Vanishing World by Sayaka Murata

In this speculative fiction set in Tokyo where artificial insemination is the new “normal” and sex is considered “unhygienic”. marital sex is now “incest”. When Amane marries finally to the man she can be friends with. They cook together, watch movies and live in harmony just like best friends sharing the details of their dating lives with each other.

When an experimental city is created where men and women can give birth and parenting becomes a collective responsibility of the society, the couple decides to move there. Amane struggles to adapt to a society where individuality is suppressed fully and human connection becomes a foreign concept.

What are we without any connection to other human beings ? What is our identity when relationships are being removed? What happens when what we have to do daily becomes a part of collective responsibility instead of something that’s done because we want to do it!!

Just read this excerpt to encourage you to read this book!

“I don’t want to have kids, so I don’t plan on getting married, but I’m wondering, are there any other advantages to it?” my colleague asked me innocently.

“Umm, well,” I said hesitantly. “I guess having someone else at home kind of, well, there are all sorts of benefits psychologically. It’s like having an absolute ally in life . . . I think there are advantages to it, myself.”

“But if that’s all there is to it,” Ami said, leaning forward, “wouldn’t it be better to share an apartment with a friend? Two women can understand each other better, for one thing.”

The author explores the world of marriage and sec leaving us thinking about how and what it is this picture perfect world. She also leaves you to decide on how you would feel with all the technology advancements in the society that removes human connections without pushing the reader to chose a side!

Vanishing World is filled with interesting and unique ideas but it fell a bit flat. Repetitive at times and in the end it seemed like a book to shock but didn’t explore the themes from different angles. I always appreciate a wild ending but this book let me down.

I found it hard to decide on the rating because the ending was shocking but not in a good way. But I did enjoy most of the novel - despite the MC's headspace - with its ideas. It is a thought provoking and challenging read, and most of all, memorable. This is my first Murata book so I'll be looking forward to read more of hers.

DNF at 18%
Loved Convenience Store Woman so picked this up but I just wasn’t into it. I’ve also heard the ending isn’t great.

I unfortunately cannot give feedback because I was unable to down the eARC. The book is no longer available on NetGalley and I was not able to read it for reviewing.

Ms. Murata wtf is this. I love Sayaka Murata's surreal strange writing about society's outcasts but this time she went too far- even for me D;

Even though it was short and super fun, it still managed to sneak in some surprisingly smart takes on how strange our ideas of “normal” really are. That said, the depth I used to feel in the characters, plot, and themes just wasn’t quite there this time. It had interesting things to say, but honestly, it could’ve been just as effective (maybe even better!) as a short story. Instead, it felt a bit repetitive and way over the top. And with all that extra space, you’d think we could’ve given the protagonist a few actual traits—or at least a logical decision or two.

What a FASCINATING book.

I have been a fan of Sayaka Murata's since I read Convenient Store Woman, and while every book gets a little stranger, I also find myself more invested.
This book had just the right amount of realism mixed with dystopian to grab my attention from the jump. A society that doesn't get pregnant the "traditional" way??? What if...

It might not be for everyone, but I will definitely be recommending this to all of my friends/readers who like the books a little "out there".

I hope more like these get published!

4 character crushes out of 5

With this author, I am always impressed and surprised by what story she'll offer to us, the readers. So, this is another disturbing "what the heck" kind of novel from Murata.
Amane lives in a new world where having sex or procreation through copulation is considered taboo and disgusting. This comes to an era where babies all are made by artificial insemination, sex will be rapidly disappearing from the world, and the concept of family will cease to exist.
It's a dystopian fiction with a slight ambience of sci-fi. I was laughing and gaping throughout the book.
Big TW of child sexual abuse for the ending ! The ending is pretty brutal. I don't think this book will be just for any readers.

I loved loved LOVED the concept of this book. Obsessed. And at the beginning of it, I was hooked. But as it went on I felt like it stretched out for longer than I felt was necessary that towards the end I was just waiting for the book to end.

Thank you to Netgalley and Grove Atlantic for sending me an advanced copy.

I've read Murata's other books, so with Vanishing World I was expecting weird and unconventional in a slightly uncomfortable, uneasy way. However, I think it might have gone too far (in a bad way) with the ending she chose. It was just unnecessarily offputting and extreme in an icky way. It didn't make sense and I wonder if her decision was made solely to jar the reader, rather than follow the character trajectory she'd been setting up the entire book.

Up to the ending though, the story was great. It raised some really interesting questions about what a family really is and the role sex plays in relationships. Although the dialogue between characters was a bit stilted and unrealistic, the world she created was excellent and immersive. Murata continues to do a fantastic job of creating characters who are outsiders in society and showing the world through their eyes. But all the things she did well with this book are overshadowed by such a terrible ending.

