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ellslibraries's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Sexual content, Medical content, and Abortion
purplemuskogee's review against another edition
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
I had been told it would be very graphic, and it is in its minute descriptions of disability and in the erotica that the narrator writes and publishes online.
The female narrator is a 40-something woman, who is disabled due to a degenerative condition, uses a ventilator and a suction catheter to drain mucus from her windpipe, can speak but rarely does so after a tracheostomy when she was 14, and relies on text to communicate with her carers. She is fabulously wealthy ("a woman whose money has distanced her from friction") and owns the care home in which she lives. She earns addtional income she donates to good causes through writing, mostly erotic stories.
It's very short but very detailed which I rarely see in books, especially with a disabled heroine. She thinks about her body a lot, because she has to, and resents not being able to comfortably read, not having a sexual life, and not being able to experience what other women experience. She dreams of "getting pregnant and having an abortion, like a normal woman". She resents the ableism of Japan; incredibly she mentions France and the US as being more progressive in that regard.
It's a good book, although it is so short that the plot takes very little space. A lot of space is given to the experience of being disabled - I understand this is based on the author's own lived experience - as we follow her through meals, getting up, trying to be comfortable, receiving care. I found it really easy to get interested in, uncomfortable but engrossing.
Free ARC sent by Netgalley.
The female narrator is a 40-something woman, who is disabled due to a degenerative condition, uses a ventilator and a suction catheter to drain mucus from her windpipe, can speak but rarely does so after a tracheostomy when she was 14, and relies on text to communicate with her carers. She is fabulously wealthy ("a woman whose money has distanced her from friction") and owns the care home in which she lives. She earns addtional income she donates to good causes through writing, mostly erotic stories.
It's very short but very detailed which I rarely see in books, especially with a disabled heroine. She thinks about her body a lot, because she has to, and resents not being able to comfortably read, not having a sexual life, and not being able to experience what other women experience. She dreams of "getting pregnant and having an abortion, like a normal woman". She resents the ableism of Japan; incredibly she mentions France and the US as being more progressive in that regard.
It's a good book, although it is so short that the plot takes very little space. A lot of space is given to the experience of being disabled - I understand this is based on the author's own lived experience - as we follow her through meals, getting up, trying to be comfortable, receiving care. I found it really easy to get interested in, uncomfortable but engrossing.
Free ARC sent by Netgalley.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Chronic illness, Confinement, Sexual content, and Medical content