Earthlings ★★★☆☆

Earthlings (Click Here To Buy)

★★★☆☆

Earthlings by Sayaka Murata is a fiction book about a girl who struggles to get along in society as an outsider.

I read this on my Kindle as an eBook checked out from the library.

Natsuki has never fit in with her family…or almost anyone really…except her cousin Yuu and her stuffed animal Piyyut, who she talks to all the time and is from the planet Popinpobopia. Yuu also believes he is an alien and the two embark on a childhood marriage - until their family intervenes. Back at home, Natsuki is sexually abused by her teacher, so she kills him. As an adult, Natsuki has found a man on a website to share a platonic marriage with so that society, which they call The Factory, will get off their backs. Eventually the two reunite with Yuu and things get progressively weirder.

Dude, this is a strange one. On the one hand there is some pretty significant trauma and violence but it is couched in this detached, off centered from reality narrative that skirts all emotional significance.

I have also read Convenience Store Woman by Murata and I highly recommend it. If you like odd books, Earthlings may be for you, if not, just read Convenience Store Woman.

If you liked Earthlings, I also recommend I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou, Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi, Planet of the Apes by Pierre Boulle, and Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl by Andrea Lawlor.

Happy reading -

Ms.Bjork