What did I just read???

In a near future world where married couples do not have sex and babies are conceived by artificial insemination, Amane feels like she is not normal because she feels sexual attraction. This is a quick foundational synopsis; there’s a lot more going on here but I don’t want to spoil anything! For the majority of the book, I was uncomfortable, both physically and emotionally, struggling to find my own definitions and feelings about love and sexuality and family. I mean this in a complimentary way - it’s incredible what Murata can make me feel with her writing. The way she depicts social norms and how humans conform to them is fantastic. The end took my discomfort to a whole new level - a new stratosphere, really - and I am still reeling. I don’t know if I can say I enjoyed the ride, but I’m very glad I read this! You are either the kind of reader who will like this or the kind who will not. Either way you have to admit it’s a unique and powerful piece of writing.

One thing about Sayaka Murata's books is that they're always WEIRD. I have yet to read a book of hers that has really worked for me, but I can see the potential of one eventually going that way for me. This book is an interesting speculative fiction take on a world where the "rules" of reproduction have outlawed many things we consider "normal". While Murata's use of sex in her novels has always left me feeling uncomfortable, this book kept me engaged despite whatever negative feelings I was experiencing. I just wanted to know more! The concept was super interesting, and even though it isn't really a future I can see happening, it was still based enough in reality that I could wrap my head around the societal expectations of this world. I always feel like this author's books lack in world building and character depth, but that seems like the point? Either way, I will keep reading this author's novels until they either scare me away, or I fall in love!

Sayaka Murata, thank you yet again for the existential dread 😂

This book starts out kind of slow but then I was drawn in by the eerie dystopian world she’s created. The ending was BANANAS and I’m going to go ahead and stare at a wall for the next 2 hours now

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC 😊

Vanishing World by Sayaka Murata

challenging dark informative reflective sad tense
Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0

A haunting story that makes one angry and scared. A dystopian world that is terrifying because parts of it feel so familiar to ours.

This is a book you will reread and talk to others about.
So far my most impacting read for 2025.

Ideal reader:⭐️
Fan of dystopians
Fan of books that make you think
Fan of books that changed you
Fan of translated reads
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia

soooooo delightfully strange & incredibly gross

I am not exactly sure what I was expecting going into this, but I got more than I bargained for....in a good way??? The conversations happening throughout the book of what is now the "new normal" was so shocking and had me feeling grateful in an odd way for how marriages, relationships, and having children is carried out in OUR present world.

What if the way we functioned as a married couple and furthermore a family was totally flipped on its axis and it was no longer normal to be intimate with your partner. Furthermore to see any intimate relations of any kind being seen as INCEST! Beware that that isn't even the most shocking new normal in this new world, but I want to leave that to you to read about for yourself.

Sayaka Murata does it again with another weird world where society is very different to what we have today. Where family and relationships dynamics are framed by the new idea of having kids in this society.

I LOVE Sayaka Murata, so I was so grateful to be approved for an early copy of Vanishing World. I'm a mood reader, and I just could not get into this one during the review period. I'm excited to revisit this again when I'm able to accept its energy, but unfortunately I could not connect with it and DNF. It felt dull without being bleak enough, spooky without being engaging enough. This is a me problem, and Sayaka Murata still remains a NetGalley-request author for me.

A strange, interesting, and introspective book.

"As a girl, Amane realizes with horror that her parents “copulated” in order to bring her into the world, rather than using artificial insemination, which became the norm in the mid-twentieth century. Amane strives to get away from what she considers an indoctrination in this strange “system” by her mother, but her infatuations with both anime characters and real people have a sexual force that is undeniable. As an adult in an appropriately sexless marriage—sex between married couples is now considered as taboo as incest—Amane and her husband Saku decide to go and live in a mysterious new town called Experiment City or Paradise-Eden, where all children are raised communally, and every person is considered a Mother to all children. Men are beginning to become pregnant using artificial wombs that sit outside of their bodies like balloons, and children are nameless, called only “Kodomo-chan.” Is this the new world that will purify Amane of her strangeness once and for all?"

