What did I just read? I don't know how to describe this book. Let me take a deep breath first.

I was so happy when my request was approved by Netgalley and eager to read this book. But the story beyond my imagination and expectation. Despite the cute book cover, the story is not that cute. This book is dark, intense, odd, creepy, weird and insane! Some of the plots still lingering in my mind. The writing is simple but the message is complicated. I only like Uncle Teruyoshi and didn’t like all the other characters but I will remember them. I hate Natsuki’s mom and Mr. Igasaki, the irresponsible adults. Shame on them!

What I can say is this book is not suitable for all. Please think twice before picking up as the book contains trigger warnings such as sexual child abuse, mental illness, incest and cannibalism. If you’re a sensitive person, I advise you not to pick up this book.

Overall, this book is not for me.

Review of Earthlings: Earthlings is the second translated book by Sayaka Murata (Convenience Store Woman is the first). It’s the story of Natsuki, who the reader meets as a child, and how she doesn’t think she’s from Planet Earth. Her mission is to fit in while looking for her spaceship; along the way, she has to figure out a way to fit in with her family. She has one cousin, Yuu, who she can relate to but he’s struggling with his own family too.

For such a thin book, this has so much action jam-packed into it! Natsuki holds herself apart from her mom and her sister who take out their rage about their own lives on Natsuki. It’s hard to tell whether she always has had trouble relating to them, meaning there might have been a spectrum disorder that made it difficult for her to relate to them from an early age, or if their terribleness to her caused her to dissociate until she really believes she’s not from this planet.

When this results in a predatory teacher being able to abuse Natsuki, she tries to take back power. This ends up being explosive (it rips her family apart) and destructive (things don’t end well for that teacher). The explosive scenes are heartbreaking in the end because two kids have so little control over their lives are struggling to take it back. The destructive scenes I kind of cheered on because that teacher had it coming.

Skip ahead to Natsuki being an adult and married (the book makes a time jump that’s a bit jarring but ultimately works for the size of the novel). She and her husband are managing to get along with some strict rules in place. They don’t sleep in the same room. They don’t interact. They’re in charge of their own lives. It’s kind of brilliant. They managed to find each other and are able to function even as their families and their parents interfere with their lives.

I wish that could have been a weird, but functional happy ending for them but of course that wouldn’t be enough. Natsuki and her husband Tomoya each have families that are harping on them to have kids. This isn’t something they’re open to doing and by pushing them, Tomoya wants to retreat. Natsuki tells him stories of going to her grandmother’s house and he wants to go there to retreat from the world, at least for a little bit. Natsuki reluctantly talks her family into allowing this and this is where things go off the rails.

For one thing, Natsuki and her cousin Yuu haven’t seen each other in years. But they realize they still believe they aren’t from this planet and they convince Tomoya of the same. This time I don’t have the same wish for them to live happily dysfunctionally ever after. The three of them, hounded by their families, are on a collision course with destruction.

Remember Natsuki’s sister tormenting her for sport? She’s not over that and it not only affects Natsuki but also Yuu and Tomoya. Because she sends people after Natsuki to exact revenge on her. Revenge for what isn’t entirely clear but in Natsuki’s sister’s mind, she is responsible for all the unhappiness in the world.

The familial relationships that aren’t Natsuki’s, Tomoya’s and Yuu’s are disturbingly normal. It’s hard to say if that’s deliberate or not but it’s a perfect contrast to how terrible their relationships are with the people who are supposed to love and care for them. I kind of understand why Natsuki, Tomoya, and Yuu would band together. They care for each other despite their final relationship and acts of love towards each other being the most destructive out of the whole book.

This was an interesting book that read like a movie since it moved so quickly. It was odd; it was disturbing; it was hard to read at times but it was great for anyone interested in psychological horror.

Earthlings is surprising, sad, infuriating, horrifying, and compassionate. It is not at all what I expected. Murata takes the basic premise—a young girl thinks she is from an alien planet—and turns it upside down, shattering any light-hearted preconceptions I had in the beginning.

Natsuki, our protagonist and observer, uses her alien origin story as a defense mechanism for some truly horrible abuses that are piled on her. At one point, I had to put the book down for awhile, as I was so furious. We follow her as a child, and then as an adult, as she reunites with her childhood friend and cousin, Yuu, accompanied by her husband. The story of these three characters is about self-preservation, and finding a way to live as a free individual in a society that values the community's desires and goals over one's own. All three are viewed as outsiders in society, where they reject certain norms, but come together to create a new world where they all feel safe and able to explore.

