Natsuki Sasamoto is different from other girls. She's a witch, and—like her cousin, Yuu—potentially an alien from another planet. As a child, Natsuki escapes to the mountains of her grandparents' place in the Nagano mountains with Yuu to escape from her physically abusive mother and her sexually abusive cram school teacher. But something happens, and the two cousins are separated. Yuu parts with the simple promise: Survive, no matter what. In the present day, Natsuki is in an asexual marriage, waiting for the moment where she can go back to Nagano and reunite with Yuu.
So goes the plot of Earthlings by Sayaka Murata, translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori and released in 2020. I went into Earthlings having really enjoyed Convenience Store Woman, Murata's previous novel, making that my first five-star read of the year. Technically, You by Caroline Kepnes would have been five stars had I not read Convenience Store Woman the same month and adored it so completely. So I went into Earthlings vaguely wary, because I'm not really a magical realism fan, but also excited, because Convenience Store Woman was such a great read. Well, guess what? I adored Earthlings just as much as Convenience Store Woman, and in the course of a short few months, I think Sayaka Murata might be in the running to be one of my favourite authors.
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