Earthlings

It’s not what I expected. Very traumatising. Before “Earthlings” I’ve read “The Convenience Store Woman” and I was still shocked. Be prepared for disgusting scenes. I don’t recommend it to empathetic people.

One of my favourite books now. Heartbreaking and emotional, I feel like the author really captured how painful the act of survival can sometimes be.

Loved the narration as well, I felt like the voice was perfect for the story content! ♥️

I thank this book for ruining my psyche in the best way.

like literally first half ur like woah that took a turn! the last maybe hour or so its more like hey where did the FUCKING ROAD GO

also nancy wu killed it queen wherever you are you are an artist literally amazing fantastic wonderful i had fully fleshed out visuals of characters based on your acting alone. in addition to there being conversations with many people (some of whom were just introduced or are minor) and not once was i confused or wondering who was speaking. her acting was so good that when she would introduce a new character entirely id be like "thats a new person j havent heard that voice yet" like girl you need to be rich. k bye

A heartbreaking story of childhood trauma and stunted growth, Murata also casts a crititical eye on society's rigid expectations. Though it made me physically uncomfortable on more than one occasion, I did not find it gratuitously shocking. (though I do not mean that it is not shocking and I would abstain from reading if you are sensitive).
It is masterfully narrated. Nancy Wu breathes life into this electrifying and mind-boggling tale. She is one of the best narrators I have come accross.

The first half of the book was great and really explored trauma in an intressting way that made my chest feel tight at times. Second half was kinda stupid and felt like it was there just for shock value. The ending was pretty bad and felt useless.

This novel covers some serious subjects in a very disturbing but well structured way for the first half of the novel. the later half loses most of this charm by having the characters become so unusual and unrelatable that it is more of a shock value bait than anything. the idea of the world being a "baby factory" can be a legitimate concern for some people in what they believe society expects of them, but then the book has to make the people who challenge this status quo the most unrelatable and terrible people that you actually end up thinking to yourself "I'd rather stick with societal norms than subscribe to whatever these weirdos are doing to reject them."