What if you were an enterprising 29-year-old temp, working a dead-end job, and were offered the opportunity to earn 10 million yen – a small fortune – to bear a child for a wealthy middle-aged couple?

Swallows is a fascinating book. It explores and contrasts the ethics of surrogacy in Japan, a country where the process remains illegal. It asks piercing questions: is surrogacy an exploitive business – poor women selling their wombs – or is it a win-win-win situation where both the couple, the surrogate, and the child all benefit?

The young woman, Riki, who hails from rural Hokkaido, has a hard time making ends meet in Tokyo. She jumps at the chance of earning money as an egg donor at a fertility clinic. But the clinic offers a far more lucrative option. Their clients -- Motoi, a famed ballet dancer who is yearning to pass on his genes and his wife Yuko, who is infertile,-- are seeking a surrogate to bear their child. Riki looks very much like Yuko, and they are prepared to offer just about any amount of money to get her onboard.

Immediately, the author delves into the cloudy areas of class, obligation, and morality. The women are encumbered by doubts. Yuko wonders why she’s going along with her husband’s plan, especially since she will not be biologically related to the child. Riki’s issues are more complicated. Is she simply a “womb for rent” or a fully realized person? Is she willing to give up a year of her life for this couple along with her dream of bearing a child of a man she truly loves? To muddy the waters, Motoi will need to divorce Yuko and marry Riki until she bears a child and then reverse the process (re-marrying Yuko) to keep things “legitimate”. How will both women handle that?

There are many twists and turns – including one on the very last page – that I will not hint at or reveal, but they were very thought-provoking. I would have loved this book – certainly, it will stay with me – except for one thing: a clunky translation. Over the years, I’ve developed a real respect for the art of the translator, who is faced with the choice of translating verbatim or translating based on the essence of what the writer is saying (which doesn’t always correspond to the new language). This translator chooses the former, and it’s to the book’s detriment.

I will say that I kept eagerly turning pages, despite my disappointment with the translation. The title of the book made zero sense to me until I googled and found out the original Japanese title was “The Return of the Swallows” (still ambiguous, but less so considering the book’s development). I am very grateful to Knopf Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to be an early reader in exchange for an honest review.

fascinating, interesting, and quite effective novel about surrogacy, ethics, power differentials, and a group of flawed and realistic people. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.

One of the most thought-provoking books I’ve read in a long time.

I went into Swallow Me with no expectations and an open mind, but it completely consumed me. It challenged so many of my assumptions—especially around the topic of surrogacy.

We often view surrogacy as a beautiful act or a solution, but this book forces you to reckon with its systemic implications. Many of the women who choose this path aren’t actually given a choice, poverty and desperation often back them into a corner.

What made the story even more powerful was how it didn’t just center the surrogate’s voice. We also got insight into the intended parents, their motivations, their fears, and the sometimes morally grey decisions they make. It gives you a fuller picture of how privilege, power, and pain collide in the most intimate ways.

Kirino does an incredible job unpacking themes of bodily autonomy, economic exploitation, and motherhood. The only downside for me was that the writing occasionally felt stiff, though that might be due to the translation.

Still, Swallow Me is raw, unsettling, and unforgettable. I can’t recommend it enough

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this arc. This arc was provided in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for the great opportunity to read this book. This was a challenging read, as there weren't characters that I feel like I could fight for, even in an anti-hero kind of aspect. The actual plot, the nuances of surrogacy are deep and I would do for a second reading. I felt the dialogue didn't do the characters justice, or at some points further highlighted how on the spectrum of darkness and ambivalence they were to the issues at hand. That could be due to the translation or how I interpreted and took the words through my own lens. It was challenging at times, and the world created was a one of both nuance and brutality through the desperation of the couple.

3.5 stars.

Sure, we’ve heard of surrogacy -- the controversial subject where some believe it exploits vulnerable women. Yet, this book gives it some depth.

