Earthlings

Major TW for physical, mental, emotional, and sexual abuse; rape; underage sexual situations; attempted suicide and suicidal ideation; cannibalism and gore, and what would technically be considered incest, and disassociation due to trauma, and PTSD. Oh, and murder. Did I forget anything?

This is reeeaaaalllly not for the taking of heart.

It's basically the tale of Natsuo and how she has no place in society. As a child, she believes she has magical powers granted by her best friend, an alien hedgehog toy. She tries to please and is actually a good kid, but her family sucks and treats her horribly. Weird, damaging things happen to her, and then she grows up, and sh*t gets real. She marries a man who also can't fit in and has a mutually beneficial non-sexual arrangement. That return to her grandparents homestead, where she hasn't been since childhood. She reconnect with the cousin she wanted to marry as a child.

There are so many alarming and painful parts if this book that my wife heard me muttering and exclaiming multiple times. Natsuki tries to fit in, but also refuses to. She wants to want to be “brainwashed by the factory” and to manufacture babies like a good little Factory component. Her husband begins to believes her tales if being from another planet. Things come to a head when their families find out they aren't having sex, aren't contributing to society.

The outcomes are extreme, yes, but I really appreciated Murata-sensei's risks and extremely dark thematic elements. And how it feels not to want the things Prime are supposed to want, as dictated by society. Especially as a woman.