Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - Breasts and Eggs

Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami

48 reviews

nofacelif's review

emotional inspiring reflective 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

5.0

A fantastic read about womanhood, motherhood, bodily autonomy, fertility, and loneliness

I would recommend this book to every woman. Each woman can find something to relate to. The characters (especially the women) are brilliantly written that they feel real. Their experiences and the conversations between them are issues and discussions that real-life women go through. Thus, it made me reflect on my own experiences as a woman and got me thinking about motherhood and what that entails.

I also liked how the author showcases various perspectives of women from different social classes and generations while still sticking to the same narrator. I think reading only Natsu's version of events made the story feel more personal.

This novel will holp up years later, and I will definitely be rereading it.

Content Warnings

jayisreading's review

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emotional reflective medium-paced

4.0

Admittedly, this one took more time than I normally would have given a book to get invested. I’m glad I stuck with it, though, because this ended up being a really entertaining read that grappled with an array of interconnected issues. I wouldn’t say the book is funny in the “laugh out loud” sense, nor was it exactly quirky, but there were a number of occasions where you couldn’t help but feel the corner of your lips tug slightly upward at some of the protagonist’s thoughts or in her conversations with others.

Speaking of, the thoughts and conversations around sexuality came as a pleasant surprise for me. I was not expecting such a nuanced approach to asexuality and the struggles that often come with being a sex-repulsed asexual, but Kawakami did a wonderful job exploring the complexities of sexuality, especially when considering other matters such as gender and childbearing. I appreciated that Kawakami didn’t make a huge fuss about giving Natsuko (the protagonist) a label or concrete idea of why she’s so sex-repulsed and, instead, allowed thoughts to flow freely in a way that felt authentic to anyone trying to work out their sexuality.

My main gripe isn’t about the content but, rather, the structure. I felt the two parts of this book seemed a bit disconnected, plot-wise. I just couldn’t quite follow how the two parts closely connected beyond sharing similar themes. It probably didn’t help that I struggled a bit with the first part, since I didn’t find it as engaging as the second part.

Content Warnings