The Woman Dies

by Aoko Matsuda

A Genre-Bending Collection of Essays, Thoughts, and Emotional Snapshots

ARC Review

Publisher: Europa Editions
Release Date: September 2025
Format: ARC Review

The Woman Dies by Aoko Matsuda is one of those rare collections that refuses to be boxed in. It’s not quite short stories, not quite essays, more like a series of moments, thoughts, fragments, provocations. Some are dark. Some made me laugh out loud. A few hit me in the gut. One or two slapped me in the face.

There’s no single narrative thread here. But what ties everything together is Matsuda’s voice: sharp, precise, and unapologetically feminist. She can move from absurdity to rage to tenderness in a paragraph, and somehow it works.

What struck me most was how physical the reading experience felt. You don’t just think about these pieces. You feel them. There’s anger here, but it’s not loud. Grief, but not dressed up. Clarity, but never comfort. It’s like she filtered life down to its most potent details and handed them to you raw.

This is not a book for everyone. Some readers will love it. Some won’t. Some will get it. Some won’t. That’s part of what makes it exciting.

Would I Recommend It?

Yes, especially to readers who don’t need genre to behave, and who are open to being a little unsettled.

If you like fiction that blurs with nonfiction, that plays with form, or that holds emotional truth without tying it up neatly, this one delivers.

Thank you to Europa Editions and NetGalley for the ARC and the opportunity to read this early.

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