Margaryta's Reviews > Earthlings

I have...no words for what I just read, hence the lack of a rating. This reminded me a bit of "The Vegetarian" but much darker. It would probably be nice to add triggers to the beginning of this book, as some reviewers have done in their reviews. The synopsis of the book doesn't convey just how much of a dark thriller this book is, that it deals not just with the theme of society's standards/expectations, particularly of women, but also overlooks the fact that there is rape, incest, gore, and cannibalism, the last of which occurs within the last ~10 pages of the novel. The one thing I liked that Murata did was how she framed the idea of being "broken," the way that Natsuki talks about her mouth and right ear as being "broken" and not tasting or seeing after the sexual abuse and gaslighting that she endured. The hedgehog plushy was another great elements, the 'message' it represented. But it was all wrapped up in a novel that was so medal-to-the-metal that I don't think I can talk about its literary merits without feeling thoroughly disturbed. Recommended to people with stronger stomachs and psyches, who can perhaps talk about it by disentangling the violence from the ideas?