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..

I love Sayaka Murata. Sayaka Murata is an instant buy for me, so I was really excited for this. Vanishing World takes place in an alternate universe/future where sex has become taboo and nearly obsolete all together. In a way, I almost expected this to be weirder. It's strange, but pretty tame for most of the book, until it ramps up in the last third or so. I wouldn't necessarily say it's too slow of a pace, but I expected the "main" plot of the Experiment City to begin way earlier than it did. Murata takes the time to build the society that the main character, Amane, lives in. Once the plot gets going, it definitely gets just as weird as I expected, and I really enjoyed it. 4 stars. Thank you to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for the ARC.

Sayaka Murata did it again. She got me in her chokehold with this dystopian, bizarre world of abnormality is the new normal, traditional copulation is disgusting, abstaining from sex is a new fad, husband and wife does not engage in marital sex bcus thats a taboo and incest, you can have as many lovers you want, fictional or real. You dont even have to get married bcus love and sex is atrocious and I freaking dig this 🤣. My gosh, this was peak unhinged of Murata I have ever encountered and one that I think will turn off a lot of people if you read this with a certain set of mind. But if you have been an avid reader of Sayaka Murata then you know that she loves to challenge the quote unquote normal behaviour in the society and flip it over in Vanishing World. In this world, man can get pregnant with a fetus hanging outside of their body, normal husband and wife is considered family member and family does not make love to each other, engaging in sexual activity is a thing of the past and marriages are vastly different than what it is in the past. Artifical inseminatiom is the new evolution in mankind to create another human being and in the Experiment city, everyone female or male is mother to all the children born there. Children are raised by the city as a community and not as a family.

Our main character, Amane is one of the rare case of her parents birthed her in a natural copulation and her mother had drilled into her that love and sex is a form of genuine love. Thus, Amane was obsessed with the pleasurable sensation of sex, she fall in love with many people both human and 2D characters. Married to her husband, they still continue living like everyone else with their own lovers as partner. What I found so interesting about this book is how it question the nature of the family, the standardised perception or generalisation of what a normal or complete family unit should looks like. How Experiment City is the exact opposite of this notion and unashamedly proud of this. I was laughing, cackling and giggling the entire time I'm reading this bcus my gosh, do I feel called out in some of the scenes. Amane was relatable in her ideas of love & romance which I could not agree more but her obsession with sexual activity does get borderline extreme at times and by the end, I was shooked and be like what the f 😭😭😭.

Sayaka Murata, you are one amazing woman and I will stand by you till the end

Thank you Netgalley and Grove Antlatic for the review copy

Vanishing World creates a society in which sex between married people is considered incest and artificial insemination is taking over procreation. As artificial insemination advances, sex altogether becomes archaic and bodily urges are more inconvenient than exciting. Amane adjusts to this changing world more easily than anticipated, always wanting to be part of what’s “normal” after being raised by a mother who swears by the purity of having sex for both pleasure and to conceive. In Vanishing World, Sayaka Murata recreates the story of Adam and Eve, and makes readers question the future of sex if it’s no longer necessary to have children. In her typical format, Murata constructs a naked version of the world, exploring what generates our most basic human impulses.

Thank you Sayaka Murata, Grove Press, and Netgalley for advance access to Vanishing World!

This is my second book by Sayaka Murata and I’m still processing the entire thing, especially the ending! I wanted this ARC as it was such an interesting concept however I felt uncomfortable the entire read. I think this wasn’t for me but others will love. This gave cult horror vibes which I think could have been developed upon. Didn’t love but feel like I didn’t fully understand what Murata was trying to do. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

This wasn't really for me, I think the writing style was just too stark and straight forward, I was hoping for more nuance to each character.

Thank you to Grove Atlantic and Netgalley for this eARC!

OOoOooOOOokay. WOW. The concept of this book was entirely new to me and that was very apparent in my reactions whilst reading.

The synopsis was interesting where Amane was created due to her parent’s copulation but that’s considered taboo. Marriages are deemed “clean” and sex in a marriage is considered incest. A dystopian society called Paradise-Eden is created so that everyone is considered “one big family” and EVERYONE is “mother”. You follow Amane as she’s a child into adulthood as she learns more about herself and the world around her. You see her grow and adapt while she’s questioning what she was taught by her mother growing up but while also trying to be ‘normal’ in society.

