This is a very polarizing book, and I'm afraid it just wasn't for me. I can handle strange, shocking and uncomfortable, but this went way beyond that, and I found it highly unpleasant. However, I have colleagues who have read this and loved it, so there you go. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC for review.

What did I just read? The adorable plush hedgehog is a lie!
This book should come equipped with a big trigger warning because every possible thing that could be triggering is in there, including a couple of things that I never even considered would bother me as much as they did. Some sort of justification could be said about how it helps push the societal pressure to conform message of the book further, but I feel like it went too far.
It starts out interesting, with lots of things to make one think and hitting deep societal points that actually had me interested in seeing how they would be developed. Even the triggering elements were handled in such a way that I could see how including them made sense in the way the plot was developing.
However, it suddenly veered into territory that I was not expecting and, quite honestly, I was not comfortable with. It took a turn into truly bizarre territory that I was not prepared for.
I'm all for literature forcing readers to face uncomfortable truths and whatnot, but this hit too hard.

Thanks, I guess, to NetGalley and Grove Press for the early read.

In Earthlings, we read about Natsuki, a girl that isn’t like anyone else… She has a secret talking stuffed animal friend who is an envoy from somewhere else (maybe another planet?) who has gifted her with a magic wand and mirror. And during the summers, she spends time at a family home in the mountains with the only other person she knows that isn’t like anyone else, her cousin Yuu, who claims he is an alien. Together, they make secret pacts and promises to survive, not matter what. But when Natsuki experiences a trauma and the pact with Yuu goes a bit too far, her life changes forever. Now, she’s an adult, and she and her husband are planning to visit Yuu in the mountains for a small getaway. But seeing him again re-sparks her own (and her husband’s) feelings of not fitting in to the “Factory” of human life/existence, and this time all three of them take things to an extreme.

Well, Convenience Store Woman was an odd book, exploring themes of societal norms and expectations and how people who don’t follow those are criticized, seen as “wrong,” and encouraged to conform, so I wasn’t surprised to find similar themes here. But this entire novel takes things to a level that seemed more than just critical or exploratory and jumped right into over the top satirical and downright outrageous. And, overall, this is a much darker story. In fact, before moving any further, I want to explicitly point out some (kind of a lot of) CWs/TWs, in case it applies to you: [child] sexual assault and manipulation, incest, murder, cannibalism. That list alone gives some pretty good insight into the wild ride that is this story. But let me give you a little more about my thoughts/reactions…

First, the “good.” I truly haven’t read any other works/authors who can expose the ridiculous in the expectations and norms of “everyday” life like Murata can. It is incredibly impressive to read her satirical commentary on these standards, in this case, with language related to factories and machinery imagery with, a bit, of metaphorical talk of a medicinal variety (i.e. infections). She is able to write a very unique “outsider” view of patterns that for most of us are so ingrained as to not be questioned, like working, creating families and having babies, and repeating that cycle over generations. And even when the way she interrogates these normalities reaches a level that becomes difficult to believe, the critiques at base are still incredibly valid. Specifically, to this point, the way Murata portrays the psychosomatic responses and mental/emotional coping mechanisms of a child who has been sexually and emotionally abused is spectacular. It is authentic to Natsuki’s developmental stage, heartbreakingly so, and the judgmental commentary on how society “reacts” to those who have been abused when they come forward (even and in particular as adults), with excuses and victim-blaming and looking the other way, is scathing, as it should be. There is quite a bit of repetition of these concepts though, so do not expect any subtlety in their communication to the reader. However, that is a stylistic device that carries over from Convenience Store Woman, so if you enjoyed that one, it should also be ok here. In relation to this theme of the novel, I want to say that this is one that I would recommend to anyone who has ever felt socially isolated, that has felt odd or left out of the “natural” cycle of life, made to feel “other.” While reading these thematic points, this novel really acted as a sort of homing beacon to those who have ever felt like an alien among earthlings (if you will).

