Reviews

Life Ceremony by Sayaka Murata is a literary short story collection. From reading the first story ‘A First-Rate Material’ it can be known that the rest of the book will be a following of breaking down the Japanese society norms and testing the borders of morality. We view the story from the narrator's perspective, they all have two traits in common. Number one, being a woman and number two, being a bit odd ( the degrees of “oddness” may vary). From wanting to use human bones for wedding rings to cooking and eating the flesh of your smoking buddy, Sayaka Murata has a way to word these “barbaric” gestures as something that can even be seen as innocent and pure. This book is definitely not for people with a weak stomach as it does have slightly graphic gore. I also wouldn’t recommend the book to readers that are easily influenced by the book’s opinion. Overall a very fascinating read, though I am also deeply disturbed and concerned about what the mind of our dear author looks like.

maryftay's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

phantomnr's review

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funny lighthearted mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

cemarci's review

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4.5

Love! Surreal, interesting social commentary, and love who it plays with social norms and identity. Lower rating because of story was so surreal I kind of got lost. But overall love.

alexprezeau's review

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reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

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