Motoi and Yuko live in Japan where surrogacy is illegal. This wealthy couple is at the point of desperation. They are willing to pay a young girl, Riki, to travel to a country where a fertility procedure is legal. She admits she has no particular path in life and needs the money. This is her way to pay off some debt. However, it involves all sorts of questions relating to the emotional and physical aspect of having a baby for someone who pays a substantial amount.

The start of the story was strong as it made me think more about this complex subject. I felt bad for the couple struggling with infertility issues with a sense of time running out. While the topic was absorbing, the characters were unlikeable giving me a love/hate relationship with the book. Unfortunately, the two must go together so I ended up with a lot of ambivalent feelings.

My thanks to Knopf and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book with an expected release date of September 9, 2025.

What a book. This is another of those where it’s written about the people you dislike more than anyone else, but there are important elements and commentary throughout the book on parenting, social class, the economy, and privilege. To get that commentary, though, you have to read it through the lens of these awful people. Which could be the point? I’m often at a loss for Japanese translated texts because I feel like my brain operates at a lower rate. This is a text that could be dissected for days.

An interesting and relevant story commentary on the intersection of motherhood and capitalism.
So many unlikeable characters. I loved it!

#NetGalley

Riki, a broke temp worker in Tokyo, agrees to be a surrogate for Motoi and Yuko, a wealthy couple desperate for a child, after her friend mentions the hefty payout for renting out your womb. Kirino's exploration of poverty and reproductive choices is genuinely compelling, even when her characters make baffling decisions with zero self-awareness - like Motoi wanting a kid to live vicariously through while Yuko doesn't even want to raise a child she's not related to. The frank discussions about sex and bodies caught me off guard (but maybe it shouldn't have, considering the author) and there's definitely a lot talking in circles without actually resolving anything, just seemingly endless back-and-forth conversations that don't seem to go anywhere, but I found myself invested in following Riki's disaffected journey through this morally complicated situation regardless. It's messy and uncomfortable, which works for a story about people making terrible choices while desperate for money or babies.

I didn't much care for this book. The characters are all pretty grating, and most if not all seem like terrible people. Surrogacy is a sensitive and nuanced topic, and it felt like everyone went into it so flippantly. And the ending was horrifying to me - what an awful thing to do. I'm sure some things got lost in translation, but I didn't love the writing style.

Regardless, thank you to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, and Vintage for the advanced copy.

I absolutely adored "Out" by Natsuo Kirino so I immediately picked this up when I saw the Netgalley.

Unfortunately, this simply didn't land for me in the same way. Unsettling but not horror, darkly comedic at times but not funny, this just struck a strange balance.

I found the characters generally well developed, but largely insufferable and sometimes baffling. I don't know if it was an issue with the translation, a cultural gulf or what - - but there were some truly inscrutable choices here.

Riki is an almost 30 temp worker scraping by in Tokyo, with no plan or prospects. She is persuaded by her coworker to try to sell her eggs but is instead asked to be a surrogate.

I think some of the struggle for my enjoyment here is that surrogacy has been legal in the US for quite some time, and to me feels like a natural extension of our nightmare capitalism. Is it exploitative and gross? Well, yeah.

This book left me with very conflicted emotions. Perhaps the issue arises when one does not really understand the culture and customs of the Japanese. The main character leaves her rural home and moves to Tokyo where the inequality of wealth is huge and she understandably, will go to any lengths to achieve a better lifestyle.She is drawn into a situation which brings into the question of surrogacy and the reasons a couple would go to have children whether it be for love or status.

Riki and her best friend decide to become egg donors because they really need the money. The woman at the agency convinces Riki to be a surrogate instead for a couple where the wife looks eerily similar to her. The blurb calls Swallows funny and page-turning, but I found neither to be the case. The dialogue felt very awkward. I'm not sure if it was due to translation issues. It moved very slowly and not much really happens. Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf for the ARC.

