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kunny's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
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
I adore this book with my whole heart.
It felt like sipping freshly brewed green tea while feeling the sun warming your skin on a light summer morning.
Even though it was not explicitly stated, Natsu is very much asexual coded. It was the first time I had ever read such a good presentation of the way I felt about sex, womanhood and the expectations of life around you.
It gave me hope to grow with my asexuality, instead of standing awkwardly next to it, being scared all the while I didn't know how I could manage it and expect someone to love me.
Don't get me wrong though, this book is not about romantic love. It instead represents female friendships and even grief in a very respectful and connecting way.
It explores motherhood and sperm donation in a deep manner, showing us the struggling,as well as the success moments, which I very much appreciated.
It is, overall, a 5.00 for me, just because I can't rate it higher.
It felt like sipping freshly brewed green tea while feeling the sun warming your skin on a light summer morning.
Even though it was not explicitly stated, Natsu is very much asexual coded. It was the first time I had ever read such a good presentation of the way I felt about sex, womanhood and the expectations of life around you.
It gave me hope to grow with my asexuality, instead of standing awkwardly next to it, being scared all the while I didn't know how I could manage it and expect someone to love me.
Don't get me wrong though, this book is not about romantic love. It instead represents female friendships and even grief in a very respectful and connecting way.
It explores motherhood and sperm donation in a deep manner, showing us the struggling,as well as the success moments, which I very much appreciated.
It is, overall, a 5.00 for me, just because I can't rate it higher.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pregnancy and Death of parent
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Dysphoria, Misogyny, Cancer, Child abuse, and Rape
edgaranjapoe's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Alcohol, and Infertility
Moderate: Cancer, Dysphoria, Pregnancy, Grief, Terminal illness, Addiction, and Alcoholism
Minor: Physical abuse, Child abuse, Abandonment, Blood, Eating disorder, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Rape, Violence, Medical content, Acephobia/Arophobia, Incest, Body shaming, Bullying, Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Infidelity, Suicide attempt, and Death
provo's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
It took me over a year to read this book. It is incredibly slow but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. We follow an asexual cis woman who tries to figure out if and how to have a child. There is a lot of backdrop of japanese society’s expectations of women and motherhood, it also deals with poverty and growing up without a father.
I found a lot of the thoughts very interesting, though as an European non-binary person with no wish for children i could only relate so far.
What I really liked was how many different (heterosexual cis) women with very diverse views on womanhood and motherhood were represented.
I found a lot of the thoughts very interesting, though as an European non-binary person with no wish for children i could only relate so far.
What I really liked was how many different (heterosexual cis) women with very diverse views on womanhood and motherhood were represented.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Acephobia/Arophobia, Abandonment, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Dysphoria, Death of parent, Classism, and Grief
Minor: Pedophilia
bookshelfofbee's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
⚠️content warnings: talk of cancer, body dysphoria, child sexual abuse, death of a parent, infertility, misgendering, transphobia, suicidal ideation. a lot of these are very minor but still present so pls make sure you’re comfortable with reading on these topics before reading!
first off, I FRIGGIN LOVED THIS BOOK. so so important and so relevant and so relatable!!!! I have soooo many tabs in this book of bits I loved and thought were so important (there’s a section where they discuss the irrelevance of men in a women’s household and my god am i LIVING for it lmao). it brings up so many important topics that we face in society and it really puts things into perspective on the variability of childbirth, motherhood and single parenting. i really have so much love for this book, it’s unreal.
i had *one* problem with it which brings it down a star and that was a weird passage in the first half of the book. we see Natsume and her sister Makiko in a bath house and there seems to be a male and female sat near them and Natsume goes on a tangent on how men cannot be in the women’s bathing section. BUT it turns out that the ‘male’ in question is in fact a trans woman and Natsume can’t seem to wrap her head around that and it seems quite transphobic to me. I’m not sure if this was miscommunication thing because obviously this book has been translated from Japanese to English but either way, I think it’s important to be aware of this misgendering section in the book.
Overall I really really enjoyed this book and really recommend it to anyone who asks for a book rec!! i have no clue what genre to put this in as it’s not really a romance and i don’t even know if i’d say it was a coming-of-age book, maybe feminist lit?? either way, you should read this asap <3
first off, I FRIGGIN LOVED THIS BOOK. so so important and so relevant and so relatable!!!! I have soooo many tabs in this book of bits I loved and thought were so important (there’s a section where they discuss the irrelevance of men in a women’s household and my god am i LIVING for it lmao). it brings up so many important topics that we face in society and it really puts things into perspective on the variability of childbirth, motherhood and single parenting. i really have so much love for this book, it’s unreal.
i had *one* problem with it which brings it down a star and that was a weird passage in the first half of the book. we see Natsume and her sister Makiko in a bath house and there seems to be a male and female sat near them and Natsume goes on a tangent on how men cannot be in the women’s bathing section. BUT it turns out that the ‘male’ in question is in fact a trans woman and Natsume can’t seem to wrap her head around that and it seems quite transphobic to me. I’m not sure if this was miscommunication thing because obviously this book has been translated from Japanese to English but either way, I think it’s important to be aware of this misgendering section in the book.
Overall I really really enjoyed this book and really recommend it to anyone who asks for a book rec!! i have no clue what genre to put this in as it’s not really a romance and i don’t even know if i’d say it was a coming-of-age book, maybe feminist lit?? either way, you should read this asap <3
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Transphobia, Infertility, and Dysphoria
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Cancer, Child abuse, and Death of parent
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