And now…I hesitate to say “bad,” but perhaps the…unexpected, unbelievable? I was on board with (and supportive of, if that’s the right way to describe it) Natsuki’s imagination as a child, her actions with Yuu (they were children and she’d had traumatic experiences, so it makes sense), the radical/extreme (though not undeserved) way she handled the “witch inhabiting her abuser’s body,” as well as her non-traditional union and agreement with her husband as an adult (in an attempt to subvert the expectations of compliance on women’s bodies). But once Natsuki and her husband run away to the mountains with Yuu at the end, things take a turn for the incredible, using the “not-credible” definition of the word. I mean, within the context of each of their own life experiences, especially as children, and considering (and I am not an expert on Japanese tradition by any means, but from what I’ve read) the fairly strict societal expectations and regulations of their culture, it’s not completely out of reality that they would react in such an extreme way when they finally decide to “escape” from it all. And satire does call for and make its point through extremes. But this was the point where I, as a reader, definitely became unsure as to whether this was a contemporary literature piece of fiction or a “magical realism” type work. In the end, it doesn’t necessarily matter, as the messages are clear regardless. But I do want to make it known that the book takes a turn for the legitimately preposterous, the very taboo, and the “my stomach is churning uncomfortably,” by the end. And I don’t know exactly what that “teaches” us, but I see how the three characters do find their own salvation/escape from having to act as if they want the same things out of life as everyone else, so I suppose that means they achieved their goals? If you have read and enjoyed novels like The Vegetarian by Han Kang, this aspect of the novel will likely appeal to you.

This novel was, in a word, surreal. It was a surreal reading experience. From start to finish. It was disturbing at times, but also carried great weight in its messages about the need to accept that there is not just one way to be, to love, to find fulfillment in life. Murata showcases with explicit detail the way the pressures of family and society to perform in a certain and “right” way, are unrealistic and should absolutely be questioned, because the alternative is permanently detrimental to those who don’t conform. And the more I sit with this story after finishing it, the more I think about it, the more powerful and important a statement this wildly unconventional story makes.

And the award for 'Most Bonkers, Bizarre Book of 2020' goes to.....*drum roll*..... Yeah, it's this one. Don't let the cute, cuddly toy on the cover fool you. This book s DARK, and more than a little disturbing. It is also quite brilliant and original and, did I mention. bonkers? Fantastic!

Natsuki, Natsuki, what did you do to me?

This book is awesome. Weird, but awesome.
Loved it.

Thanks to Netgalley and Grove Atlanta for this ARC. And thanks to Sayaka Murata for writing this.

Umm.

This book was weird.

Then it got really weird.

And then it got uncomfortable.

Then it got weirder.

The ending confused me.

But I liked it.

Actually I loved it.

The end.

This novel examines the pressures of society to conform and goes to a uncomfortable length to make its point. It is thought-provoking and subversive. But it's also hard to follow and unclear what is real and what is imagined when told by this unreliable narrator. There are trigger warnings all over the place for emotional and sexual abuse, as well as violence and more. What I loved about Convenience Store Woman is missing from this story.

My thanks to Grove Atlantic and Netgalley for granting me early access to this book in exchange for a honest review.



A modern, dark parable playing out across two timelines dealing with the difficulties of not comforming to society's norms and ideas.
Let me satart out by pointing out that I almost put this book down because the first third of this novel had some very difficult content. There are quite some trigger warnings to this book and since Sayaka Murata writes in a very straightforward, no nonsense sort of way I felt like these scenes landed even harder. I feel like her writing style is definitely very vivid and therefore I often had visual images of scenes in my head. Not ideal when the content is so dark. I did decide to read on and luckily the second half of this book worked a lot better for me. In it we jump over to adult Natsuki and we get a brief respite from the disturbing content of the beginning.
Do be aware however that the dark times aren't over, in this second half we will be diving into a lot of suspense and also a lot of gore and horror. Natsuki has entered into a marriage of convenience and she and her husband are trying to escape the clutches of society, refered to as 'thefactory' throughout this novel. Representative of the factory are pressuring them as they want them to take the next step in their relationship and start producing babies. Natsuki and her husband try to escape these pressures and expectations, but the factory is hot on their heels.
I absolutely ended up loving this weird novel. it went all out and explored interesting concepts as our protagonists embrace their alien nature and go about training their alien eye by looking at the world anew and re-evaluating the use of things around them. And that ending? perfect!
Is this for everyone though? No, just like with 'Convenience Store Woman' I think this is one you'll either love or hate and the fact that you liked that one doesn't guarantee you'll love this one. This book really walks around the edge of what is appropriate and so can easily fall on either side. It might end up pushing all the wrong buttons for you.
But when it pushes the right ones it can easily become a new favorite.
Wouldn't mind seeing this adapted into a movie: think: studio ghibli meets 'get out' meets 'american psycho'.

