Until the last 10 pages, I was really into this. Never have I had an ending that made me want to throw a book into a fire like this. I felt betrayed by the author and the story. I would greatly encourage you to read the trigger warnings on this one as this ending isn’t sitting well with me at all and although I enjoyed the vast majority of this book, the end did really break it for me.

As always, Sayaka Murata creates a dystopian world that is slightly unhinged but close enough to reality and current events to make it an almost believable future. This gives her books an eerie and unsettling atmosphere from the get go while drawing us in instantly. So much of the commentary is wildly accurate and applicable, and even in a dystopian society, they had to ban gay marriage or women would never choose to be platonically with a man and men would remain alone as most wouldn’t want to live with another man. Male loneliness epidemic would happen even in a dystopian future, let that sink in…

It’s a slow paced book with very little happening throughout and with small and subtle changes that lead to the inevitable shift in the book where our main character moves to this trial city which brings the dystopian to a whole new level. I really appreciate the development of our main character and the descent into madness and weirdness, if not for the last 10 pages this would have gotten a higher rating but unfortunately because of it I can’t give it any more than a 3 and I won’t be recommending it because of that.

In world where insemination has become so advance that people eventually stop having sex, interrupting developing sexuality and notions of family. Wow what an interesting premise. Sadly, this was a disappointment for me. The concepts felt stronger than the writing and the author was clearly relying on shock-value to interest readers. Not my style.

Murata once again unsettles the ordinary, turning the familiar into something alien and strange. Reading it felt like stepping into a dream just on the edge of nightmare.

Vanishing World by Sayaka Murata is a provocative, genre-bending novel that pushes the boundaries of dystopian fiction while remaining deeply personal and emotionally unsettling. Known for her ability to explore alienation and societal norms through surreal yet eerily plausible worlds, Murata delivers one of her most ambitious works yet a chilling meditation on intimacy, identity, and the cost of engineered perfection. Set in a speculative future Japan, Vanishing World imagines a society where traditional reproduction has been replaced by artificial insemination, and sexual relationships especially between married couples are considered taboo, even incestuous2. The story follows Amane Sakaguchi, a woman raised in a home steeped in fantasy and emotional detachment. Her mother’s obsession with an idealized love story and the color red shapes Amane’s early understanding of relationships. But Amane’s emotional world is further complicated by her intense attachment to Lapis, a fictional immortal anime character she believes she loves. As Amane grows older, she begins to question the sanitized, state-approved version of love and reproduction she’s been taught. Her journey takes her to Paradise-Eden, a government-run colony where the rules of intimacy are even more extreme. Here, Murata’s dystopia reaches its most disturbing heights, revealing a society that has erased emotional intimacy in favor of sterile efficiency. Amane is a quintessential Murata protagonist: emotionally isolated, socially deviant, and quietly rebellious. Her internal conflict between the desire for real connection and the pressure to conform is rendered with nuance and empathy. Her relationship with her husband Saku is emblematic of the novel’s central tension: they are legally bound yet emotionally estranged. The supporting characters, including her mother and the administrators of Paradise-Eden, serve as chilling reflections of a society that has redefined humanity in the name of progress. Vanishing World is not a comforting read—it’s a mirror held up to our own anxieties about technology, isolation, and the future of human connection. Sayaka Murata has once again crafted a novel that is as intellectually daring as it is emotionally raw. For fans of speculative fiction that challenges societal norms and dives deep into the psyche, this is essential reading.

if i’m being honest i had high expectations for this book because i really enjoyed convenience store woman but this was kinda disappointing. the ending wasn’t satisfying and the pacing was weird. i even forgot that i read this and only remembered now that i didn’t write a review. i’m really disappointed

Fascinating, weird, and wonderful. This book is a ride I never expected. I had so much fun reading Muratas conversation on kids, technology, and family systems. This book was just the right amount of weird and I loved it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for giving me the opportunity to read and review this Arc. All opinions are my own.

Murata is a master at creating a world that incites intrigue and wonder. She makes you think about the themes explored in her books, and this is no different. As a rule, nobody has sex to reproduce in the world anymore. All pregnancies are induced by artificial insemination. But our main character Amane is different. She was conceived through sex. Shocking! As a young girl she was always interested in the nature of sex and explored, with many people, what that meant for her.
That is until she and her husband enter Experiment City, where they are trying to invent a way men to also give birth.

This is a well thought out story that ultimately explores sexuality in a universe that essentially bans it. The lead up to experiment city was interesting, and the story within it was fascinating.
However, the very end of the book was an absolute icky shock, and one that really didn’t need to be there. It felt like it was written for the pure shock value and brought nothing to the actual brilliance of this story. Unfortunately the ending brought my rating from a 4.5⭐️ to a 3⭐️

For those that enjoy a dystopian sci-fi, or Murata’s writing, this will be a great book for you. But please check triggers before doing so…

Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for an ARC of this book
Unfortunately it was not for me, while I love Sayaka Murata's other works this one didn't hit for me and I ended up DNFing at around 35%

I put off even leaving a review for this and just left it in my reading tab in Goodreads, but I felt bad since it was an ARC. But not every book will be for every reader and that's ok.

