Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - Earthlings

Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Earthlings by Sayaka Murata

640 reviews

mellbutrin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

"Magical powers. I have to summon my magical powers. The power of darkness, the power of wind--any magical power will do, but I need something. I have to use my magical powers on my whole body before my heart feels anything."

Murata tells a horrifying, yet beautifully written, story of Natsuki, an elementary school student, experiencing sexual abuse from her teacher and emotional and physical abuse from her close family. To cope with this abuse, Natsuki creates a magical system and imagines herself as an alien wizard, distinct from the "Earthlings" around her.

As a grown woman, Natsuki's belief that she is an alien only intensifies, a consequence of her husband believing in both her fantasies and her description of society as a "Factory" for reproducing and working. This folie à deux encourages the couple to perform despicable acts in order to escape the "Factory" and distinguish themselves from "Earthlings."

Natsuki is vividly brought out as a character. She is compellingly sympathetic, and though Natsuki's actions frequently go against social taboos, Murata’s careful exploration of Natsuki’s philosophy and psychology makes it easy to understand why she performs them.

I cannot recommend this book to anyone. However, for those who can endure painfully explicit scenes of sexual and physical abuse, suicidal ideation, incest, and cannibalism, this book offers a worthwhile portrayal of self-discovery and survival, along with decent social commentary.

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dnvrdnvr's review against another edition

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loudonuts's review against another edition

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dark funny mysterious reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

as expected of murata san, loads of intense existential issues that i could really relate to. in the last hour it all got kind of insane, which was also expected. this was definitely not for the faint of heart. unfortunately i did not feel as attached to the characters and story as i did in CONVENIENCE STORE WOMAN, but it was still a wild read that will stick with me for a while.

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xyvo's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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pryingblackbird's review

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challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes

4.75

Unhinged and dark, cynical and surreal, and yet much too real. Some people said it's "hilarous" or "funny", to me it read more like a horror novel about the terrors of being a child, of being forced into society, of being a woman, of being different. It never made me laugh, it just filled me with unease. I enjoyed it immensely, but I am hesitant about recommending it. This one comes with a lot of content warnings and will leave you unsettled.

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oatmilky's review against another edition

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challenging dark funny tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Only after adding the content warnings did I realize how freakish this book is. Great read - gets gory and gooey, treads the line btwn dark humor and just dark.

For those that liked The Vegetarian by Han Kang minus the mundane with more taboo.

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strange_abalone's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Initial reaction:
I have no idea what to rate this…. I have no idea what I just read… a brilliant depiction of society and trauma…. But also, what did I just read?????

Reaction after sitting with it for a day:
I think the initial reaction is to be stunned, and that makes a lot of sense, it’s a very diabolical read. But a lot of the reviews here seem to be shocked by the nature of the book without exploring more into what ideas are being presented. It’s deranged to make a point, and in that way it is exceptional. The “factory” and popinpobopians are concepts that will sit with me forever.

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silvasketches's review against another edition

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If you're considering reading this book, please take a moment to read the trigger warnings first. Don't make the same mistake I did and dive in blindly. I managed to get through 32% of it, but it was too much for me to handle.

I previously enjoyed another book by this author, the convenience store one, and I adored the main character. She was incredibly interesting. However, the male character in this book made the reading experience unpleasant for me, although I did enjoy the other aspects of the story. I hoped this one would be better.

Initially, I was drawn to the innocence of the main character and the magical girl/ alien elements in this book, so I had high hopes for it. Unfortunately, I was quickly bombarded with trigger after trigger. I attempted to continue reading, but the content related to school was simply overwhelming.

the teacher raped the girl and it was descriptive on page

I'm hopeful that I'll be able to forget what I read soon.

Content Warnings