

I thought Earthlings was going to be a great fit for me but as the story went on, I couldn't keep reading. The content did trigger me so I decided to not finish this.

Sayaka Murata is such an acclaimed author and her books have been enjoyed by many readers, I'm sad it wasn't for me but I hope other people can enjoy it more.

Published in Japan in 2018; published in translation by Grove Press on Press October 6, 2020

Like Convenience Store Woman, Sayaka Murata’s Earthlings explores the theme of personal freedom in a society that values conformity to social norms. Both novels address, in very different ways, the belief that Japanese women should have the right to choose the life they want to live, unconstrained by the conventional notion that women must marry and reproduce soon after reaching adulthood.

As a child, Natsuki convinces herself that she is a magician and that her doll is an alien from the planet Popinpobopia. Every year she attends a family gathering with her parents. One year, her cousin Yuu tells her that he is also an alien and is just waiting to return home. Natsuki falls in love with Yuu because he is the only person who understands her. They stage a mock wedding and Natsuki eventually convinces Yuu to have sex with her. Natsuki and Yuu are discovered, scolded, and kept apart until well after they reach adulthood.

Natsuki’s only other experience with sex involves a college student who teaches cram sessions. When Natsuki tells her mother that the student had touched her and tricked her into giving him oral gratification, Natsuki’s mother dismisses the report as the product of Natsuki’s imagination. It seems likely that, true or not, Natsuki’s mother doesn’t want discussion of the incident to bring shame upon the family. Without giving her actions much thought, Natsuki eventually puts an end to one problem and creates another.

As an adult, Natsuki is unenthused about the idea of dating and sex. Succumbing to social pressure, she joins an online dating site and finds a man named Tomoya who wants to marry but does not want intimacy. That suits Natsuki, but the parents of Natsuki and Tomoya are soon pressuring them to have children. Tomoya would like to leave it all behind and visit the place where Natsuki’s family used to gather, a place that seems magical as he listens to Natsuki describe it. When they make that trip, they meet Yuu and change their lives in unusual ways.

The theme of freedom is first expressed in Natsuki’s belief that her town is a factory for the production of human babies. She believes her womb is simply a factory component designed to couple with a different factory component. Yuu and Tomoya agree that “everyone believed in the Factory. Everyone was brainwashed by the Factory and did as they were told. They all used their reproductive organs for the Factory and did their jobs for the sake of the Factory.” Like the protagonist in Convenience Store Woman, Natsuki rejects society’s expectations about her duty to have sex and bear children. That simply isn’t the life she wants, but other options are lacking if she wants to live as an earthling.

The story becomes a bit loopy at the end, relying on dark humor to make its point about the dark side of human nature. The alternative lifestyle that Natsuki, Yuu and Tomoya eventually adopt takes on an absurdist quality. While I didn’t find the ending to be particularly satisfying, the entertaining story that precedes it makes a strong point about the difficulty that ordinary women in Japan encounter when they elevate freedom and individuality above the patriarchal society’s definition of a woman’s duty.

RECOMMENDED

I was just talking to my coworkers about this book on Sunday and they all looked at me like I'm crazy!! 😆😆 but my main reaction throughout the book was entirely the same reaction as theirs: WHAT THE ACTUAL FUDGE??!! It took me a long time to process this book. That ending threw me off guard!! I wasn't prepared for sure but it is also something that makes you realize how society can be dangerous and cruel. If Convenience Store Woman was weird, this one tops it off of its weirdness. Sayaka Murata really does have a unique way of blowing off your mind with her straight-forward writing and at the same time tapping into difficult topics such as how we as an individual can sometimes feel that we don't have a personal say about our own decisions to not live within the norms like not wanting to have children. Overall, reading this was definitely a unique experience. But be prepared there are a lot of trigger warnings in here.

EARTHLINGS is translated by Ginny Talley Takemori.

Thank you netgalley and groveatlantic for this ARC!

I am... not entirely sure what just happened here. I was reminded a bit of Only Ever Yours, but then all of a sudden things went REAL awry REAL fast. The last chapter or so really threw me for a loop. I will say that I didn't dislike this book, exactly. I was intrigued enough to keep going. And I'm all for weird, but this was just a little too out there for my taste. I was really uncomfortable and there were a few parts that almost made me give up. I won't try to explicitly dissuade anyone from reading this, since it's really not awful, but it just was not my thing at all, in the end.

