athena_larue 's review for:

Diary of a Void by Emi Yagi

3.75

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

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Okay, this is one of those books that's just *strange* and have you questioning what you're reading. I was totally liking the overall atmosphere at the start of the novel, it's basically a story about a woman who fakes being pregnant to get out of the obligation to clean up at the office and do menial tasks. Found it pretty entertaining at the start, and the narrative was absolutely hooking. But further along the plot when she

starts taking the "pregnancy" seriously, and treating the baby like it was a real thing

things got weird, and even creepy real fast.

I was wondering if it was going to be some sort of

Virgin Mary-esque birth story, given the times she was mentioned

but the story wasn't heading in that direction. I do appreciate the idea of

Shibata deluding herself during her entire "pregnancy" until the very end

but at the same thing the ending wasn't quite it for me.

Maybe there is a deeper meaning, but it's honestly lost on me, haha.

I'd still give this 3.75 stars because of the way the story was originally written and translated. Lovely, elegant prose that's constructed in a way that just wants you to read more.