VANISHING WORLD is exactly what I wanted from a new Sayaka Murata novel. Weird, wild, unknowable, and gets under your skin. I put it down a few days ago and I'm still thinking about it, especially the bonkers ending. (If you've read it, can we please discuss??)

Set "in a version of Japan where sex between married couples has vanished and all children are born by artificial insemination," Murata expertly tackles the huge subjects of family, sex, self-love, obsessive celebrity love, and motherhood. And she does this all in a 200 page book which I read in two sittings over one Sunday.

In this parallel universe, husbands and wives marry each other for "family" only, meaning, they are just good friends who live together, pay bills together, and raise children together. However, they have no sexual relationship and if they did, it would be looked at as disgusting. It is clear that this metaphor about nuclear families versus romantic and physical love is something Murata grapples with, and seems to fit neatly into how Asian cultures have viewed sex and personal lives in the past decade. The book is outlandish, experimental, and filled with explorations on big topics. If you've read her other work, this is another must-read from her.

This book just wasn't for me! It wasn't bad, and I think it's trying to say something interesting about family structures and how they change/develop over time, but it wasn't my thing. It will be a hit for people who are more into the vibe!

Murata does not write for the faint of heart or weak of stomach. Set in a futuristic world where artificial insemination is the norm and the concept of sex as love is being eradicated, our protagonist Amane is one of the last known people to be conceived of through physical procreation. Throughout the novel, Amane battles between the instincts she was instilled with as a child and the expectations of the new world as it advances in scientifically and societally. This novel had me debating the morality of the modern family structure and whether a different world is inherently "wrong" - and what that even means. This novel was a mind bender like so much of Murata's work, with moments of tenderness, laughter, and deep unsettlement that I would not recommend to all.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, I had to DNF this book. I could not stomach this story. Murata loves to write strange stories, and I have enjoyed her other books, but I just couldn't force myself through this one. The premise is very interesting, and I'm sure others would enjoy it. But the strange sexual scenes were too much for me.

I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, I thought the concept of this story was really unique. and I enjoyed it. On the other hand, there is a lot of dialogue and it felt a pretty repetitive over the course of the book.

read this if you enjoy: Dystopian/Utopian, human reproduction, sexuality, deadpan tone, weird, reflective,

Many thanks to Netgalley & Grove Atlantic | Grove Press for sharing a digital copy, as always, opinions are my own.

This was one of the strangest books I’ve ever read but in that very particular way only Sayaka Murata can pull off. Disturbing, thought-provoking, weirdly tender, and utterly unique.

Set in a world where the very concept of family and intimacy has been reimagined — marriage reduced to a practical partnership, siblings expected to share financial burdens, sex slipping into taboo — Vanishing World pushes the boundaries of what we think of as “normal.” Birth rates plummet, love becomes clinical, and the creation of life is left to artificial means. It’s a society at once utopian and deeply unsettling.

Murata explores themes of parasocial relationships, societal conditioning, and the quiet horror of human disconnection with her trademark matter-of-fact prose. It’s a book that asks, what actually defines family? Why do we cling so fiercely to traditions that, from the outside, might seem arbitrary?

I was fascinated and unnerved in equal measure. Some parts (especially involving children) were genuinely disturbing and pulled me out of the story a bit, which kept this from being a full five-star read. But I loved how Murata weaves the absurd with the painfully human — making you question everything you take for granted.

Short, sharp, and absolutely bizarre. I’m still turning it over in my head. Fans of Convenience Store Woman and Earthlings will likely find this a perfect addition to Murata’s deeply unsettling little universe.

The story of a world where marriage is supposed to be sexless and copulation is looked upon as incest, where the world is moving on from sex, where having a lover outside of your marriage is the norm, and watching as Experiment City, a place true to its name, is gradually filled with test subjects and children born there are children of the community, who call said test subjects ‘Mother’ irrespective of what gender they are, and where science and technology have progressed to the point where men can now give birth too.

Vanishing World is, like Sayaka Murata’s other books, a commentary on what society is and what is normal at any given point in time. She does not hold back when she’s making a point, because our reaction to what she’s about to say is kind of the whole point.

This is a jarring book in many ways—it will rip apart your ideas of ‘acceptable’, it will make you uncomfortable, it will make you wonder, it will give you food for thought that will have you going, “that’s true tho!” It is stark and sometimes uses childlike language, perhaps to prove something that you’ll understand as you read the book.

But it isn’t without its problems. It can get repetitive, and even with using the language it does, it can get a bit much, it can make you gag and wrinkle your nose with distaste. You have to remember, though, that this is a social commentary of sorts, so it’s not an endorsement of what’s happening in the story. Just a what if.

