Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami

7 reviews

nozycozy's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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

So human. So Beautiful. Kawakami’s riveting prose makes you feel like you’re a part of Natsumes life. Her thoughts and interactions with others were at times sad but these are the realities many women face. I learned so much and connected with many of the women in her life. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Infertility, Chronic illness, Death of parent, Trafficking, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Rape, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, and Sexual assault

thecatsmum's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Abandonment, and Infertility

officialdani's review against another edition

emotional reflective 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? Yes

4.25

Certain parts of the book felt like they dragged on too much, leaving me feeling bored and not wanting to continue reading. But the parts that were interesting really kept me engaged. The book explores so many aspects of womanhood, sexuality, motherhood, poverty, societal expectations, etc. it’s introspective and reflective making for a great, thought provoking read. I recommend powering through the rougher parts of the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Pregnancy, and Infertility

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Abandonment, Cancer, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Incest, Pedophilia, and Physical abuse

Minor: Infidelity, Vomit, Rape, and Bullying

marichascona's review against another edition

challenging reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

Maybe I'm forgetting things because it took me so long to get through, but this book has very little plot. Instead, it's long scenes of the narrator's self-reflection/stream of consciousness and what I perceived as the author inserting their own musings on various bodily/reproductive topics into her characters' mouths when they speak to (past) each other. To a certain extent, that's what writing is, I suppose, but all of the various character monologues seemed spoken with the same voice, rather than reflective of their individual personalities. 

That said, my copy is dog-earred to death. Again and again, Kawakami articulates existential feelings and questions frankly, clearly, and without shame. I mmm'd allowed with most page turns. A philosophical read.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault

Minor: Emotional abuse

coles14_'s review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Death, Death of parent, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Grief, Infertility, and Pregnancy

ye_li's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

Breasts and Eggs is an insanely surreal book. It explores what it means to be a woman, what can classify a person as a woman, and what it means to live. The characters are convoluted, just complete messes—what a disaster they are, but that's what I found rather charming. Even as they're aging, moving into their twenties and thirties and forties, they still have no idea what the fuck they're doing. Which is almost reassuring, in a way. It took a while for me to read because it has a quirky writing style, and the paragraphs were… long, to say the least. Some themes were rather sudden, too, and I wasn't used to reading about such things, so I had to take breaks here and there. However, I still quite liked it. A very thoughtful piece of work, I can see why it received the praise it did.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infertility

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Cancer, Suicidal thoughts, Child abuse, Death, and Drug use

sygritte's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Cancer

Minor: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Suicide attempt