Wow, okay, not expecting this to be quite as grotesque as it was, but this book of stories packs quite the punch holy cow. Just go into this expecting Earthlings, not CSW.

Reviewing so late but have recommended this title so many times. Absolutely love Sayaka Murata and she shines in her short stories. Ginny Tapley’s translation feels correctly grotesque and whimsical, though I can’t speak to the original Japanese. Love love love! Thank you x

Life Ceremony by Sayaka Murata was an interesting read, but it ultimately did not impress me a lot. For the most part, I found the stories to be too short, making it hard to develop a real attachment to the narrative and the characters. With that being said, the first story, "A First-Rate Material", and the titular story, "Life Ceremony", were good, and I think that they go hand in hand. I almost would have preferred seeing a short story collection from Murata that exclusively explores unconventional ways of upcycling human bodies post-mortem. The first story was, again, a bit too short for my taste, and I found that it ended abruptly -- like many other stories in this book. Had the tension between the engaged party been drawn out a big longer and the stakes raised, I don't doubt that it would have been a 5-star read. "Life Ceremony", on the other hand, was really really good. I enjoyed learning about the relationship between the characters and the lore behind life ceremonies, and I thought that the story arc was well-executed with a satisfying ending. In my head, these two stories would work wonderfully as Black Mirror episodes.

Thanks to NetGalley and Grove Press for providing me with an ARC of this book! All opinions are my own.

This short story collection didn’t work for me, unfortunately. I didn’t love any of the stories and I felt as if they almost all finished too abruptly, leaving me unsatisfied.

I was really hoping to love this because I really enjoyed ‘Convenience Store Woman’ by the same author. I think if you’re a fan of Black Mirror this could really work for you!

Thank you for allowing this title. A contemplative read that activates both humor and horror. As in Murata’s other works, her characters are delightful and peculiar showing readers that to be complex is human and to embrace these things is entirely human.

"Life Ceremony" is a fascinating collection of short stories that are loosely connected to food, but not only as they convey a vast range of people's lives in terms of habits, customs, and traditions, which are inspiring and captivating because they are shown in a bit quirky way, which I absolutely adore. I'll definitely look for more books written by this author.

I loved Convenience Store Woman so I've picked up everything I could find by Sayaka Murata ever since.

If you are familiar with the author's work, you know that the stories she writes are weird, strange, bizarre, etc. At first, I didn't know if I'd say Life Ceremony is stranger than Earthlings because Earthlings blew my mind when I read it, but I do think Life Ceremony is definitely more unusual.

The stories in Life Ceremony poke fun at society and the rules we create and live by. From sex, the food we eat, how we define family, and the part we play as individuals to all the people in our lives, Life Ceremony is an exploration of humans and how we chose live, and what it might look like if we chose to live differently.

While I could usually understand what ideas Murata was trying to explore, not all of them hit their mark for me. Some of the stories are very short which sometimes added to their absurdness, but other times made them feel a little aimless. If you like weird stories, or if you are interested in reading something unlike anything else you've ever read, give Life Ceremony a try. Just a fair warning, Murata is not afraid to break taboos and really go there...

I really loved this one and am so grateful for the opportunity to read it. It just beautifully captures the minutiae of life and loving ind living in such a magical way

After reading Convenience Store Woman, I was looking forward to diving into this book of short stories. I was not disappointed. I love her voice and the quirkiness of her stories.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for the digital review copy! Alas, this book has been out for over a year and I've just now finally finished reading it. Let's dig into why that is!

I read very few short story collections because dipping in and out of snippets doesn't really do it for me. But with Murata's strange investigations of human beings and society, I felt like it would be a good format.

Some of these stories (maybe even the majority of them) definitely lean more into the horror angle, which made it a difficult read for me. I can handle bizarre to a point, but when we get into gross body horror, I'm out. Some of the stories here definitely crossed that line for me personally.

Others, however, had that weirdness that I loved from Convenience Store Woman, a strangeness and a struggle to fit in with others that didn't quite cross over into being terror-invoking. These stories, I enjoyed very much.

In all, I think that my challenges with this book come down largely to personal taste. I continue to enjoy the writing style and the interest in the odd and unusual, and I think readers who can hang with horror a bit more than I can would really enjoy this collection of bizarre short stories that make you think.

How do you honor a human life? Rituals for the deceased can vary depending on a community's values. In Murata's Life Ceremony, she takes these concepts in new and sometimes horrifying directions.

A young woman brunching with her friends wants to show off her new wedding ring that features a human tooth instead of a diamond. Bodies used for clocks, wedding veils, or further turned into objects that remain with us. The dead are served to the mourners like a buffet and even include special recipes that honor the deceased. These short stories cover all sorts of topics and will make you look at everyday rituals in entirely new ways.

Favorite Passage:
Ever since I was little, I’ve lied about myself in order to be loved. Being starved of affection gradually killed the existence of my true self. Whoever I was with, I tried to gain affection by playing a fictitious character. But inside, the child me was always crying.

My first read by Sayaka Murata was Convenience Store Woman and it was eccentric and bold and in your face. I believe Murata brought that same energy to her short stories in Life Ceremony. The plots were dark and morbid but delivered with a tongue-in-cheek flourish that enticed you again and again to the next story, no matter how twisted (I am looking at you "Lover on the Breeze"🤨). I highly recommend these stories and had a really fun time reading them. (4.25 stars)

A so-so reas. I loved ‘Convenience Store Woman’ and had high hopes for this collection, based on a review I read. However, despite their originality, I found the stories too weird, too strange and just not enjoyable.

There are tales here about people that eat humans; about transitioning into different stages of life. Even though they’re original, I just didn’t like the style and content overall.

Life Ceremony by Sayaka Murata is a poignant novella that delves into the complexities of life and death. The story centers on a group of individuals who engage in a ritual that enables them to confront their own mortality. Murata's writing is lyrical and introspective, encouraging readers to contemplate their own existence. The characters are realistic and relatable, each grappling with their own unique challenges and perspectives on life. This reflective novella prompts readers to ponder some of life's most profound questions. If you seek a thought-provoking read that explores the human condition, Life Ceremony is an excellent choice.

omg I love Murata. These stories are weird and wonderful and push every boundary. I do think the stronger stories are near the front of the book, but overall this is a solid collection that i willr eceommend far and wide.

From the first story, I knew I was in for a treat.

This collection opens up with a story of a woman desperate to obtain a prized possession of a human hair coat—super trendy these days. From there we move into cannibalism (of course), unexpected love stories, and middle-aged men as pets.

Overall, this collection feels comfortably between Convenience Store Woman and Earthlings on the “disturbing” scale but explores similar themes: the arbitrarity of life and social norms, the pressure to be a certain way despite that; loneliness, etc.

This has solidified Sayaka Murata as an “auto-buy” author for me!

I love Sayaka Murata's writing style, which I discovered while reading Convenience Store Woman. Life Ceremony features short stories that challenge what society defines as normalcy.

I had reviewed this book on my Instagram page last year and had missed out doing so over here. Sayaka Murata is one author who will deliver the goods and means serious business while writing the most bizarre and eerie stories out there. I think the one that made a huge mark on me was the titular story 'Life Ceremony' as I just did not see it coming and safe to say, it did manage to kill my appetite for a fair bit :P

Rating: 3.5 stars

I love how whimsical Murata's short stories are and it reminds me of one of her earlier novels, Earthlings. Some of the short stories were forgettable but some stuck out to me. Overall the pacing was well done and the variety of topics presented in these stories were decent.

Thank you NetGalley and Allen and Unwin for the arc. I'm inspired to read the rest of Sayaka Murata's backlog.