In totality, this book is a large conversation (and comprised of many conversations between couples, friends, and family.) As the characters abstain from things in their life, the text reflects this and is filled with repetitive talking and not a lot of action. I think this was a strength to the novel and, in the end, made the action of Amane even more extreme.

If you've read anything by Murata, you know she goes to lengths and places not expected or, like Amane, extreme. Vanishing World does not disappoint. This shows a vanishing world and the new one taking its place, in both we can see reflections of the world we live in. The style is detached and almost clinical highlighting the strangeness of everything. The end finishes in the midst of a confrontation of sorts and leaves all sorts of thoughts and questions, as does many other Murata novels.

Days later, I'm still thinking about this read.

Thank you to Grove Press and NetGalley for the digital ARC!

Full review on halfextinguishingthought.com

This was good and very thought provoking. It would make a great discussion for a book club and touches on lots of subjects that are relevant to society today. I will say that the last few pages were just so unnecessary! Otherwise very interesting.

Vanishing World by Sayaka Murata is an unusual and fascinating novel set in a dystopian version of Tokyo, where sexuality has become almost obsolete, children are conceived artificially, and real emotional intimacy is a rarity.

The story follows Amane, a girl who falls in love with an anime character and begins to explore her sexuality through this connection. What starts off as naive and innocent gradually becomes a deeper exploration of identity, desire, and the boundaries between reality and fantasy. In this world, relationships are often purely functional, same-sex marriage is prohibited, and family structures are designed for efficient reproduction rather than emotional bonds.

One of the most curious elements is “Experiment City” – a place where children are raised collectively, men can become pregnant, and the concept of parenting is completely redefined. It’s a bold and strange vision of the future that raises many questions.

Murata’s writing style is simple and emotionally detached, which makes the strange events in the story feel even more surreal. Although the book talks a lot about sex, it’s not erotic – it feels mechanical and clinical, and that contrast is what makes it so compelling.

Vanishing World is a truly unique experience. It challenges the reader, offers fresh perspectives, and lingers in your thoughts long after the final page.

Conclusion: A strange and original look at a possible future, full of questions about human connection, sexuality, and what it means to build a life.
4 stars

"Faced with the obligatory rightness of the spectacle of connected life, unable to resist, we continued to obey it, moved by its wonders.”

a special thank you to Net Galley, Grove Press & Grove Atlantic for allowing me access to an Advanced Reader’s Copy of Vanishing World by Sayaka Murata!! it’s an absolute privilege to receive an ARC & i’m so honored to be able to share a honest review in exchange.

i am so excited to be reviewing this arc since i’ve been searching for works by Murata since i finished earthlings in 2022, my second ever bookstagram review!

✨ publication date: april 15th, 2025

review: ★ ★ ★ ★ (04/06/25)

another strange & disturbing work of Sayaka Murata. Murata always has interesting concepts & this book is no exception!

however, her writing is definitely more of a niche taste, so i’d recommend reading trigger warnings & blurb before as these topics can feel uncomfortable and triggering.

i enjoyed the slow, natural reveal of the premise. this book definitely made me take a good number of “oh okay...” pauses. it also carried the characteristic twisted ending, i thought it hit the final “oh!” moment only for a far stranger one to follow…

while i ended the book with questions interesting to dwell on, i am not entirely sure what to make of the text. but for now, it feels like a very relevant, blunt reflection about societal values that could be approaching… Murata truly nailed questioning normality & what it means.

Murata always has this way of making everyday human stuff like family, love, and gender feel totally strange and alien. In this book, s*x is seen as almost disgusting, marriage is just a technical agreement, and kids are made through artificial insemination. Men and women both can get pregnant, and everyone in Experiment City becomes a “Mother” to every child. The old ideas about romantic love and family basically don’t exist anymore, and honestly, it’s both hilarious and super unsettling to read.

One thing that hit me was how the idea of marriage and relationships felt so hollow here, more like a weird social contract than anything emotional. You can have as many lovers as you want, real or fictional, but marriage itself just ties you to someone like a distant relative. It really made me think about how much pressure society puts on us to follow a script, get married, have kids, even when the world around us completely changes. In Vanishing World, all those traditions still exist, but they’ve lost all their meaning.

