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A review by bookshelfofbee
Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami
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: Infertility, Sexual content, Transphobia, and Dysphoria
Minor: Cancer, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent