lunabean's reviews
201 reviews

Bellies by Nicola Dinan

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

A Little Luck by Claudia Piñeiro

emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

4.0

The Nursery by Szilvia Molnar

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

3.5

A VERY SLOW book… I was 80% in thinking that a whole 3 months has passed in the book, before the narrator mentions “a week”. The idea is educational and informative, giving readers a first-hand look into the ruminative mind of a new mother with post-partum depression.

I appreciated the endless, cyclical, spiraling rumination of the narrator that shows how isolating and agonising post-partum depression (or just motherhood) can be. The writer did not shy away from truths, thoughts that mothers can have, even if they were pretty heavy & appalling thoughts (intrusive thoughts about hurting one’s baby, contemplating the potential of your spouse sexually abusing your child). I also liked that the writer veered into the hallucinatory, allowing the reader to witness how isolated a new mother can feel. Which parts were figments of the narrator’s imagination and which parts weren’t? 

The depiction of a loving yet clueless husband was also great- I thought it showed accurately how even the men who love us will never understand the entire experience of birth, of creation from one’s body, of motherhood and its physical demands, its brutality.

I’m not too sure of the rest of the execution though.. the timeline between chapters is confusing, it alternates between pre and post-birth; although time (or the lack of time, the lack of keeping track of time) is a huge theme in this as the narrator is so overwhelmed with fatigue that she isn’t of sound mind. I just don’t see this lack of clarity in chapter timeline serving this theme in any way.  

Then there’s the thing with the upstairs neighbour, I don’t really get that part/character and its purpose…

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Sexual violence, and Child abuse

Babel by R.F. Kuang
Did not finish book. Stopped at 19%.

Too long, felt like I was reading a college dissertation

My Husband by Maud Ventura

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

4.0

I love reading first person with an unreliable, obsessive narrator who fixates on one thing and spirals

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop by Satoshi Yagisawa

lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

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

4.0

A relaxing short read you can finish in one sitting. Ahhh the joys of reading! 

I Could Live Here Forever by Hanna Halperin

dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Drug abuse, and Death

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

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

3.5

The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa

mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

A great read addressing the horrifying use of separating families and children as a form of political control. Even though fictional, this is reflective of many real life past and present occurrences (removal of Indigenous children to US boarding schools, separation of migrant families at the US border). No one can deny Celeste Ng is an incredible writer. This is her 3rd book I’ve read and all of them flow so easily it’s like reading a movie. I give 4 stars only because the subject matter is so sad and depressing and I also wish she used inverted commas for her characters’ speech.