Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - Convenience Store Woman

Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

241 reviews

gemmu's review against another edition

4.5

inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I love quirky and morally gray characters, so this book was really up my alley. I even found the main character quite relatable at times.

At some points the story felt almost thriller-like - but not for the reasons you might think. Keiko Furukura's uncommon thoughts - although, a bit creepy - were not the reason for my uneasiness at times. Instead, all the other characters created the pressure of uncertainty. You couldn't be quite sure when they would push Keiko, or anyone else outside the social norms, too far. Personally I just don't like noisy people, which probably caused me the most discomfort while reading.

Over all, one of the best books I have read for a while <3

Content Warnings

hjb_128's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Content Warnings

charlie_woodchipper's review against another edition

4.0

lighthearted sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Impressive how this was successfully made into something somewhat lighthearted. It was a bit unsettling at times, and could easily have been turned into a horror book. But it wasn't, and that made the experience special, different. I don't think I've read something quite like that before. It tackled extreme obsession without being violent or gory or creepy. It made convenient stores appear cozy and homy somehow, because of the protagonist point of view

Content Warnings

_al's review against another edition

3.5

challenging funny reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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.

Content Warnings

e28rika's review against another edition

3.5

funny reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

laurenbaggy's review against another edition

3.75

emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

meshuganush's review against another edition

3.0

challenging emotional reflective sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

biobeetle's review against another edition

3.75

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

junglejelly's review against another edition

5.0

funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I devoured this book. The writing is just so good and brings the emotions, thoughts and personality of all characters to life so well. This is incredible especially considering it's a short book (~160 pages).

The exploration of what is "normal" in society and how it is self-policied is explored brilliantly. The comparison of social behaviours between Keiko and their friends/family

(i.e. the same but seen differently)

is done so well, too.

As someone who is neurodiverse, this exploration of societal norms and expectations was so relatable. I also connected with Keiko who I have similar behaviours and thought patterns with. So intentional or not, it was nice to read a positive representation of neurodiversity.

I would highly recommend this perfect book to anyone.

Content Warnings

clovetra's review against another edition

3.0

challenging lighthearted reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

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