Vanishing World by Sayaka Murata is a dark, thought-provoking exploration of a society where human connections and traditional structures are unraveling. Following a protagonist grappling with an alien yet disturbingly plausible reality, the story delves into themes of identity, conformity, and survival.

Murata’s sharp prose and eerie world-building make this a compelling read, with an unforgettable and wild ending that will leave readers reeling. Perfect for fans of speculative fiction, this novel deserves a place on library shelves for its ability to spark deep conversations and challenge perceptions.

Wow! Sayaka Murata certainly never disappoints. I am in such a dystopian kick at the moment and from the opening sentences I was sucked in. It was fascinating to explore this alternate reality in such clarity. There were plot points that I feel could have been further explored, but the pacing was spot on for me so I am glad they were left so I could fill in the blanks myself. I am looking forward to picking up a print copy upon release.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC of this title.

This is an unsettling encounter of a dystopian future where sex is removed from society, all children are created through artificial insemination and the 'family unit' is no longer the norm.

I appreciate the questions this raises about society today, Murata definitely knows how to create an unnerving atmosphere. It is a compelling read, and fairly short so easy to get through it just missed the mark on completing the picture, and I personally found the ending went a step too far...

If you are a fan of books that will make you shudder at a glimpse at an alternative future (like Tender is the Flesh) then this is worth a read.

Continuing down the rabbit hole of Murata’s exploration of what a ‘clean’ marriage can be, larger social commentary on declining birth rates and marriages in Japan, we are placed within a world where relationships are sexless. I found it both a contemplative and difficult read at times.

Thank you, NetGalley and Grove Atlantic.

While the overall premise of the book was intriguing, a dystopian society where love and sex between spouses are considered incest and babies are conceived exclusively through artificial insemination, the execution for it was not done properly.

For certainty, I can say that I appreciate the unique way that Murata writes dialogue and the way the world is described. The story just seemed to drag and became very repetitive from the get-go, if it was a shorter novel, it would have worked out better.

If you are into the weird girl vibe books, this one might be for you.

I have read a couple of Murata’s books and they always shock. I usually embrace the weirdness. However with this read, I wish I had it in me to actually DNF books

The concept had such promise but the book just lacked depth. It could have maybe worked as a 50 page short story?

It was so repetitive. It didn’t really feel like it had a plot. It just repeated the blurb effectively throughout the book. It didn’t flow. It felt never ending.

Then it did end, on a paedophilic note, that left the story on such a sour repulsive note that made me wish I hadn’t read it at all.

I’ve read a few of Murata’s books at this point and there is definitely an overarching dystopic view of the world. This book is very much the same, a scary almost sterile view of populating. This one was unfortunately a miss for me. I found it very redundant at times. The characters were very hard to relate to, most of them had very similar personalities. Maybe that’s the point, maybe everyone has been so brainwashed in their views of society that it’s all carbon copy after carbon copy. Either way, I hope we never get close enough to see this world in real life.

Vanishing World did not work for me at all. Murata has the tendency to repeat the same thesis over and over in her writing. Not just focusing on similar themes, but also literally repeating the same exposition and themes phrases across the same page. In a longer form, it is painful to read.
The theme of this novel either went right over my head, or it was so simple that it definitely did not need to be longer than a short story. The stronger element was the introduction to the experiment city, and that would be enough for me.

This might be the freakiest, the most absurd, that gives off an unsettling feeling deep in the pit of my stomach—but positively a page-turner book!

The book talks about the very nature of us that makes us human, the primal need and natural instinct of sexual desire that's steadily vanishing from the world that's eventually turning humans into another being. Where the idea of love and family is deemed faulty.

It also deeply talks about loneliness, parasocial relationships, social isolation, and emotional detachment that are relevant even today.

Murata's really did blow my mind with this. The more you read it, the more you realize that this is more than just a weird book.

—denganafi.
p.s. Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

A very strange book that makes you think, just as intended. This one was unfortunately not my cup of tea, but I still want to read Murata's other works.

Thank You, NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this book. I had read Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata and really looked forward to reading this.

The book takes us to a world where what is considered normal now is considered dirty. What I mean by that is you find yourself in a world where producing humans through artificial insemination is the norm and using sexual organs to relieve sexual desires is considered abnormal or frowned upon.

The premise was interesting and new but somehow I found it very sterile and uninteresting despite the concept.

I guess it goes to show all books are not meant for you. So, I wouldn't say this was a bad book or that you shouldn't read it just that it didn't work for me.

I had to sit on this one for a moment and let it percolate before writing a review. This book upsets and interrogates a lot of big concepts that I struggled to parse through the clamor of my own thoughts and feelings after finishing it.

Overarchingly, the novel is about intimacy, human connection, family, procreation, sex, and the sociocultural norms that drive our attitudes around them. The central thesis asks: what if sex is no longer the primary method for procreation? Indeed, what if sex was deemed so unnecessary that it’s considered ‘unnatural’ or even taboo as a method for procreation, especially when ‘purer’ methods such as artificial insemination exist?