I found the premise of this interesting, to me it seemed very akin to the book Brave New World wherein the author delves into alternative types of love and relationships in a world where humans are created rather than born by typical means. But for me it was the rather juvenile nature of the main character Amane that put me off continuing, she was too sold on her reality for my tastes and didn't see the possibility of her questioning her strange existence, maybe that comes later on in the book but I don't know.
Whereas in Brave New World there are characters that question this status quo, along with characters that go along with it, and that creates a source of tension in the narrative.

So while this was not for me, I do think it was a well written book with an interesting premise and many readers will enjoy it. Thank you again for the ARC and apologies for the late review

During childhood, Amane discovers that her parents engaged in sex “the old fashioned way” rather than by artificial insemination, which is the norm in the mid-twentieth century (in this story). She explores her sexuality through masturbation when thinking about her favorite anime characters, as well as real people…only to realize that masturbation does not equal sex with the person.

As an adult, Amane is in a loveless marriage and sex between married couples is considered as taboo as incest. Amane and her husband, Saku, decide to go and live in a mysterious new town called Experiment City or Paradise-Eden, where all children are raised communally and every person is considered a Mother to all children. In this city, men can also become pregnant using artificial external wombs and children are nameless, called only “Kodomo-chan.”

Overall, I found this story to be so unique and fascinating but the ending (the last 10-15 minutes) really went downhill…this story would have received a <b>four star</b> but the ending significantly dropped it down to a <b>2 star</b>. This book ended up being truly disappointing ☹Please check the content warnings below.

Content warnings:
-Sexual content surrounding artificial insemination and pregnancy (entire book)
-Underage children engaging in intercourse (part one)
-Suicide attempt (part two)
-Mentions of incest (at one point the author mentioned that biological family members used to have sex with each other, but the word incest is used as “sexual relations between family members,” meaning husband/wife would be engaging in incest, part two)
-Miscarriage (part three)
-Pedophilia (ending)

Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic | Grove Press for the opportunity to read an Advanced Reader’s Copy (ARC) in exchange for my honest opinion/review.

Not my favorite Sayaka Murata. I love her concepts but I just couldn't get into this one. The world is interesting but I didn't love the main character the way I usually do with her works.

Vanishing World is thought provoking in that it forces the reader to consider what love, intimacy, and family is defined as but it overall fell short. The story was slow to wind up but it picks up the pace in Part 3. Certain scenes were uncomfortable to read because the author blurs the lines of consent and there was a handful of explicit scenes that were disturbing involving children. I don’t think those scenes added to the plot or emphasized any points. A really disturbing and disappointing ending.

This book had me SCREAMING!!! She actually went there. I’m such a huge fan of Sayaka Murata and love allll of her books (even Earthlings). This book is no different as it continues to expand on her universe.

I honestly thought this was a toned down novel version of Life Ceremony but I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at the ending 😭🤪

We follow Amane as she navigates the new world where having intercourse with your spouse is considered incest because your spouse is your family. Her mother always emphasises that she was the product of intercourse between a husband and wife and that it was the norm back in her days. But this information seems to upset those around her, so Amane keeps it a secret.

We watch as Aname navigates her teen years to adulthood and figuring out for herself the meaning of love, sex, and marriage. Where having sexual affairs with others is considered the norm, and raising a child is a community business.

This book raises some really interesting conversations about what is considered normal and how society evolves along with technology and infrastructure. Aname and her husband eventually move to Experiment City, so they could both get pregnant through artificial insemation. Where mothers and fathers play an equal role in giving birth. But here once the children are born, they are taken to the community centre to be raised instead.

If getting pregnant and giving birth were equally quick and painless would more people try? Is this the way to solve declining birth rates? Where there are dedicated nurses, teachers & carers to raise your children? Then you simply just go back to work and do whatever it was your were doing before. No need for maternal leave because your child becomes the child of everyone there. If we took it takes a village to raise a child literally!

Always check triggers warnings when it comes to Murata. If you’ve never read her work, please start with a shorter read. Once you get sucked into her world you either love or hate it haha. I loveeeee it even tho I wanted to throw my kindle after reading the ending LMAO. It was just so unexpected ???

An excellent hand sell for fans of Margaret Atwood, Huxley, Orwell, or any dystopia fan. It was slightly jarring to reflect on this in comparison to “Convenience Store Woman”, but it was as well written/translated.

DNF'd at 48%. The first half of this book needed serious trimming down. It was quite repetitive, stating the same thoughts repeatedly without going deeper. I wished we could have gotten to the Paradise-Eden sooner, as it is mentioned as a pivotal part in the synopsis.

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;