Reviews with content warning for Pregnancy - Diary of a Void

I did enjoy the story at the beginning, however it did begin to drag a bit and I found myself reading pages and pages of the character entries that didn’t really contribute to the supposed point of the fake pregnancy. I’m not sure. I did like that Higashinokano seemed like Shibata’s child at points.

I would have liked for there to have been slightly more plot, or consequence, as much as I appreciate simplicity. This was a slow read in my opinion, so if you don’t like that or prefer thrilling stories, perhaps this one isn’t for you.

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ninaevan's review

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mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I was drawn in by the intriguing premise and was impressed by the way the mystery developed and unfolded. That said, I didn't feel much endearment for the main character and it left me feeling a bit bleak about the prospect of pregnancy and new parenthood, which isn't exactly how I would like to be made to feel. Overall, I think it was a well captured story with a very creative narrative, so I would certainly recommend it to anyone with interest, but it lacked that spark of personal attachment for me.

Mild spoilers ahead~

What I didn't like:
I have a hard time buying into stories in which the main character's ability to keep up a rouse is predicated on the fact the she has no genuinely close relationships with her friends or family. Maybe it is that this un-relatable for me, but more often it just feels unrealistic. There are ways to make this premise make sense. For example, in Death in Her Hands by Otessa Moshfegh the main character has no close friends or family to bring her secret to because she is an retired recent widow with no children. In Diary of a Void, the main character is a relatively young woman in a social working environment with a close group of friends and no evident estrangement from her many living relatives. Therefore, it felt eerie (in a most-likely intentional way) that her claim to pregnancy was never really challenged. This didn't ruin the book for me, but I did feel like I was waiting for this to happen and it was unsatisfying that it never came. That said, if you liked this book, I think you would like Death in Her Hands, and vise-versa.

Another reason I feel ambiguous about this book is that I didn't feel much growth from the main character. She never received consequences for her choices and I'm not sure that she really learned anything from her experience. She learned a lot about the experience of pregnancy, but I don't think she learned a moral lesson. Maybe she didn't need to; maybe it could be argued that she wasn't morally at fault since no one was really hurt ultimately, but I personally think there was something wrong about what she did so it was a bit unsatisfying that she didn't have to confront her choices.

What I did like:
There was a very interesting discussion on the experience of pregnancy in the workplace in Japan and how it reveals certain misogynistic behaviors. I was particularly shocked by a moment in which the main character questioned if she would get maternity compensation even if she wasn’t married, implying that the sigma around unmarried mothers is of greater concern than the risk of being fired for the burden of requiring maternity pay. Additionally, it seemed that the author very subtly yet distinctly highlighted differences in the way that men react to a pregnant woman than women do. I appreciated Higashishinagawa’s development from seeming invasive at first to actually being a quite empathetic observer, in contrast to the other men in her workplace.

Also, I am American but I read this while studying in Tokyo, so I think my experience was enhanced by the little details and references to quirks about life in Tokyo. Whether it was the mention of a subway line or an off-hand comment about the trash sorting system, I was exciting to feel "in on the joke" so I'm glad I read this when I did. Further, I have had the opportunity to learn a lot about society in Japan, and Tokyo specifically, that helped me to understand better the discourse in this book.

I didn’t mind the ambiguity of the narrator’s reliability- in fact, I found it to be one of the more captivating aspects of the book. Had it lacked that element, I may have lost interest or investment in the story because on the surface, not a lot happens. If you like that kind of book, this one is definitely for you!

For a further discussion of my thoughts, check out the next episode of my podcast: Books without Borders. https://anchor.fm/books-wo-borders

My scoring:
5.00 | = everyone in the world must read this book
4.75 | = between 4.5 and 5
4.50 | = dessert island book
4.25 | = between 4 and 4.5
4.00 | = great, solid, recommendable book
3.75 | = almost a 4, but not quite
3.50 | = not a 4, but I had a good time
3.25 | = rough patches, but not bad
3.00 | = meh, read-able but nothing to write home about
2.75 | = between a 2.5 and 3
2.50 | = there’s something I liked here but it wasn’t enough to be good
2.25 | = between a 2 and 2.5
2.00 | = not good and there was nothing I liked
1.00 | = bad

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