A review by fedelikeslego
Earthlings by Sayaka Murata

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

4.0

Unlike Convenience store woman, which I hated and couldn’t keep myself to finish it, I liked this. I read it in one sitting and I’m giving it 4 stars just because I enjoyed reading it.

I’m so confused I feel like I’m high. That’s what it feels like at the end of the “experience ”. I felt so high that their discussions had perfectly made sense.

I think that the book could be divided in two parts: 
  • The first ⅓ of the book. Here incest and rape/pedophilia were extremely explicit and I’m not sure I liked that. Even if the love story between the kids was so cute (they were so innocent it didn’t “bothered me that much”), I don’t think that it was necessary to explicitly write for pages about all the sexual intercourses that the protagonist had. It was too much.

  • The last ⅔ of the book. This part was a bit more enjoyable, and it’s more centred about what it means to live in this world and in particular in Japan. Murata definitely makes a perfect description of the Japanese society (it would probably make sense only if you lived in Japan or a similar asian country), it’s just so sad and frustrating. In the last chapter, as i said, I felt like I was high. I’m still trying to process what I red. I’m just confused, nothing else. 

Movie reccomendation: The Holy mountain (1973), I felt the same way reading the book and watching the movie. Different plot, different settings, same vibes.
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