While the plot is bizarre, and the ending grotesque and shocking, the implications of the actions of our trio of outsiders gives one a lot to think about. Through this darkness, Murata expertly questions what it is to be normal, and what it means to live vs. what it means to survive. The way Murata constructs Natsuki's world view is refreshing and allowed me to consider some aspects of human society from an outsider's perspective. I don't know much about Japanese society, but this book gives a glimpse into how important conformity is, and how everyone has to sacrifice something to uphold their end of the social bargain. There are also really interesting, and sad, observations about gender roles and expectations throughout the story. It was shocking to read at times, as issues that seem like not a big deal to me, as an American, cause so much conflict in Natsuki's life.

What a crazy, fascinating, other-worldly book EARTHLINGS is. After reading CONVENIENCE STORE WOMAN, this was a perfect follow-up as it takes some of the similar themes and ramps them up 100%. This book is an experience. I love books like that, and it doesn't happen all that often, so I'm so excited to announce that this is definitely an EXPERIENCE.

I don't want to give away too much, but the jist of the story is that it revolves around a young girl, Natsuki, who believes her and her cousin (whom she is in love with) are aliens from the planet Popinpobopia. There are tons of twists and turns, some extremely upsetting, but Murata's writing sinks its claws into you and doesn't let go until it's over. It's a super tough read though, but I think it's worth it in the end. It is such an insight into a particular part of Japanese culture, and full of characters I'll never forget. If you have yet to experience Murata, I highly recommend giving her a try.

This must be one of the weirdest books I've ever read and I know this will stick with me for a while in the back of my mind.
The author writes mostly about societal norms and what it means to live outside those boundaries.
It's hard to read at times due to content about sexual and verbal abuse of children, mental health issues, murder and cannibalism.
It certainly packs a punch.

Thanks Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

"Piyyut had taught me the magical power of invisibility. I didn't actually become invisible. I just held my breath and could make myself go unnoticed".

Natsuki's best friend was a stuffed animal, a white hedgehog she named Piyyut. Piyyut "couldn't speak human" but had given Natsuki magical powers. Yearly, Natsuki's extended family met up in the Akishina Mountains during the Obon Festival. Natsuki and her cousin Yuu shared their most intimate secrets. She spoke about the Planet Popinpobopia. Yuu said he was an alien. "I'm always secretly looking for the spaceship that will come and take me home". "The magician would be the girlfriend of the alien...until he traveled back to his home planet". Natsuki dreamed of going with Yuu in his spaceship [as his bride] to Planet Popinpobopia. Connection...closeness...a marriage ceremony officiated by Piyyut...a marriage pledge..."survive, whatever it takes".

Why would Natsuki just "survive"?. In Natsuki's words, "I had to study hard to become a work tool...I had to become...one of society's components...a reproductive organ for the town". Attendance in cram school...private lessons...inappropriate touches..."Weird alarm bells were ringing in my head". Natsuki retreated into her out of body self. Natsuki and Yuu, two innocents, regretful actions...all future trips to Akishina permanently cancelled.

Fast forward twenty three years. There is a push to fulfill societal expectations, to serve "The Factory", focusing on marriage, work and child bearing. It would be shameful to create a life outside the box. The pressure to marry and procreate was immense. Trauma in childhood has created an "otherworldliness', feelings of being an outsider. Must everyone conform to the factory mentality? Natsuki married Tomoyo three years ago. Tomoyo, an asexual male and housemate, had helped create the illusion of a good marriage, a benefit to both partners. Natsuki, Yuu and Tomoyo were on a collision course. Forcing conformity on them will have dire consequences. Long buried secrets will surface and behavior will spiral out of control.

"The Earthlings" by Sayaka Murata creates a society in which rigid expectations are thrust upon its citizens. How did Natsuki, Yuu and Tomoyo become outsiders? Should they be shunned for living against the grain of society? What life experiences factored into their behavior? You must read this tome to find out. Unfortunately, for this reader, as the weirdness factor increased, the enjoyment decreased as the tome barreled to its intense ending.

Thank you Grove Atlantic and Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

In Earthlings, Murata continues to explore themes of fitting in and being different, within the family and in society as a whole. No other writer can portray personal alienation quite like her, through simple, matter-of-fact, heartfelt, personal realities. She is crushingly good at making us feel what her characters feel!

With Natsuki, Murata takes her protagonist's alienation to an entirely different level. What we see as a young heroine's endearing quirkiness quickly escalates, through no fault of her own, to tragedy and trauma. The novel turns dark by Chapter 3, and only grows more so by the page.

