sayaka murata returns with her incredibly imaginative and strange story about a world where artificial insemination is the norm, and "real sex," is taboo, even between married couples. say what you want about murata, but she consistently brings such unique stories to life that discuss families, patriarchy, sex, and love under capitalism. i love how the story developed, and felt pleased when the story wrapped up.

(3.5/5, rounded up)
What I love about Sayaka Murata's writing is how distinctive it is. You could have handed this ro me with without an author named, and I'd still be able to tell you who wrote this within a few pages.

Vanishing World feels like Convenience Store Woman all grown up. Going about her observations similarly here, we're presented with harsh truths that when laid bare, make you reconsider your values and what you know about society.

Unfortunately I didn't enjoy this nearly as much as Convenience Store Woman, but I'd still recommend it to anyone who enjoyed Convenience Store Woman. This did serve as a great reminder to myself than I still need to read Earthlings & Life Ceremony!

{Thank you bunches to NetGalley, Sayaka Murata and Grove Atlantic for the DRC in exchange for my honest review!}

Sayaka Murata’s Vanishing World is a twisted, dystopian ride where sex is essentially obsolete. In this future, couples live together solely to procreate (artificially) —more like siblings than spouses—while intimacy takes a backseat. People engage in affairs with cartoons or, sometimes, real people, but sex is rarely involved. I couldn’t help but laugh out loud at the absurdity of it all—like the moment my husband tried to kiss me, and I rushed to the bathroom to throw up. It’s bizarre, unsettling, and utterly Murata.

I’m a huge fan of dystopian fiction, and this novel paints a world where love, family, and relationships are completely turned upside down. The second half of the book took an unexpected turn, but it was still thoroughly captivating. As always, the ending left me disturbed and unsettled—but that’s part of what makes Murata’s work so compelling. Her stories challenge conventional ideas of society, often leaving you both unsettled and intrigued.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for providing me with an advanced copy. I was beyond thrilled when I saw the cover and couldn’t contain my excitement when I was selected to read it early. This book definitely lived up to my high expectations!

I'm not even sure where to start. As others have stated, I believe the author of this novel must have a super unique, intriguing, and honestly strange mind in order to come up with this. But it was just weird enough that I had to keep reading and I finished it within 24 hours. Parts of it were a bit disturbing, but when looked at with an open mind, it produced a lot of thought-provoking questions about societal norms, family life, sex, parenting, and how technological advances impact these things. I don't think I'd be very fond of the Experiment City, but I think that is kind of the point- society has trained me to see it as weird and abnormal. Maybe some day in the distant future it won't be looked at that way at all!

4 STRANGE and intriguing stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for an ARC of this novel.

This strange, thought-provoking book is unlike anything I’ve ever read. I truly believe Sayaka Murata’s brain operates on a level above everyone else. I was enraptured by this just so bizarre, propulsive story that makes one question the basic elements of what makes us human: love, sex, family, identity. It truly made me rethink the human existence and what the future could hold. Like the rest of Murata’s books, the ending was insane, and nothing in this book could be predicted. I can’t wait for this to come out to hear other reactions.

ARC provided by NetGalley

Sayaka Murata is a genius. Depraved, but a genius. I wish I could peek inside her brain to find out where she gets her ideas, but the thought of doing that also lowkey terrifies me. I love everything she has written, and her newest novel breaks down the concepts of family, relationships, and sex like no other book has before. I love dystopian novels, and this was a very peculiar take on the genre. It was disgusting one second and weirdly wholesome the next. I’d expect nothing less from Murata. Can’t wait to see what she comes up with next.

Perhaps the authors most provocative novel yet. Vanishing World touches on so many topics from the necessity of marriage and motherhood to sexual desires. The clinical-ness with which she writes about love and sex is done brilliantly and feels almost disturbing.

The novel can be perceived as a look ahead into our future. The character’s obsession with ‘non real’ people felt like a mirroring of our plunge into social isolation through our obsession with social media and public figures. As Amane’s mother says to her daughter, she is only shutting herself up in a pleasant world that is comfortable and clean.

I do feel, however, that this book could have been longer which would have allowed for the plot to develop more. At times some of the actions of the characters felt very rushed and it was difficult to grasp Amane’s flip flopping thought process.

Overall, Murata remains one of the most exciting authors we have seen.

3.5/5! ⭐⭐⭐

This book has one of the most wild concepts I have ever read.

🧬 Synopsis/Plot:

Think about it like this. A world where reproducing through intimacy with your partner is considered incest and no longer a thing. Babies are made through artificial insemination. People have multiple love interests alongside their husband and wives, and get their sexual gratification through means of fictional characters. Got that? Okay cool.

So we have Amane, a girl whose mother used our more familiar means of creating children, to have her. She wants to get away from that, but as someone who grew up falling in love and have intense sexual desires for fictional characters and real people, she struggles. After she gets married, her and her husband decide to move to a new town called Paradise-Eden, where children are raised communally, and everyone there is considered a 'mother' to all. Men now are able to carry babies outside their womb in a 'balloon', and all children are nameless.

🧬 Thoughts:

This was unhinged. Highly disturbing. One of those books you keep reading because you have no idea what to think or how to process it. I don't think I can say much else except, you just have to read it. You will probably question reality. Was it bad? No. I really enjoyed the writing. I enjoyed following Amane on her sexually frustrated, scientific, insane journey.

I have heard this author has many other unhinged books, and now I'm curious.

Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

The cover for this book is so unique and gorgeous and the concept is fascinating.

Unfortunately the file formatting was not accessible for me on my ereader so I was unable to properly sample this book. From what I was able to read, I am excited to add it to by to be read list and purchase it once it is available.

Thank you immensely for the opportunity to gain early access to this story! I am bummed technology and formatting issues got in the way.

weird and interesting and very similar in style to earthlings, but a little weaker I feel, because the escalation feels a little too fast near the end to me. 4.5 stasr, rounded up. tysm for the arc, i was shrieking when i saw i got it

I liked the allusions to Brave New World and the author’s unique and quirky style. I did not enjoy it as much as Convenience Store Woman and would not recommend it to my high school students.

Sayaka Murata is a weird author, and I eat up all of her books. I think she's so weird and strange and her writing is so bizarre but I also think she's saying interesting things that border on taboo. I can't say I liked this book, because it was so disturbing and weird, but I think it was a good read and worth it!