Readers of Murata's last book "Convenience Store Woman" are in for a surprise when they read this new novel. On the surface, the main character of "Earthlings" shares a similar personality as "Convenience Store Woman." Natsuki does not fit in with societal norms. But from there, this book takes a wild turn. Natsuki lives with her family- a mother who despises her and dotes on her older sister and disengaged father. She is emotionally and physically abused, and a school teacher sexually abuses her. The language is frank and difficult to take in. As a young girl, she fantasies that she is a magical, and her stuffed hedgehog speaks to her. These childhood fantasies take root in her life as a way to cope with her trauma. She is also close with her cousin Yuu, who also has a fantastical view on the world, believing he is an alien.

The book jumps ahead in time where Natsuki is an adult, in a companionate marriage with a man who is uninterested in any sort of physical relationship. He and Natsuki feed off of each other's delusions, and start calling societal pressures "the Factory"- they are expected to be intimate, have children, and hold down jobs. They escape to Natsuki's familial home where they meet up with Yuu, who she has not seen since she was a child. From there, one does not want to get too much into spoilers. What was used as a coping mechanism to live one's life becomes a shared psychosis, and the novel veers into the horror, and the reader is unable to tell what is real and what is not. It is an innovative look at how one might deal with pressures and expectations that family and society place on a fragile person. Super interesting to see how Murata starts with a similar character and completely changes the outcome for that person. Such an unusual voice!

Thank you to Grove Press and NetGalley for this advance reader copy for review.

This book is incredibly readable and takes you along for the ride. While I completely believe the narrator’s voice and the mess of society presented... this is not fantasy, not sci fi - it’s all too real. It gets incredibly dark while retaining a sheen of the bearable, even when it really shouldn’t. I can’t recommend this to everyone though! For that reason this is closer to 3.5 but I couldn’t stop reading... Society fails quite spectacularly.

Thanks to the advance copy via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

This book is insane in the best of possible ways. Sayaka Murata divided people with Convenience Store Woman. You either really loved it or you really hated it. Earthlings is going to blow that division out of the water.

Misogyny, cannibals, rape, incent, silkworms, aliens....this book does it ALL.

Clearly this is a parable - in the way that Animal Farm was. And what better time than now to read this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity.

I honestly did not know what I just read! When I see Sayaka Murata’s new book, I requested it without even reading anything about it. Little did I know I was in for a wild.. very wild ride!

Earthlings is about Natsuki as a child believes she is a magician with her transformation mirror and magic wand given by her imaginary friend Piyyut from Planet Popinpobopia, an emissary sent by Magic Police to save the planet. Her cousin Yuu also thinks he’s an alien abandoned by the spaceship and his mother took him in. Both Natsuki and Yuu developed an affinity to each other until they were discovered by their family and waswas separated. Years later, Natsuki had an unconventional marriage arrangement with Tomoya. They see The Factory (the society we live in) brainwashing them to conform to the society’s strict social norms and expectations and only see them as parts in making children, the very idea that they despise - being an Earthling.

I was still ok with the story along that line but as the story progresses it slowly started to go downhill for me. While some see themselves as tools and parts of the society and conform and adhere to what is expected of them, some reject the very notion of being part of it. But how do you separate and build yourself from the conventional and oppressive society and where do you go from there? There are lots of things needed to be explored in that area and I think the author failed to address that at the end.

If you plan to read this, read with caution and do not expect anything fun and quirky. Trigger warnings: parental abuse, child abuse, incest, violence, cannbalism.

Thank you Netgalley and Grove Atlantic for an advanced e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to enjoy "Earthlings", and up until about halfway through, I did. I loved "Convenience Store Woman", so I was expecting this to also be original and quirky. However, this takes it to the next level by being pretty much a smorgasbord of the most disturbing behaviours. I give it one star because I don't see the point in this, and I wouldn't ever think of picking it up again. Murata critiques social mores and the collective "brainwashing" that stupefies us into submitting to them, but the alternative that she presents is a total departure from "normal" and a descent into cannibalism, murder, and incest.