In such a world, our protagonist grows up with the disturbing knowledge that she was conceived the ‘old-fashioned’ way (via copulation) and continually questions her mother’s motivations for doing such an unspeakably unnatural act. All the while, she is grappling with her own sexual awakening and physical needs, and discovers that she feels more romantically attracted to fictional characters (e.g. from anime/manga or games) than humans.

Ever wonder what sex would be like without emotional intimacy and human connection? Murata will show you, while also exploring the psychological dimensions and various expressions of a paraphilic relationship. I found this part fascinating because although I will confess to being a huge anime nerd, I have never experienced the feeling of having a relationship with a fictional character. (I tend to obsess more over worlds and storylines.)

If romantic attraction ceases to be a significant driver for marriage, what sort of relationship does it become? As our protagonist grows up, Murata shows us a vision of her ‘platonic marriage,’ wherein the partners consider each other family in the way of siblings instead of romantic partners. Instead, they continue to have parasexual entanglements (which are open, acknowledged, and indeed encouraged) outside of the marriage. Paradoxically, their marriage seems stronger for it and there is no sense of threat.

Is your head spinning yet? No? Ok, let’s keep going.

Part 3 pushes the envelope even further and imagines a society where traditional structures of parenthood are removed from childrearing and all children are raised communally by all members of the commune. “It takes a village,” literally. Murata paints a disturbing picture of nurture as a strong determinant of behavior through seemingly innocent scenes set in playgrounds and community parks. In the commune, all childbearing individuals are called Mother, even men who can carry infants using artificial wombs. What does it do to the family unit and our notions of kinship, indeed of relational identity, when we are removed from the structure of a family? The children are brought up as children of all, but it seemed to me that they were also the children of none.

What I found most interesting was the role reversal between our protagonist and her brotherly husband, who ends up carrying their genetic child to term (the protagonist is unable to carry a child, though she also tries). She expresses great discomfort when faced with the idea of children, while the husband happily subsumes himself in the experience of pregnancy and the social rewards of having birthed another healthy citizen. This is such a transgressive concept in a largely traditional country like Japan, where childbearing is still commonly regarded as a duty or prerequisite to full adulthood as a woman. Furthermore, this issue has now become fraught with existential panic as the country faces a steep decline in population growth that will impact their economic productivity. In such an unapologetically pronatalist society, can a woman truly make genuinely free choices about reproduction?

As the feminist journalist Gena Corea once wrote:
“The propaganda that women are nothing unless they bear children, that if they are infertile, they lose their most basic identity as women... has a coercive power. It conditions a woman’s choices as well as her motivations to choose.”

This week, I started my Reproductive Ethics graduate class and our readings for the first three weeks happen to be on IVF. It’s been fun learning about the real-world practical and ethical complications of the technology while also playing with the idea of a fictional world where virtually none of the aforementioned complications apply. If IVF became so cheap, convenient, and controlled, why indeed would anyone resort to the messy lottery of sexual intercourse for reproduction? IVF affords the parents so much more freedom of choice: they can choose the timing, arguably the gender, perhaps even the baby’s traits, technology permitting.

Was that another jolt of discomfort there? Did you perhaps think of eugenics? Yep, you’re right to think so and you’re right to be discomfited. Therein is the magic of this provocative book: your conceptions of normality will be challenged and you won’t take these things for granted afterwards. The end of this novel also packs a plot twist that I did not see coming! I was left wondering if it was a statement about power, or resentment, or... or maybe the protagonist is just unhinged! Trust a Japanese author to get as weird and unsettling as humanly possible in under 250 pages.

This got 3 stars for me only because I felt that the prose could have been stronger and the pacing lagged at certain parts. There are some segments that felt repetitive. I was very tempted to upgrade to 4 stars though, just for the unapologetically transgressive approach. Not a bad introduction to Murata at all; I immediately went and read Convenience Store Woman after this, which I also loved. (Review coming for that one also.)

All in all, if you’re a fan of what bookstagram apparently calls ‘weird girl fiction’ - look no further. Get you a copy of this book! ●

I almost threw up reading the ending.

A world where humans are produced through artificial insemination and where using sexual organs to relief sexual desires is considered ‘dirty.’ The civilization is so advanced that the things we consider normal is seen as old fashioned. And everyone is focused on creating a ‘clean world.’

The narrator is the only human born through copulation and so she faces criticism from the rest. But the idea of love and making love was planted in her mind by her old fashioned mother has made it harder for her to act normal and clean. While reading I just kept wondering, “Will she ever escape this abnormality? Or will she become one of them?”

But by the end I was left speechless by the outcome.

It makes me question what will happen if artificial insemination and the concept of clean world ever became our reality. In my opinion, I don't think the craziness will go as far as it did in the book. But if it did, there will be a portion of society which cannot let go of it's natural instinct. Maybe that will lead to division of the world.

