Vanishing World is a fascinating, uncomfortable, and at times quite disturbing look into what we consider normal, intimacy & sex, family & love, and adaptation into societal expectations we may not understand.

Amane lives in a world where sex is simply unnecessary. Marriage is a partnership (it would be considered incestous to be romantically interested in your spouse) and children are brought into the world through artificial insemination. People do have lovers (some from fictional tv shows and some in real life), but sex is just an oddity from the past.

Amane’s mother pushes back against this society, and Amane pushes back against her mother, though she fears sexual desire will follow her like a curse. And when Amane and her husband Saku decide to try to live in Experiment City, where partnerships are completely devolved, Amane has no idea if her strangeness is intrinsic or if she can accept this new normal. 

It’s not a subtle read. The writing is simple and straightforward, and so is the commentary. I was pondering so much about what we consider strange and what we consider healthy, and how alienating it is to be a woman pushing back against expectations in any way. There are intriguing (but not necessarily new) takes on the treatment of men vs. women (especially in a world where male pregnancy is possible), romance, parenthood, and intimacy.

The first two thirds felt a bit disjointed from the swing into chaos of the final act, and I was ready to spiral a lot sooner. I understood the intention and rhythm of the opening, but it just became a little too repetitive. 

The ending escalates very suddenly, and if you are sensitive to any of the content warnings I listed below, be wary. 

While I’m not sure this story pushed the envelope in any new ways, the premise was wholly original. I was engaged and curious the whole way through and enjoyed chewing on these endlessly complicated questions.

 

CW: pregnancy, pedophilia, rape, medical content, body horror, child abuse, suicide attempt, kidnapping, child loss, vomit, infertility, descriptive sexual content

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(I received an advance reader copy of this book; this is my honest review.)