Reviews with content warning for Toxic friendship - Convenience Store Woman

Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

51 reviews

_al's review against another edition

challenging funny reflective fast-paced

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

3.5

3.5/75 out of 5 stars and I genuinely enjoyed but also in the middle I kinda got confused if we meant to read Keiko as a character and the entire book in general as a satire or its just a nice message and that Keiko meant to break from the desire to "blend in". Obviously in the end it was the second but I think it got jumbled a bit (even though Keiko was hilarious)
Still, the book was very enjoyable and I liked Keiko as main character. The themes and message was also kinda echoing some my personal struggles and long existing thoughts, so that's also nice.

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laurenbaggy's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.75

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ferdie's review against another edition

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dark sad fast-paced

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

3.25

This book is easily read in one sitting. I wouldn't say I enjoyed the story, but it prompted a lot of thoughts on acceptability, normality, and finding your way when you don't fit. There is never a diagnosis, but the main character Keiko is autism coded. The book is descriptive of masking and how she tries to mimic others to appear normal. It felt exhausting reading it, not to mention doing it everyday. Convienance Store Woman left me feeling pity, struggle, earnestness, and cheery for her in the end.

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lizzield's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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serendipity421's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

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pm_me_book_recs's review against another edition

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challenging informative sad slow-paced

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

2.0

Eeehhhh, very mixed feelings on this one. An important critique, but as a neurodivergent it was extremely triggering to read? The lectures forced onto the obviously ASD main character Keiko by neurotypical society are so long and painful and FREQUENT. UGH. I mean, the constant masking to fit in and not be critiqued or othered is so real, the rude comments made at us are spot on, but it started to feel a lot like trauma porn. Don't even get me started with Shiraha, what the barf. I try to be empathetic -and maybe this was an origin story for incel ideology- it was very difficult to read something trying to humanize his mindset without reaaaally pushing back on it. I do also catch these prejudice, ableist, and misogynist undertones in A LOT of Japanese media I consume, so this novella did a great job of showing the cultural context from the reciever of abuses' view?

Idk, hmm... maybe stay away from this one if you've received bullying or abuse due to neurodivergence?

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