This book is weird! Weird and immensely disturbing and yet eminently readable. Again, this book is weird and I’m not sure I’m quite weird enough for it. And I mean this in the sense that it takes a rational overall theme and then chooses to present it in the most “extra,” odd, disturbing way possible. In terms of overall theme and character, it is very similar to my first book by this author, Convenience Store Woman, looking and conformity and social outsiders, and acting a part to fit into a world you feel alien from. But that is where the similarities end! This book is part traumatic coming of age story, part twisted destiny fulfillment. If I can explain the degree of weirdness, it would be to say that this book does have incest and that is the least weird and disturbing part. And the strangest bit, is the thread of dark humor running through the entire weird soup that is this book.

The premise is that young Natsuki is going through a hard time growing up with an emotionally (and at times, physical) abusive family and a sexually-abusive teacher and she would end it all if not for her best friend and cousin, Yuu, who is in a similarly emotionally abusive situation. But Natsuki must eventually grow up and join the real life world of earthlings unless she can find a way to best rebel against the strictures of society and live her life as an other in this strange alien world of earth.

It’s a little hard to describe the oddness of this book. On the one hand it’s very simple and reads almost as YA fiction especially early in the book when we meet young Natsuki. But on the other hand, the things that happen in this book are so explicitly traumatic that this is not at all appropriate for younger readers- certainly not without adult support. This book has definite elements that intersect between surrealism, magical realism and fantasy, but it also feels very real and very present The protagonist, Natsuki, is a very sympathetic character but at the same time being an earthling, at the end, I was also repulsed by her even though I understood her and still found her to be sympathetic.

There are so many potential triggers in this book that the main thing to say is not to read this if you are at all triggerable. There is on-page explicit child physical and sexual abuse by people who should be trusted adults, gaslighting and shaming of young victims of abuse and incest, cannibalism, attempted suicide, toxic family relationships... really the list goes on.

I’m finding it hard to determine if I liked this book or not. I... didn’t dislike it but I think it was a little too odd and abstract for me, especially at the end where it got super weird. I didn’t dislike it, but I didn’t particularly like it either. It was okay-tending-towards-liking in the sense that I absolutely adored Convenience Store Woman, I borderline liked this and would read this author again. I recommend this only if you’re not susceptible to triggers AND you’re looking for something somewhat weird and surreal and yet readable and rooted in reality.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Grove Press through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

After loving Murata's Convenience Store Woman, I was beyond excited to start on reading Earthlings. However, I must admit I couldn't gel with the story. The novel opens introducing us Natsuki - a young girl who believes being a magical creature. I appreciate Murata for writing this novel, it was really needed as it explores important aspects of dysfunctional family as well as child sexual abuse. However, I didn't enjoy the story and the way it was delivered. Characters felt really shallow for my liking, they were developed in a superficial way and lacked a certain sparkle. Moreover, the biggest disappointment was the ending which I found pretty rushed and unrealistic. Although I doubt this book will stay with me long, its a novel that I would recommended for those craving to dig into strange and quirky stories.

I loved Convenience Store Woman so was excited for Earthlings. Let's just say I was not disappointed and it was nothing like I excpected it to be. Earthlings is about a girl named Natsuki and her cousin Yuu. Later on it involves her husband. It is one of the strangest books I've read in a long time but I would recommend in a second. Maybe it's not a book for the light of heart but it is truly a reading experience. I'd love to be in a book club with this book. It will shake you out of this crazy world we are living in and transport you to another world that at first seems understandable but then goes to another level. Don't want to spoil it by saying anything else. It will surely be on my top ten of 2020 list. Read this book!!!

A charming short, but magical read. When you don't feel like you belong anywhere, it's always good to know you have one thing in common with everyone else - you too are an Earthling.

Like Murata’s first book Convenience Store Woman we get another intriguing, and bizarre read that I loved as much as the first.

This is a very hard book to write a review, because this is a short read and I do not want to give any. From the very high level, this s about Natsuki and Yuu who are cousins, and also decide they love each other, when at the are the earliest they can really discover love. They also believe that they are not from this world.

Murata tells wonderful rich stories, that only she can write. These characters are memorable and lovely and a story that will stay with me for a very long time.

At first glance these books do not appear to in my wheelhouse, but I have not been disappointed. If you are on the fence, I recommend give this short book a try, I think you may be be surprised.

Thank you NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.