Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami

78 reviews

flaviadeer's review

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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caroisreading's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Mieko Kawakami is becoming one of my favorite, most relatable authors. I read "All The Lovers In The Night" before this, and fell in love with her storytelling and main character. "Breast and Eggs" follows a similar formula of a lost and lonely woman, trying to find meaning. 

This is divided in two parts. Book One was my favorite by far, and as a standalone work, pretty much perfect, a 5.0. I cried at the beauty of her descriptions of the older sister's simple and sweet devotion to her little sister, as well as the strained relationship with her teen daughter. 

Book Two is primarily focused on the younger sister, and I had trouble getting through its density -- beautiful writing, though overwhelmingly verbose. The prose doesn't have the back and forth dynamic that Book One does, switching from the teen's journal entries to the narrator's POV. Maybe that switch made Book Two feel more plain. Still very meaningful.

As a whole, this book delivers on what it means to be a woman in this world, the pressures and injustices, sexuality, the obsession with fertility, youth and appearances. The female characters sort through these themes in a heartbreaking, yet brave and honest way. I loved them, related wholeheartedly with them, and rooted for them.

You'll like this if you're interested in female perspectives, solitary main characters, thoughtful and intelligent writing. 

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lillypowell's review against another edition

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reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

3.75


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kurumipanda's review

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emotional hopeful reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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adelal's review against another edition

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reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0


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alexandrabelze's review against another edition

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challenging informative reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

this was definitely a unique read. the novel is split into two parts, and i wasn’t hooked until the second part. it was not at all what i expected, but i wouldn’t say that i was disappointed. i liked this one better than heaven! my favorite characters were natsuko and rika; once rika was introduced i began to enjoy the novel more. 

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lenin_lover_69's review

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challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5


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mauatuafr's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25


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cow_png's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

holy fuckinf shit i love this book. i honestly think everyone should read this book, this is incredible. i have nothing bad to say, this was an amazing experience and i am like in shock with how much i am in love with this book. i had no clue what i was getting into with this book and my god, it has exceeded every exception .

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u_0's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Beautiful, intense, and profoundly human. I'm at a loss for words. It was real.

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