What I reacted to pretty strongly though, is the end. It almost brought up my whole dinner and I’m shaken and yucked out to my max. Yikes. Big yikes.
To the point where I don’t know if I’ll be recommending this book, even though I see some of its points 🥴

For a modern version of Brave New World, but in a world that’s nearer current reality, look no further. Or rather, do look further (always look further!), but this is one to add to your reading list. It’s compelling, unsettling and utterly fascinating.

Vanishing World was the perfect combination of speculative fiction and a glimpse into Japanese culture as it is now. Murata has simply exaggerated current and projected Japanese attitudes and societal trends. These include finding a partner using matchmaking parties, the ‘sexless marriage’, low birthrates, turning a blind eye to extramarital affairs, increasing numbers of young people who are asexual or men who are obsessed with teenage pop bands, and so on and so forth. In modern Japan, the world vanishing is the old idea of the nuclear family, which is already often a myth. In Vanishing World, Sayaka Murata imagines a post-WWII Japan where artificial insemination became the norm to ensure rapid repopulation, severing the natural link between sexual intercourse and reproduction. In this world, not so different from our own, teenagers are fitted with contraceptive devices to free them from the worry of pregnancy. But in the meantime, physical sex has come to be considered messy and disgusting, so pregnancy becomes something that only happens by design. This leaves our protagonist, Amane, with a feeling of split personality because her mother did conceive her by ‘copulation’ and teaches her about romantic love, concepts which fuel Amane’s fantasy and leave her seeking out likeminded partners, setting her outside the mainstream. It is also a point of conflict with her mother, who cannot accept the new societal norms.

I had somehow never read Surata Murata’s much hyped Convenience Store Woman and Earthlings, but had heard so much about them, I jumped at the chance to read Vanishing World as a digital ARC from NetGalley. This is my unbiased review. The book has since been published in English, though it was originally published in Japanese in 2015, before the other two. The translation by Ginny Tapley Takemori is flawless.

When children find out about sexual intercourse, their first reaction is often disgust, followed by declaring that their parents never did anything so revolting. That is essentially the stage reached by the Japanese society in this book. Add to that the oft-repeated sentiment that no children would be born if men had to give birth and you already have two of the elements of Murata’s story. She imagines an asexual, childlike society where sexual intercourse is considered a perversion, many people’s fantasy love lives are centred on characters from anime or literature and marriage is a mutually supportive contract to ensure a stable basis for raising a family. No sex please, we’re married! Extramarital affairs are entirely acceptable, but also usually completely sexless and platonic. Bored with your platonic friend? Break up and move on.

My favourite type of sci-fi, speculative fiction or dystopia is based in reality with a twist. It takes current trends, some of which may have disturbing undertones, and pushes it just that little bit further into the realms of the imaginable possible. In Vanishing World, Sayaka Murata takes the themes of love and families and pushes the boundaries of what is currently happening in Japan just that little bit beyond today’s norms and imagines a society that is recognisable but decidedly peculiar. Then, for a final twist of the screw, she ups the ante to imagine an ‘uncanny valley’ experimental society. In Chiba Experiment City, family bonds are completely shattered as a result of an ongoing societal and scientific experiment that is so radical that outsiders need special permission to cross the border and there is a constant barrage of propaganda sent into the outside world to justify their methods. It’s an experiment one could imagine being worked on at this very moment by a secretive group of unscrupulous scientists with dubious ethics. Or is it a utopian experiment akin to a kibbutz or a commune, with an extra futuristic scientific element? None of this is impossible. But Murata takes it further: they are developing an artificial external uterus so that men can carry a child. The only thing I missed here, both inside Chiba Experiment City and beyond, was the process of giving birth itself. Virtually all babies are created by artificial insemination (so clean!), but what about the messy process of giving birth?

This is a book I would definitely recommend to anyone interested in speculative fiction or in modern Japan. Despite the emphasis on sexual politics, it isn’t sexually explicit, except for one scene where Amane and a teenage boyfriend attempt sexual intercourse following the diagrams in a biology textbook, which is funny rather than sexy. Masturbation is mentioned rather than described, except as an odd sensation which Amane experts while looking at her favourite heartthrob anime character.

Content warning: self harm, attempted suicide, miscarriage

This book took a little bit to get into it. The book is based around very strange concepts and ideals completely different to what we are used to. Quite often the book left me feeling unsettled and uncomfortable - but not in a bad way.

I think I'd recommend this book if you're looking for something different to read but for me this one didn't hit the mark to be rated any higher. I will say it left an unsettling mark on me once I had finished it though.

Thank you to Netgalley and Grove Press for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.