The writing is brilliant, the premise is thought-provoking, but the storyline grows so exaggerated as to almost become B-movie horror by the end. For this reason, and because of the many triggering subjects, I find it hard to offer a blanket recommendation of this novel, despite desperately wanting to.

If you are a fan of Murata's do read this; just prepare yourself a bit more than the back cover blurb might suggest when it comes to "shocking."

What the hell just happened
This book was a complete chaotic fiction read. It messed up my brain for one and it was convincingly very well written. I admire the strength of the author to write about themes contrasting to the very worst misogyny in our society. I have always hated the fact about how our society judges everyone's life and this is eerily and very horrifyingly portrayed in the book. The writing and translation was a splendid work which has me engrossed in the book until the very last page and that is something.

I will never forget these characters and will never be able to erase just how much this book says about the damned society of ours. The planet and alien references were innocent at first but then got out of hand very quickly. The failure of being a loving parent to her daughter Natsuki was what made me so sad. I just couldn't stop reading this disturbing book, it made sense yet seemed so wrong. The very idea of the triggers of sexual abuse of children, minor sex, murder etc.. was jarring and my brain needed breaks at times.

This book is highly disturbing and I urge you to think twice before picking it up if you are a sensitive person. It has the vibes similar to 'The Vegetarian by Han Kang' and this was my first book from this author. I'd love nothing more but to discuss this book but then I'll have the revisit too many spoilers and so I'll stop here. Thankyou netgalley and Grove Atlantic for the review copy and I enjoyed reading this book is a bittersweet way. #earthlings #netgalley #sayakamurata

If you have read Convenience Store Woman, about the outcast, Keiko. That was just an amuse-bouche compared to Earthlings.

It starts innocent enough and then spirals from 0 to 60 into verbal abuse of a child, a graphic child sexual abuse scene from the POV of the child, to gruesome murder, violence and cannibalism. The story is so fascinating and WTF? that you can't stop reading.

I can only categorize it like a dark fantasy critique on (Japanese?) society. It focusses a lot on misogyny.

If you like reading horror, you will like this. And I say this as someone who doesn't like Stephen King but found this book fascinating.

WTF did I just read?! Why did I love it? I don’t know whether I’m more disturbed by the book or the fact that I enjoyed it. It’s five outrageous, shocking, weird, uncomfortable and controversial stars from me.

Let me just start stating this book is not for everyone #MarmiteBook (love it or hate it). The synopsis does not give away the wild journey you’re about to embark on. I can’t explain it without giving the plot away or sounding insane. If you’ve read Convenience Store Women then you’ve had a glimpse of Murata’s writing style and “theme” of human anomalies. Earthlings takes that to THE next level.

Earthlings is a radical view of “The Factory” aka society and the social norms we conform to. Beneath the craziness, Murata beautifully depicts the story of Natsuki, an outsider to chooses to live a life against the status quo. This book does comes with a lot of trigger warnings which I’m not going to disclose as they are plot spoilers and I think you should experience this book knowing as little as possible. (Story Graph now has content warnings)
Happy reading Earthlings 👽🖖🏾

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC eBook in return for an honest review.

So what happens to a child who never feels like a real part of society? One who who never hears a supportive word, who is regularly put down by close adults, who experiences sexual abuse? This is quite an interesting novel of 3 such children grown to adulthood and the bond they form to survive. The writing is deceptively simple but the message is quite complex. I didn’t feel a close bond with these characters but I will remember them.

Thanks to NetGalley and Grove Press for the ARC to read and review.

This book is outrageous! It is so odd to say at least. As I try to explain this book, I must sound insane. If you want to read something unique, this could be on your hook, but you need to be aware this story could cause a stormy stir.
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This book contains quite a few trigger warnings of abuse, pedophilia and other grotesque description. While I was reading this, at times my heart was deeply ached by the darkness of the story and some parts made me nauseous. I read crime books a lot, so I'm no stranger to the grotesqueness, but the way this book describes the scene hit a nerve for me more than others I've read. Hence, please be aware before you pick this one.
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The story is actually simple, following Nastuki's childhood to adulthood. We learn how she copes with a variety of abuse and becomes a woman with a phony marriage. She goes through a lot and pursues even more bizarre ways.
It was very interesting how Nastuki sees the world as a reproduction factory. This book describes so well the psychological trauma, furthermore, also captures the social pressure on adults in a bit of an exaggerated term. However, I didn't expect such an ending at all!!
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It's hard to talk about this without spoiling, so I'll stop here, but this book contains A Lot! When I finished this book, I was like "What the hell I've just read?". It's difficult to rate this book even though I was completely absorbed from the first page. It's grim and disturbing. I feel I'm not grasping this entirely, however, I don't have courage to reread for a while even though it's a short book...