I think she's making a point about the way that stringent social mores can push us to a breaking point, but it seems like the bizarre happenings of the second half of the novel are so extreme that they're there for shock value. Our narrator, Natsuki, tells us at one point that the abuse she has endured has caused her to be mentally ill and create an alternative reality for herself in order to cope, and that she is still an "Earthling," even though she can't seem to fit in. At the end, Natsuki, Yuu, and Tomoya demonstrate social mores, but amplified: they consume each other's bodies just like society, or "the Factory" also consumes human bodies and makes them tools for reproduction, and they debate incest, which is another example of the perversion that Natsuki experiences at the hands of her abusive teacher. However, it is so extreme -- I thought to myself several times, "what am I reading?".
I like that Murata seems deeply opposed to the conventions that dictate modern life, especially for women, but this wasn't for me. I can't think of other books to compare this to, but I think readers who enjoyed films like "Videodrome" and "Neon Demon" might like this novel as well.

I am familiar with many literatures out of my geographical and cultural comfort zone, but the Japanese literature is one of those that cannot cease to puzzle me. The more I read the more far I feel from a palpable understanding of the local cultural soul.



I´ve intellectually met Sayaka Murata through her short story Convenience Store Woman. Earthlings - translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori brings the discussion about what is normal and what is not from the social point of view to another level. A topic I have personally very conflicting thoughts about it. Although I may accept at a great extent the deconstruction of normality, even beyomd the power-focused interpretation in Foucault´s terms, I am relatively uncomfortable with the everyday interaction with not-normality on a daily, personal basis.

´I was used with Mom saying I was hopeless. And she was right, I really was a dead loss. The rice I dished up just lay flat in the bowl instead of being nicely rounded´.

Natsuki believes she is from Planet Popinpobopia belonging to the Magic Police sent to Save the Earth. Her stuffed animal, Piyyut - see the cover - gives her magical powers. Many kids do this at a certain extent, with their imaginary friends and hopes that their stuffed animals can talk or help them when the world of adults fails them. But Natsuki keeps the same mindframe at an older age too, after being faced with an utter cruelty from her mom and killing a teacher that abused her sexually. Her escape from the Baby Factory town and mindset was to marry a man who, similarly to her, was looking to escape the social pressure. Their arrangement was to keep their separate lives while maintaining a marriage of conivence, where sexual contact was out of question. The intrusive society does not help them and they have to run away or submit and either behave properly - get a job and keep it, make children - or part ways. They run to Natsuki´s grandparents house, to join her cousin - once childhood ´husband´ Yuu, initially an alien soul too, who remained skeptical about his condition. Once becoming aware of their alien condition, the three of them are sliding into an abysmal return to their normality. Which, in Earthling´s terms means more than perfect foolishness. I´ve felt I am in a narrative deem of Peter Greenway´s The Cook, the Thief, His Wife&Her Lover. A delirious tremens...

This matter-of-factly approach of abnormality, in the vein of ´when there are no rules everything is possible to survive´/´homo homini lupus´ kind of approach, is shocking by its cruelty. In the same way that cruelty is a ´normal society´ normative. Its vital energy is used for survival only and this is probably why I am so crossed about many attributes of the characters as they are completely empty from the intellectual point of view. Intellectual life and culture too are man-made constructs indeed but they may offer sometimes a frame for discussion.

Earthlings is like no other Japanese book I´ve read before but I am not necessarily fond of. I would be interested though to read and find out more about the local, Japanese-centered discussion about the ideas shared in this book. As I said at the beginning, the more I read the more puzzled I am about Japan - even despite spending one full year there.

I...am unsure of what I just read. First, this cover implies a quirky book lies ahead, but that is not the case. This is a dark book of trauma and grief and a bunch of other stuff. A little bit of THE MAJESTIES (abusive and manipulative family) mixed with CONFESSIONS (revenge and gruesome actions). But there was something about it I never connected with.


Content warnings: all of them. Seriously. Please be careful. Emotional and physical abuse to children and adults, graphic sexual abuse of child, PTSD, suicide ideation, incest, cannibalism, graphic murder description, marital affair, and probably more stuff that I’m forgetting about.

This is by Sakaya Murata, who wrote the oddly charming Convenience Store Woman. While both novels share a certain off-beat quirkiness and both feature a protagonist who has difficulty conforming to what modern Japanese society requires of them, Earthlings is a far darker novel.

Natsuki loves her family's annual visit to her grandparents' house in the mountains. She gets to spend time with her cousins, especially Yuu, and it's where her parents' clear preference for her sister is less obvious. After buying a small stuffed hedgehog toy, Natsuki decides that he's an alien and he can teach her how to be a witch. This is necessary, since not only is her home a hostile place, her teacher is sexually abusing her. It's only her relationship with Yuu that keeps her going. When that is taken away, Natsuki must find ways to survive in a world that asks that she conform and submit.