There’s a moment where a woman gets her husband arrested just for trying to touch her, and instead of anyone thinking that’s extreme, everyone acts like he’s the freak. Murata does such a good job showing how something as basic as physical affection can be flipped into something shameful if society decides it’s wrong.

I didn’t love the writing style as much, it’s super dialogue-heavy and repetitive, but the concept was so weird and smart that I stayed hooked anyway. Definitely not my favorite Murata, but still such a cool, thought-provoking read.

Unfortunately this just wasn’t for me.

The concept was actually pretty interesting but I felt like I was reading the same thing over and over.

Thank you NetGalley and Granta publishing for the eARC

Super weird but so captivating, I finished it in a couple of days. Another dive into Murata’s weird and wonderful mind, girl does not miss

Wtf did I just read? This book left me speechless but not in a good way. Honestly at this point I’m worried about why I keep choosing these awful books.
I could see how societies views on sex and marriage might change…..but calling sex between married people incest but they can get IUI and have a baby together is ok??? Just a confounding concept.
Add to that the FMCs obsession with sex…….and with all the weirdness I still would have called it a 3 star read until the ending. I cannot even begin to think what was crossing the author’s mind as they wrote that last chapter.
Trigger warnings abound. But definitely it should be labeled a TW for sexualization of children…..
I honestly wish I had just DNF’d this book at the halfway point.
I did receive an ARC of this title, all opinions are my own.

This was a strange book with a lot of interesting takes on marriage sex and child rearing but the first half was a little repetitive. In this book we follow Amane in a futuristic world where sex is now considered taboo since artificial insemination became the way to have children. Amane was born from a married couple the old way and explores if sex is bad, and her journey of trying to have a child with her husband. This book was unique and I can’t decide if I liked it or not. The writing was very cold and clinical but it made sense in the story and really raised some interesting ideas. The chapters were my main issue it didn’t really have chapters instead 3 parts making it hard to kind of find a place to stop. This was my first book from this author and I really want to read more from them in the future! I would like to thank NetGalley and the publishers for a chance to read this book for an honest review.

Vanishing World is a classic Sayaka Murata book full of the most absurd and weird commentary on today’s society — and I say this in the most positive way, cos she really has a way of commenting on how the world works through the most deranged ways.

I was a huge fan of Earthlings and I loved Convenience Store Woman. I also think, the one time I saw her speak at a book event, that her ideas and interest in writing books that show how the world works and how it affects us is super important. Especially as her books are hugely influenced by her own experience as a woman living in Japan.

But with that said, I wasn’t as huge a fan of Vanishing World as I hoped I would be. You can tell it’s an earlier work, despite being translated after her other books, and it doesn’t come across as strong in its message as her other books — it did feel uncomfortable to read though, which I think made for a better experience. It’s very clinical and removed from the idea of relationships and love as we know it. Which is the whole point. Yet, it just didn’t fully do it for me.

I will say, though, that in true Sayaka Murata spirit it did have a fucked up little twist and I loved that (even if it made me feel uncomfortable).

I’d probably still recommend it if you’re interested in reading more of her work or would like to read dystopian fiction in which society becomes almost sexless and so far removed from the classic family dynamic that we know nowadays. There was some interesting commentary on the necessity of family structured and relationships, the need for man / woman familial bonds, and the question on whether it’s better to raise children in individual groups or as a community.

In a way, it also reminded me of Hospital by Han Song though less off-putting and sexist. But the clinical weird feeling is very similar in both in my opinion.

/// Thank you to Grove Press and NetGalley for the digital ARC.

I know this will be good but i cant continue because the trigger warning was made me yuck every single time i read it

Thanks to Net Galley and Grove Press for the ARC!

What. did. I. just. read. I love Murata's weirdness, and Vanishing World takes it too a whole new level. This was WILD, but it was also deeply reflective and I haven't stopped thinking about it since. You are going to want your seat belt on for this one.

Sayaka Murata does it again! Vanishing World is a statement to the current sexual, reproductive state of the world. An intuitive discussion of what may come if we take love out of the equation. I highly recommend Vanishing World to all and any Sayaka Murata novel.