Vanishing World by Sayaka Murata is a wild, unsettling ride through a dystopian society where everything we know about love and sex has been turned upside down. In this world, traditional marriage and intimacy are considered disgusting, and the idea of abstaining from sex has become the latest trend. People can have as many lovers as they want—real or fictional—but love and sex themselves are seen as unnatural. Murata’s signature dry, straightforward writing pulls you into this bizarre reality, and while some themes get hammered home repeatedly, it only adds to the intensity of the story.

Murata really outdid herself with this one. Vanishing World is by far the most unhinged thing I've read from her, and I’m here for it. The way she builds this strange, twisted world is fascinating, even if it makes you uncomfortable at times. Some readers might find it too much, especially if they’re expecting something more familiar or “normal,” but I couldn’t stop reading. It’s raw, intense, and just so bizarre in the best way. Murata has a real talent for getting under your skin, and this book is no exception. If you’re up for something weird and thought-provoking, this one’s a ride you won’t forget.

The ending is just as crazy as the ending of Earthlings. Sayaka Murata is such a unique writer and I'm fascinated by her mind.

In Vanishing World Sayaka Murata creates a dystopian society where sex and procreation are separate, and very different from how we know them. I found it an extremely interesting premise, and really enjoyed the somewhat odd (though not unrealistic) world that Murata created.

The protagonist is a woman named Amane who always felt distant from other people, because of the fact her parents conceived her by having sex (as opposed to the artificial insemination which is standard in this society). Most People view sex as something unnecessary and dirty that only animals do, but Amane's mother holds on to the old fashioned belief that it's natural and normal.

I feel like the book would have been better if the pacing was different. It felt like Amane's childhood was skipped over, and some other parts of the story felt too dragged out.
For obvious reasons I won't go into detail about the ending, but I did really love it. I find myself wishing that the amazing imagery and eeriness of the last 15 or so pages were more present in the rest of the book.
Overall this was a very interesting read, and I really enjoy Murata's storytelling. This is the second work of hers I have read, and she truly is one of a kind.

If you're already a fan of Murata's work, this book won't disappoint you (it passes the "wtf did I just read?" test). The ending (I won't spoil) is reminiscent of Earthlings and the actual meat of the book is similar to Life Ceremony and Convenience Store Woman, except this time, she has constructed an entire world, which is why this may have been labeled as fantasy. However, I feel it fits better into the speculative fiction category. Murata is incredibly skilled at taking a deeply engrained societal norm, flipping it on its head, and writing the most absurd and wild stories. In Vanishing World, conceiving a child through sex with your marriage partner is considered "incest" and artificial insemination is the "normal" way to reproduce.
Several thought-provoking points are made, but Part 1 and Part 2 just became repetitious and a bit boring to read. Part 3, where we get deeper into the speculative fiction world, was the most engaging part of the book. Overall, I do recommend the book if you're already a fan, but if you haven't read her work I would start with Convenience Store Woman. This book is definitely weird and disturbing, but Muarata doesn't do it just for shock value, which is why she's one of my favorite authors. There are endless deep discussions that you could have about the traditional family unit, sex, and falling in love with an anime character after reading this one.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I was so eager to read Vanishing World by Sayaka Murata because Earthlings was wild and this new novel was such a trip! It’s about Amane, who lives in a world where artificial insemination has advanced to become the norm to have a child and sex had vanished. It’s an interesting take on the future for sure. Amane is a very compelling character as she tries to fit into society and be “normal” but at the same time doesn’t want to lose her own identity. It was cool how science was trying to advance how men could give birth. This version of Japan felt very well thought out. This was so far my favourite of the three books I’ve read by this author. It’s a unique concept that was excellently written. I’ve got to read Life Ceremony now!

Sayaka Murata loves to take one science fiction concept and go “how would life be different if this happened”. In Vanishing World, the pivoting incident is that huge investment was made into artificial insemination tech to help population growth. That spun into a wild alternate reality where sex started being seen as unnecessary and even undesirable and the traditional family structure is challenged in some pretty big ways. For example, sex between husband and wife is extremely taboo. After all, that's your family member, it would be incest!

Amane is our protagonist, who struggles with defining “love”, “sex”, and “family” as each of these concepts become more and more separated from each other. She’s not like her mom, who holds very traditional views, but she’s also not like a big part of society who is completely detached from intimacy.

Murata is amazing at creating realistic characters that struggle with relatable issues like conformity, social expectations, and family dynamics while also being part of these bizarre worlds. Every single character had a different world view, each making sense in their own way.

I also loved the pacing in this book. We go from a setting that is very much like real life with a couple of major differences in social norms and attitudes. Gradually, things evolve and the last 30% is pretty experimental. The book is constantly challenging Amane and us as the reader with the question: “What is normal?”

Honestly I really liked this book and I have so much to say about it that I don’t think I can fit it here. Any book that can make me think about it after I put it down is a win. I can tell this one will be on my mind for awhile.

DNF at 20%.

The idea behind it sounded really good, but the writing felt very repetitive and choppy..