It’s only January 29th, and I’m calling it—nothing I read this year will be weirder than this.

If you liked Convenience Store Woman, proceed with caution when picking up Sayaka Murata’s newest English language release. Vanishing World is far closer to Earthlings, examining taboos, intimacy, and what happens when we completely dismantle our understanding of love.

The plot is a thinly disguised thought experiment, asking: What defines “normal”? How do societal practices become ingrained? Murata pushes these questions to extremes, crafting a world where love and sex have been completely restructured. One of the most striking ideas to me was the growth in relationships with fictional characters. In the novel, these relationships are normalized (and monetized) turning intimacy into something personal and transactional. With the recent rise of AI chatbots and how we’re beginning to see their psychological impact on people, this felt relevant.

Murata’s writing is uncomfortable. The physical descriptions are so visceral that I found myself feeling ill at times—which, I suppose, is exactly the point and a testament to her skill. (Also, I have now read the word copulation more times than I ever thought possible.) While I enjoyed the concepts explored, I found the 240 page length too long for the actual story. The middle section dragged and became repetitive, but the ending… I read the final pages with my hand over my mouth and then had to stare at the wall for a while to recover.


If you enjoy speculative fiction or Murata’s more provocative works like Earthlings, I’d recommend picking this up when it comes out on April 15th!

Thank you to @groveatlantic and @netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Press for this ARC!

Vanishing World is set in an alternate World in which sex for procreation was replaced by artificial insemination during WWII, eventually developing to the point where sex has become completely obsolete, and a married couple having sex with each other is considered incest. We follow our protagonist Amane as she grows up and moves through this world. Amane is a little different than most of the people she is surrounded by, both because of the circumstances of her birth and because of her personal relationship with sex.

This book was a wild ride, exactly as I expected it to be. It was made all the better by the fact that I had added the book to my tbr just because of its author, as I have adored all of Murata's work which has been translated so far, and I therefore started reading this completely blind, which was a really fun experience.

As with all of Murata's other works I have gotten to read so far, this book features a main character who struggles with the norms of the world she lives in, and although in this case the norms of the world she lives in are foreign to all of us as well, I still really related to her feelings of otherness and alienation, something I think Murata does a fantastic job of putting into words.

Obviously I don't know what the intended message of this book is, but to me it read like a commentary on the modern loneliness epidemic and how in the last few decades we have lost many important social connections which used to be the norm (e.g. the extended family being replaced by the nuclear family unit and government institutions). In the world Murata creates many people choose fictional lovers over real-life lovers, and marriages are often formed through a sort of speed-dating function with no goal other than creating a "good baby" through artificial insemination later.

Another aspect of this I enjoyed was the representation of alternative forms of family. As someone with no interest in the heterosexual construct of marriage and children it was actually rather refreshing to read about people choosing to live with their close friends (including women choosing to spend their lives with other women). In general, while it wasn't a significant plot point, I enjoyed how casually queer love was treated in this book. Also, there is discussion of male pregnancy in this book, which is really funny to read about if you are a fandom-veteran.

All in all I would say that if you have read and enjoyed Murata's other books you will certainly enjoy this one too, and if this is the first of her books you read sit down, buckle up and get ready for a wild, fun ride.

Such an intriguing premise and it had the potential to be absolutely incredible but sadly, this rather missed the mark for me.

Parts of it were fantastically creepy and unsettling but there’s a lot that feels like it’s there for shock value. It’s also incredibly repetitive in parts while some plot lines are left sparse and incomplete.

I loved the exploration of sex, relationships and the family dynamic but wasn’t so much onboard with the paedophilia.

The upcoming release of Sayaka Murata, the author of Earthlings, Life Ceremony, and Convenience Store Woman. The cover is what intrigued me the most, because her books always have this beautiful unique cover. But really. One always interests in Sayaka Murata's world because her "weird" world-building and misfit yet relatable main character.

Vanishing World set in a world where children were conceived through artificial insemination instead of the "traditional natural" way we all knew. In this world, even men can get pregnant and all women were called mothers, as well as every children were called kodomo-chan. Husband and wife are considered family, sex were seen as a relic of love.