Swallows by Natsuo Kirino is the story of Riki, a 29 year old woman from a small town in rural Japan. In an attempt to create a more successful life for herself, Riki moved to Tokyo where she has spent years struggling to make ends meet in a series of temporary jobs. Out of desperation, she decides to consider egg donation and surrogacy. Through changes in points of view and various conversations, we are able to consider the many moral, legal, financial, scientific, cultural, and familial issues that surround sex, pregnancy, motherhood, and parenting.

This book is well-written with clearly drawn characters. The pacing is stable, and it delves deeply into why these individuals are acting the way that they are. However, none of the characters are particularly likeable so it does make it difficult to make a real connection to the story. Given the content, it makes sense that people would sometimes change their minds about what they think or how they are acting, but the sheer number of flipflops became overwhelming and annoying. There were a couple of relationships (the male sex worker/counselor) that did not add much, as far as I can tell, to the narrative. I’m still not sure how I feel about the ending.

In the end, this novel is technically good in terms of writing and theme but just not the story for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for the eARC.

I am an avid fan of Natsuo Kirino's earlier release, Out. However, I wasn't super impressed with Shallows. I found the plot interesting, but the dialogue felt repetitive. I felt like I kept reading the same scenes over and over throughout the novel.

This was a really unique social commentary on infertility, fertility treatments, surrogacy, sex, and marriage. I learned so much about all of these social and moral dilemmas through a Japanese lens, which was even more interesting. It did feel like it went along a fairly predictable route, even though it tried to throw in some red herrings, so I do think it could have used some editing to streamline the plot arc. The writing style also felt a bit stilted at times.
3.75

Riki has moved from Hokkaido to Tokyo to improve her life, but instead finds herself impoverished and stuck in a dead end job. She has only one friend, and is lonely and depressed. When she learns about surrogate births, she wonders if this could be the answer to her financial woes. Meanwhile, Motoi and Yuko have been trying unsuccessfully for a long time to have a baby, but have learned that Yuko is unable to conceive. Motoi is obsessed with the idea of a biological heir, so latches on to the idea of surrogacy in spite of Yuko's hesitation. At every step of the way, Riki, Motoi, and Yuko wonder about their decisions. Should they or shouldn't they? And if so, what then? Certainly these decisions are crucial and life altering, but in spite of my sympathy for the situation I found it somewhat tedious to read about all of the agonizing and waffling in this novel

Every character in this book irritated me so badly. Thankfully, the plot of the book, and the writing kept me turning the pages. I will say as an American a lot of the taboo around surrogacy was lost in me because Japanese culture has a completely different mindset when it comes to that subject. It was really interesting to read about it though.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC

This book was fine. There were parts of it that were interesting but overall I was just ready for it to be over, pretty much as soon as I started.

The premise is extremely interesting, and the author speaks to issues of women's rights, body autonomy, sexual harrassment, and financial disparity and the hardships and desperation that stems from that. I think some of what wasn't landing for me may have been due to a strange translation. But there was also a lot of redundancy and repetition that was annoying and unnecessary. For example, the character of Ririko took up an entire 3rd of the book and had she been omitted it wouldn'y have changed the story one bit. Also she was annoying.

I also have no idea why it was called Swallows, although I did skim some of the boring dialogue so maybe that was in there.

Swallows tells the story of a young woman, Riko, who becomes a surrogate mother for a wealthy couple. The book explores questions about money, power, and who really has control over a woman’s body. It’s serious and emotional, and it makes you think.

The writing is strong and the characters feel real, but the story moves slowly, especially in the middle. Some parts feel repetitive, and the ending left me with more questions than answers.

Overall, it's an interesting read with important themes, but was not always exciting or satisfying.

This novel explores topics like bodily autonomy, sex, and class within a Japanese context. Riki, a woman with few prospects in life and who is struggling to get by, becomes a surrogate for a wealthy couple. Her waffling over the decision, as well as those around her whose opinions shift, reveal the complexity of the issue, especially in a place where surrogacy isn't permitted. It was interesting to read about the various characters' viewpoints and how they shifted in relation to one another but also through their own reflections. Kirino captured how fickle we can be as humans, or rather, how complicated we can make things.