I marked this book as 3.5-4 stars.

DNF @ 20%
(I give it 3 stars here because you can't submit the review without a rating; I will be leaving the star rating blank on other media sites)

I was very happy to be approved for this book, and I'm very sorry to be unable to finish it and give a proper review. When I requested it, I didn't know it would severely trigger me. I will not be able to comment about what triggered me because it's highly personal, but the book may be triggering to victims of abuse, so please read other people's reviews to learn more about the triggers before you pick this book up.

I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the ebook in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.

This was an unexpectingly graphic book about child abuse. I had read her earlier book which was also odd but I didn't expect it from this book. The cutesy cover and description leave anyone reading it in for a rude awaking. I didn't find it offensive or upsetting but it was quite graphic and the later plot points of cannibalism and incest were also a bit unexpected from publicity materials.

TW: parental neglect and abuse, physical and psychological abuse, grooming, pedophilia, incest & cannibalism
(there might be more but I didn't finish. I added incest and cannibalism since it was mentioned in other reviews)

I thought Earthlings was going to be a great fit for me but as the story went on, I couldn't keep reading. The content did trigger me so I decided to not finish this.

Sayaka Murata is such an acclaimed author and her books have been enjoyed by many readers, I'm sad it wasn't for me but I hope other people can enjoy it more.

Published in Japan in 2018; published in translation by Grove Press on Press October 6, 2020

Like Convenience Store Woman, Sayaka Murata’s Earthlings explores the theme of personal freedom in a society that values conformity to social norms. Both novels address, in very different ways, the belief that Japanese women should have the right to choose the life they want to live, unconstrained by the conventional notion that women must marry and reproduce soon after reaching adulthood.

As a child, Natsuki convinces herself that she is a magician and that her doll is an alien from the planet Popinpobopia. Every year she attends a family gathering with her parents. One year, her cousin Yuu tells her that he is also an alien and is just waiting to return home. Natsuki falls in love with Yuu because he is the only person who understands her. They stage a mock wedding and Natsuki eventually convinces Yuu to have sex with her. Natsuki and Yuu are discovered, scolded, and kept apart until well after they reach adulthood.

Natsuki’s only other experience with sex involves a college student who teaches cram sessions. When Natsuki tells her mother that the student had touched her and tricked her into giving him oral gratification, Natsuki’s mother dismisses the report as the product of Natsuki’s imagination. It seems likely that, true or not, Natsuki’s mother doesn’t want discussion of the incident to bring shame upon the family. Without giving her actions much thought, Natsuki eventually puts an end to one problem and creates another.

As an adult, Natsuki is unenthused about the idea of dating and sex. Succumbing to social pressure, she joins an online dating site and finds a man named Tomoya who wants to marry but does not want intimacy. That suits Natsuki, but the parents of Natsuki and Tomoya are soon pressuring them to have children. Tomoya would like to leave it all behind and visit the place where Natsuki’s family used to gather, a place that seems magical as he listens to Natsuki describe it. When they make that trip, they meet Yuu and change their lives in unusual ways.

The theme of freedom is first expressed in Natsuki’s belief that her town is a factory for the production of human babies. She believes her womb is simply a factory component designed to couple with a different factory component. Yuu and Tomoya agree that “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.” Like the protagonist in Convenience Store Woman, Natsuki rejects society’s expectations about her duty to have sex and bear children. That simply isn’t the life she wants, but other options are lacking if she wants to live as an earthling.

The story becomes a bit loopy at the end, relying on dark humor to make its point about the dark side of human nature. The alternative lifestyle that Natsuki, Yuu and Tomoya eventually adopt takes on an absurdist quality. While I didn’t find the ending to be particularly satisfying, the entertaining story that precedes it makes a strong point about the difficulty that ordinary women in Japan encounter when they elevate freedom and individuality above the patriarchal society’s definition of a woman’s duty.

RECOMMENDED

I was just talking to my coworkers about this book on Sunday and they all looked at me like I'm crazy!! 😆😆 but my main reaction throughout the book was entirely the same reaction as theirs: WHAT THE ACTUAL FUDGE??!! It took me a long time to process this book. That ending threw me off guard!! I wasn't prepared for sure but it is also something that makes you realize how society can be dangerous and cruel. If Convenience Store Woman was weird, this one tops it off of its weirdness. Sayaka Murata really does have a unique way of blowing off your mind with her straight-forward writing and at the same time tapping into difficult topics such as how we as an individual can sometimes feel that we don't have a personal say about our own decisions to not live within the norms like not wanting to have children. Overall, reading this was definitely a unique experience. But be prepared there are a lot of trigger warnings in here.