Amane, probably the only and the last human on earth who were born not through a scientific way, found herself unable to fit in the world. With her husband, they moved to a place called Eden in Experiment City where science advanced rapidly. In there she found the world she knew and the world imprinted on her by her mother started to vanish, evolving into more advanced yet lack of emotion.

I enjoyed reading this book as much as feel dizzy going through it that I have to take a break. Sayaka Murata's world has always been weird, but I think this is the most weird one. The critics toward society on how they see women, marriage relationship, and children, written in the most weird way possible but could easily be associated with current situation.

This book could make one wonder. What would happen if Adam and Eve never eat the forbidden fruit? They will never be banished from Eden, of course. But is there more to it?

⭐4.5

Thanks to NetGalley and Grove Press for the DRC.

The book opens with a very interesting premise where sex is taboo and all pregnancy is done through artificial insemination. We follow Amane, the main character, who was conceived through “traditional” sex, and she spends the entire book questioning whether it is wrong to engage with such a backward tradition and her development in new familial system.

Anyway what is a Sayaka Murata novel without some weird and outrageous things, right?

Aside from the quirks, I think this book has great and interesting concepts! I love the idea of getting married without romantically entangled, or girlfriends/boyfriends even when they’re married, and especially the idea of male pregnancy is so funny, the visual image is so hilarious I think Sayaka Murata did a wonderful worldbuilding.

In this fascinating world, Chiba is turned into experimental city. Everyone would be invited to get artificially inseminated and the family system is replaced, all the kids are called kodomo-chan and all the residents are Mothers (slay, honestly?) The way the story is being told is simple and engaging. Love this so much, can’t wait to read other Sayaka Murata!

This book is surreal in the best way possible. It challenges everything we know about family, societal expectations, and the norms we live by.

It’s bizarre, unapologetic, and emotional. I would say that this is as thought-provoking as it is unsettling. There were moments that made me laugh, moments that made me reflect deeply, and yes, even moments that made me shed tears.

Huge thanks to the @groveatlantic and @netgalley for sending me an advance reader copy. I’m incredibly grateful for the chance to read this gem early! 📖

“Time changes. What’s normal also changes. Clinging on to what was normal in the past is insanity” (131).

This book is set in a future world where people do not have sex anymore. People procreate artificially and view sex and romance increasingly as a primal nuisance. Marriage in this world means choosing a committed family member, so sex with your marriage partner is akin to incest. Sexual urges are dealt with by dating outside of marriage, using fictional characters for masturbation, and, eventually, via something called the Clean Room where you go to dissolve your libido in a convenient 1-5 minutes. In this world, men can get pregnant, children are raised communally, and the definition/meaning of family is quickly evolving.

“Sexual arousal was no longer the sweet product of love but an excretion that kept building up in my lower belly, causing an unpleasant throbbing sensation. The sexual urge that had been so precious to me now even felt trivial and intrusive” (207).

Following Amane, we see her navigate this newly evolved world. Amane is unlike because she was born that “old” way – through copulation. Raised by a mother who insists on traditional marriage and love, Amane is torn between choosing a lifestyle aligned with her primal instincts/taught traditions of her mother, and accepting and assimilating into the new world as it evolves radically in her lifetime.
Humans are animals who have an instinctual way of doing things, but perhaps instinct isn’t always optimal for evolution. Regardless, reality and normality are simply what we choose to believe in and uphold.

“And aren’t you brainwashed, Mom? Is there any such thing as a brain that hasn’t been brainwashed? If anything, it’s easier to go insane in the way best suited for your world” (223).

But Murata has a point! It's tiresome to be led by romantic emotions and libido. It makes sense to choose a marriage partner based on pragmatic compatibility instead of romantic feeling. Perhaps raising children as optimally as possible really is best for a healthy future and society, regardless of how weird and creepy it makes the children look and act lol.

I’ve read all of Murata’s English-translated books (CSW, Earthlings, Life Ceremony), and now I’m very glad to have received this ARC. In her books, she is fascinated with social norms and our roles in the creation and acceptance of them.

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.