The meat and potatoes of this book was a jump scare TO ME. This could be due to the fact that I don’t read dystopians often but let me tell you this was interesting to say the LEAST. Finding out the sexual norms in this society will make you question is it in our nature to be this way or can we learn to live a “clean” life without being sexually intimate with other people? Or will we always resort to our innate selves and history repeat itself?

4.5 [publishing 24 April 2025]
"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."
"Normality is the creepiest madness there is. This was all insane, yet it was so right."

This is easily Sayaka's best novel yet! Vanishing World is a hugely unique dystopian in which all babies in the 'Eden' society are conceived through artificial insemination. Children are raised by an expansive community where the traditional family unit does not exist. In 'Eden' both women and men (fitted with an artificial womb) are placed in an annual lottery and selected at random for group, artificial insemination on the 24th of December.
The novel explores important and current themes such as bodily autonomy, reproductive rights as well as the expectations of women within our society - all of which are presented within Sayaka's previous publications. Also similar to previous work the book covers dark topics and projects discomfort throughout. However, the writing style felt more developed and advanced in comparison to both 'Earthlings' and 'Convenience Store Woman'. Another incredible translation from Ginny Tapley Takemori - my absolute dream team!
I thoroughly enjoyed Vanishing World and it is definitely a new go to recommendation for me - as usual I can't wait to see what Murata publishes next!

"Was this place a kind of factory to manufacture uniformly convenient people?"
"Normal is the most terrifying madness in the world."

(Thank you to Grove Press/Granta Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!)
*look up CWs before picking this up

I was given an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you NetGalley and Grove Atlantic.


Overflowing with both scenes and quotes so bizarre you'll want to share with people and moments that may spur personal introspection, Vanishing World leaves you with plenty to think about. I've read other works by Murata and this one might not be my favorite, but it is definitely an interesting ride.

Overall, the plot leaves a bit to be desired and the ending feels abrupt. I just wanted more to happen in general. I still had an enjoyable time though, I'm always here for the weird vibes.

Low 3/5 stars. I think if Vanishing World was not written by Sayaka Murata, this is not a book I would have picked up. At this point, I will read any book of hers if translated to English. I loved Convenience Store Woman and Earthlings. I have also followed her a lot through interviews, and she is such a fascinating author to me. Although I felt lukewarm about Life Ceremony, it’s an interesting collection of short stories that showcases how she has processed some of her core themes as an author.

However, with Vanishing World, it is another lukewarm one for me. To be spoiler-free, it’s obvious this book is Murata making commentary on various aspects of modern (Japanese) culture: unhealthy romantic obsession over fictional characters, declining birth rates, current dating culture, masking emotions, and the rejection of old beliefs and practices. If our world had strayed from traditional relationships, marriages, and procreation almost a century ago, what would it look like? It’s clear that Murata was curious to explore a world very different than the one that suffocated previous characters of hers (available in English). Maybe I’m missing some layers to this book (I'm doubtful), but I feel it is more exploratory without making any compelling points or scenes for a majority of the novel. In that way, most of it reads very similarly to many of the stories in Life Ceremony. Vanishing World takes a surface-level concept and doesn't really do as much with it as I had hoped.

The world Murata created in this book is really interesting, but all we really see is just a character living through it rather than character-driven story or plot-driven action. The most action we see isn’t until almost the very end, which is by fair the strongest section of the book. But hey, at least it’s a fairly short read!

I will say, though, there are some aspects of the world-building that almost argued for it being idyllic, in an odd way. How I interpreted it, not everything seems entirely strange or alien. Again, the book poses a central question: if our world had strayed from traditional relationships, marriages, and procreation almost a century ago, “what kind of animal would we be?” One side of this exploration is very sterilized, cold, and individualistic. There is a heavy reliance on convenience. Amane, the narrator and main character, is constantly caught between more traditional values instilled in her by her mother (regarding relationships and procreation) and more individualistic, “convenient” values pushed onto her by society—both of which are at odds with each other. She doesn’t have a lot of room to have opinions for herself that aren’t directly influenced by one of the two: "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." The other side of Murata’s answer embraces becoming a mother at a much older age, active fatherhood (+ actual mpreg), aromanticism, asexuality, platonic partnership, and openness surrounding non-heteronormative love.

