Reviews with content warning for Body shaming - Breasts and Eggs

Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami

28 reviews

thewordsdevourer's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

to say that breasts and eggs hits me hard is an understatement. i relate to this book on an unprecendentedly visceral level; never have i felt so seen, my anger, frustrations, and fears as a woman captured so succinctly, like they've been scooped from my deepest inner being then so accurately verbalized. it's wild but it's like this book was written just for me, not merely bc of its main character and themes but also bc of all the lil coincidental things (denmark, osaka ferris wheel, etc.). reading this--esp abt natsuko, tho sans her want of child--was perhaps the very first time a book ever made me go, "oh wow, i'm not the only who thinks that??" and countless times, at that.

this was a slow, melancholic read filled w/ an array of different, multidimensional female characters--honestly so refreshing to see the opposite of the more common occurrence for once--that deals w/ being a woman in a man's world, bodily autonomy, the blurring of memory and reality, and the critical--albeit rarely explored--issue of donor conception that entails its own set of complexities. i could go on more abt the story or structure or the characters or the pacing or the could-be-better translation, but rly, rn im just astonished by how friggin validated this book makes me feel, and how thankful i am for that. mieko kawakami just became one of my fav authors, no questions asked

Content Warnings

reesuz's review

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Content Warnings

odrib's review

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challenging 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

2.5

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jonabel's review

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emotional reflective sad 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

The Japanese have this wonderful way of telling slices of life or mundane moments in life into something deeper than its face value. This books is an example of that. The first part of the book which was actually published first into a novella happened in just a span of a summer weekend, yet it was able to tackle deeply rooted gender-related problems such as lack of proper sex education, body shame, childhood trauma, and the struggles of working-class women. Personally, I like the first part more. Maybe it's the way it's written where the journal entries of Midoriko were also written, giving us a glimpse of how a teenage girl in that class and family processes thoughts about puberty and poverty.

The second book tackles more about motherhood or the avoidance of it, and how the protagonist, Natsuko Natsume tiptoes around it. Issues about artificial insemination and parenthood were also discussed. I also liked that there is a representation of someone who cannot physically tolerate sex. I did not like the ending tho. It seems pretty convenient for everyone.

But in summary, this book is a must-read. It explores the female body, the struggles of being a woman, the struggles of being a poor woman. It might seem very personal, speaking as a woman, but it is actually a very political literature.

Content Warnings