Despite Natsuki having an imaginative and whimsical approach to the world, this is a dark story that gets darker as the story progresses, heading into Grand Guignol. There's meaty stuff here in how this novel looks at the demands of society and how it pushes people to marry and settle into a marriage within specific parameters that include procreation. Murata is revisiting the themes of Convenience Store Woman, but from a different angle and with more force. Expect to be made uncomfortable.

This is by far the strangest book I’ve ever read! I can’t even count the number of times in here that I cringed at the weirdness and went “Ewww!” but I also can’t count the number of times when I was so angry that it made my blood boil. This strange book is a mish-mash of things society doesn’t want to acknowledge and some that are so out of the world and bizarre that it makes you ask, out loud, “What the hell is going on?!”

Trigger Warnings: Child Abuse, Gore.

Earthlings is the story of Natsuki, who has a best friend called Piyyut, a plush toy hedgehog who has told her in secret that he is from the planet Popinpobopia. He has also told her that he is here to help her save the Earth. Natsuki lives her life believing the people around her when they say she is good for nothing. Her calmness in the face of this abuse stems from the strength that she draws from her best friend, Piyyut, and her cousin Yuu. Yuu and her motto is to survive, no matter what, and Natsuki believes she will.

Natsuki is now a grown woman and living with her asexual husband and all her hopes that her family will leave her alone are dashed to the ground as they begin to pile on the pressure for her to become pregnant. Will Natsuki be able to take this pressure? Will her husband do something to help her stand firm against the pressure? What happened to Yuu and will Natsuki be able to find a way to get through to him? This forms the entire story.

There’s so much to unpack in this story that I just don’t know where to start! But let’s begin at the very beginning. (Very intelligent.)

First of all, the abuse from the parent. Oh my Lord, how can a parent be like this? I mean, I understand that there ARE people like this, sadly, but Natsuki’s mother just made me want to punch her in the face. “Useless” and “She’s always making a mess of everything” are just 2 things that the mother says about the kid! This made Natsuki feel that maybe, just maybe, her mother was right and she WAS of no use.

Second, the sexual abuse from Natsuki’s teacher. I literally gagged when I read this! And I guess it sort of reflected reality when people made him out to be some sort of angel. Even years later, when Natsuki shared it with someone she thought was a friend, that friend turned her nose up at her and blamed her for encouraging him. This made me so mad!

That’s how you know it’s a good book – it makes you mad and you sort of want to make the world into a place where these things don’t exist anymore. Does it make any sense?

The writing is simple and fluid and it makes you want to hug Natsuki and protect her from the big, bad world. And when it reflects reality like this, it makes you uncomfortable but also appreciate the book more!

The other thing that I identified with so much was the point where Natsuki talks about the world and society as a Factory to make kids. The moment you’re 22, you’re expected to get married. The moment you get married, there are people breathing down your neck to have, have, have kids. Do they even pause to understand that maybe the person doesn’t want to have kids? Or that they can’t have kids?

It’s not just the elders. Even peers tend to do that! Especially those who have had kids! I think that their intentions are good. They are of the thinking that, “I want my friend to experience the same joy that I do.” But I don’t think they stop to consider that maybe their friend doesn’t find joy in the things that you do. Or that their insistence could be harmful to their friend’s mental health. I’ve had so many friends say this to me and every single time, I go into a downward spiral because I feel in such times that my friends don’t get me at all! And that, more often than not, breaks my heart.

There’s also a narrative here about a rather patriarchal society talking about how “it’s a wife’s duty to be intimate. He finds it hard to hold down a job, so you have to support him in that regard.” If a couple is having issues conceiving, it’s the wife’s fault. If the man is having trouble performing, it’s the wife’s fault. If anything is happening, it’s the wife’s fault. If nothing is happening, it’s the wife’s fault. Because whatever the situation, it ends up being the wife’s fault, for supporting, for not supporting, for giving him free rein, for controlling too much, and for most of all, being a woman.

Because as a quote from the book goes:
"On Earth, young women were supposed to fall in love and have sex, and if they didn’t, they were “lonely” or “bored” or “wasting their youth and would regret it later!”

Us women have no value if we don’t want to do any of the things that society has “prescribed” as rules. But if a man wants to do the same thing, it’s all, “Oh, he is independent! He doesn’t want to be tied down! A bachelor living life on his own terms!” What double standards society has! And Earthlings exposes quite a few of these double standards in a way that will rightfully make you angry. And that is why it is an important book!