To me, the contrast between that and the more nonsensical or unsettling parts of this world added an interesting depth. Knowing Murata’s other works and some aspects of her life outside of her writing, I feel I can make the judgement in good faith that Vanishing World is not trying to equate those two sides. Rather, they add different layers to the book’s setting. In general, I think Murata as an author argues for a middle ground between the extremes she likes to explore: “Even if this Paradise-Eden system ultimately failed, we had at least discovered that there were many other possibilities.” Despite how strange modern society is in the world of Vanishing World, Amane’s more traditional mother excuses problematic, harmful behavior in men. Her mother’s attitudes towards sex and relationships aligns with our world’s norms, but at the same time Amane feels justified in rejecting her mother because of her mother’s more harmful ways of thinking. Just like Amane’s world has problems obvious to us, our world and our norms have plenty of problems, too.

On a side note, this is actually a pretty queer-friendly book, at least regarding various characters’ perspectives. This isn’t rare, but certainly not common in Japanese lit. I would really like to see a concept like this (with another author) explore how trans and genderqueer people fit in a world where “biological sex” doesn’t play a role in having blood-related children.

Aside from some of the elements I found interesting, most of the content of this story overall wasn’t very engaging for me. The dialogue can be very on-the-nose and characters say exactly what they mean. Amane isn't very distinct (maybe on purpose) or compelling, and there are a lot of uncomfortable scenes that felt pointless because of it. Part 3 has the most potential, and I feel this would have been a much stronger book if its focus on Chiba was more central to the rest of the plot. Still avoiding any spoilers, it is a very interesting portrayal of forced sameness society and the idea that the sole meaning of life is to have children. Amane laments to herself, “Both my husband and I had ingested too much of this world, and we had become normal people here. Normality is the creepiest madness there is. This was all insane, yet it was so right.”

It is genuinely cool to see Murata veer into speculative fic, but overall I didn’t really like this book! However, that’s entirely based on my preferences while reading, so who knows what another reader will think. This is the kind of book that will be polarizing, especially the ending... but I think that’s just Sayaka Murata. Personally, I would much prefer seeing books and other media with a specific, direct perspective that won’t be for everyone. I think that makes art infinitely more interesting, even if I don’t always like it.

Vanishing World was not as worthwhile of a read as I had hoped. It’s clunky, and there’s way more telling than showing. It’s my least favorite of Murata in English, but I will read the next one, and the next one, and the next one, and the next. It's also important to recognize that this book was written directly before Convenience Store Woman, and I think that lines up with my thoughts. Murata's writing gets stronger with each chronological release, so I'll be excited when Changeability, her novel after Earthlings, is translated. I haven’t read the short story A Clean Marriage, but I can see this book working as a spiritual follow-up based on its premise for those who enjoyed the story.

An incredibly thought provoking exploration of considerations on motherhood. I read Convenience Store Woman and absolutely loved it for its truth and and deep human insight, and got exactly the same satisfaction from this book! Thank you for allowing me to read!

As with many of Murata’s works, this story felt more like an exploration of a concept than a cohesive plot. That’s not to say it was bad—on the contrary, I couldn’t put it down, and the author’s prose was as wonderful as ever. However, I found myself wanting more by the time I reached the ending, and a few ideas were repeated so often despite them being clear enough.

Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for the free eARC!

I don’t even know where to begin with this book. I don’t mean that in a bad way at all! This book was extremely poetic, and very thought provoking.

The story takes place in an alternate Japan. Married couples do not have sex. Sex between married couples is seen as incest. Babies are no longer conceived through copulation…they are conceived through artificial insemination. Sex is a thing of the past. Amane was born the old, traditional way. She has many “lovers” throughout her life. These lovers are not what we think of lovers. Most of them are anime characters, and characters from other forms of media.

The story follows Aname through her childhood, up through her adulthood, including becoming a Mother. It was a very fast read, and the story kept spinning more and more out of control as it went on. I loved it! It’s a great take on society, and loneliness. Highly recommended!

I enjoyed this book! As a huge Murata fan, this was highly anticipated. Though I felt like the usual Murata-isms were very much so prevalent throughout the book, I did feel as though it was missing the cohesiveness that her last 3 books had. Though I understood the underlying message of trying to confront the social norms around child bearing, family structures, marriage, love & relationships, I did leave feeling like I wanted more. I would have liked for these messages to be driven home more, rather than merely challenged.