EARTHLINGS is translated by Ginny Talley Takemori.

Thank you netgalley and groveatlantic for this ARC!

I am... not entirely sure what just happened here. I was reminded a bit of Only Ever Yours, but then all of a sudden things went REAL awry REAL fast. The last chapter or so really threw me for a loop. I will say that I didn't dislike this book, exactly. I was intrigued enough to keep going. And I'm all for weird, but this was just a little too out there for my taste. I was really uncomfortable and there were a few parts that almost made me give up. I won't try to explicitly dissuade anyone from reading this, since it's really not awful, but it just was not my thing at all, in the end.

This book is weird! Weird and immensely disturbing and yet eminently readable. Again, this book is weird and I’m not sure I’m quite weird enough for it. And I mean this in the sense that it takes a rational overall theme and then chooses to present it in the most “extra,” odd, disturbing way possible. In terms of overall theme and character, it is very similar to my first book by this author, Convenience Store Woman, looking and conformity and social outsiders, and acting a part to fit into a world you feel alien from. But that is where the similarities end! This book is part traumatic coming of age story, part twisted destiny fulfillment. If I can explain the degree of weirdness, it would be to say that this book does have incest and that is the least weird and disturbing part. And the strangest bit, is the thread of dark humor running through the entire weird soup that is this book.

The premise is that young Natsuki is going through a hard time growing up with an emotionally (and at times, physical) abusive family and a sexually-abusive teacher and she would end it all if not for her best friend and cousin, Yuu, who is in a similarly emotionally abusive situation. But Natsuki must eventually grow up and join the real life world of earthlings unless she can find a way to best rebel against the strictures of society and live her life as an other in this strange alien world of earth.

It’s a little hard to describe the oddness of this book. On the one hand it’s very simple and reads almost as YA fiction especially early in the book when we meet young Natsuki. But on the other hand, the things that happen in this book are so explicitly traumatic that this is not at all appropriate for younger readers- certainly not without adult support. This book has definite elements that intersect between surrealism, magical realism and fantasy, but it also feels very real and very present The protagonist, Natsuki, is a very sympathetic character but at the same time being an earthling, at the end, I was also repulsed by her even though I understood her and still found her to be sympathetic.

There are so many potential triggers in this book that the main thing to say is not to read this if you are at all triggerable. There is on-page explicit child physical and sexual abuse by people who should be trusted adults, gaslighting and shaming of young victims of abuse and incest, cannibalism, attempted suicide, toxic family relationships... really the list goes on.

I’m finding it hard to determine if I liked this book or not. I... didn’t dislike it but I think it was a little too odd and abstract for me, especially at the end where it got super weird. I didn’t dislike it, but I didn’t particularly like it either. It was okay-tending-towards-liking in the sense that I absolutely adored Convenience Store Woman, I borderline liked this and would read this author again. I recommend this only if you’re not susceptible to triggers AND you’re looking for something somewhat weird and surreal and yet readable and rooted in reality.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Grove Press through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

When I read the synopsis for Earthlings, I really thought I would be reading a quirky, possibly whimsical book. Boy was I incredibly wrong. Earthlings is quirky, yes, but it’s also a bit dark and deals with subject matters I was not prepared for.

In the book, Natsuki and her cousin Yuu believe they are aliens from the planet Popinpobopia. They make arrangements to “survive, whatever it takes” to avoid becoming part of the Factory, which is their word for normal society. It isn’t until certain things are revealed about them that I realized that the cousins were trying to cope with their very real childhood traumas.

Certains sections of the book were hard to read because of the events that were played out and I wasn’t sure if I would be able to finish. But as I kept reading, it was clear what the author was doing. She was creating a world and a planet that would take Natsuki and Yuu (and eventually Natsuki’s husband, Tomoya) away from their past selves, away from the lives that shaped them. My heart broke I to pieces for Natsuki because she had it the worst. All three of the characters were broken and controlled to no end by their families, which had me seething. Natsuki’s sister Kise deserves a special kind of Hell because she is incredibly spoiled and cruel. Let’s just say that I had MANY choice words for that character.

The ending of the book was completely not what I expected but also couldn’t have ended any other way. It took a very weird turn, one that felt ridiculous but also justified. I wouldn’t say it was a good ending but it was definitely interesting.