Please, please go read this book! It will make you cringe in places because of the graphic details in there. But read this for a slap of reality. It’s important!

This book is as potent and strange as CONVENIENCE STORE WOMAN but it's also *a lot* more upsetting. (The scene where the narrator is ---- spoiler alert ----- being molested is right up there with the back-alley abortion in Purdy's EUSTACE CHISHOLM and the coprophagia in GRAVITY'S RAINBOW for "most unreadably upsetting scene I've ever read in a book that I considered good.") I think its unashamed extremity will probably cost it somewhat in terms of American readers, but Murata is a genuine original.

This was wild and disturbing but great. After suffering humiliation and abuse throughout childhood, protagonist Natsuki begins to question whether her body is her own or a tool for society, while her "alien eye" allows her to escape brainwashing to try to live life on her own terms. Murata takes a simplistic "society is a baby factory" metaphor and steeps it in absurdity with awkwardly hilarious results. The matter-of fact tone and straightforward style juxtaposed with such a dark story really worked.

To be quite honest, I loved it so much that I might buy the physical version soon!

"Survive, whatever it takes."

When I requested this book, I was thinking that this book would be a cute read. I WAS WRONG. The synopsis makes it sound a bit childlike, and it is indeed, but there's also a lot of darkness. This book is REALLY DISTURBING. Even though this book turned out to be nothing like what I expected, I can safely say that it has become one of my favorite books. Maybe something is wrong with me. Who knows?

Summary: Natsuki is a very special girl who thinks she comes from an alien planet, which would explain the powers she can sometimes summon, as well as the magical wand, mirror and small animal she has. As a child, she has a special relationship with her cousin Yuu, whom she suspects to be an alien too. Before a certain event takes place and leads to their separation, they promise to each other that they will survive, "no matter what it takes." Once she becomes a grown up, she still doesn't feel human and cannot help but be pointed out as a weird element within society.

"I was still expected to become a component for the Factory. It was like a never-ending jail sentence. I probably wouldn't ever be able to be an effective Factory component. My body was still broken, and even after becoming an adult I wasn't able to have sex."

This book uses many controversial subjects to reflect on, and criticize, society and all its requirements. But in a very special way. An interesting choice from the author is that she calls society "the Factory," one where humans do not own their bodies. It's very revealing. It was refreshing to see a character who struggles to fit in, a character who oscillates between wanting to fit in because it's simpler that way, and not particularly wanting to imitate everyone else and join into "the factory of producing children."

"Everyone believed in the factory. Everyone was brainwashed by the Factory and did as they were told. They all used their reproductive organs for the Factory and did their jobs for the sake of the Factory. My husband and I were people they'd failed to brainwash, and anyone who remained unbrainwashed had to keep up an act in order to avoid beind eliminated by the factory."

I think that this book particularly resonated with me because this is how I feel most of the time. I feel like I'm just a pawn on a board which I cannot fully control. It might be stupid since I am privileged in so many ways, but still, I very often feel like I don't belong in this society. Like I'm from somewhere else, and I am constantly trying to survive by fitting in somehow. This pervasive feeling of entrapment in the book is very well touched on because it really leads the readers to question their own freedom. We all have different ways of perceiving freedom, and this is a constant questioning in Earthlings. Suicide can be seen as an attempt to gain freedom for example.

At some point this quest for freedom takes a very peculiar form and will most probably be shocking to read for most people. But I liked it because it constantly made me re-evaluate my priorities, made me wonder about the ways a human could detach himself/herself from the Factory. It's all about survival after all.

"But since then I've stopped hearing the commands that controlled my life. I no longer know what to do or how to live. Obeying those silent orders was how I had always survived."

Not going to go too much into details, but the protagonist goes through multiple traumatic experiences and I thought that the author wrote about PTSDs very well. As stated before, this book is written in a very special way. Just like the synopsis, this book is written in almost a childlike manner at times, which makes it easier for the readers to accept what they read. There is a constant ambiguity between the real world and a magical world which is perceptible almost only by the protagonist. It makes it easier to get over some things that happen to her - because of the distance that it creates between the readers and the narrator - but it doesn't make it any less impactful.

One last thing: I would suggest giving this book a chance if you think you can stomach it! This book is truly one of a kind.