Reviews with content warning for Bullying - Unelma helposta työstä

This book is slow, character driven, and weird with elements of the surreal hinted at but not explicitly addressed. All of the jobs are so different and the cast of supporting characters was mostly heartwarming. I found this comfortingly humorous without being laugh out loud funny, which is my favourite type of humour.

I enjoyed it throughout but what really took it up to a five star rating for me was the reveal at the end of what career had caused the main characters burnout. The description of this book had appealed to me in the first place as I am currently off work experiencing burnout myself, so to find out that we come from the same career really struck me and added a whole new level of depth and understanding to her character and story than I did before. I related so heavily to her worry about responsibility and becoming over involved with her jobs.

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savvylit's review against another edition

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lighthearted mysterious reflective medium-paced

Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Conceptually, I loved this book. I loved the very real representation of burnout. I loved the elements of magical realism incorporated into most of the jobs. However, this book suffered from several issues that made this just an okay read for me. First and foremost, I think this book was a bit too long. The first job in particular felt disconnected from the rest. Unlike the other jobs, there was no magical realism and also no callbacks later in the novel.

My primary problem with this novel, though, (and this is mostly personal) is that the story seemed to be taking a strong anti-work stance and then dropped it. As many people know, career burnout is very real and can completely uproot a person's life. I appreciated that being the focus of this novel. Workaholism damages everyone. However, (spoiler alert) the resolution seemed to be that she just needed a little break and encouragement. Then she can go ahead and return to her career! I don't know why but it seemed as though the narrator was going to make a complete, permanent lifestyle change and instead she just... did not. Disappointing.

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kers_tin's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful lighthearted relaxing slow-paced

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

5.0

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mimmuli's review

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hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

Tykkäsin päähahmosta. Kirja käsitteli uupumuksen teemaa hyvin.

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kirstym25's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted slow-paced

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

4.5

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the_reading_wren's review against another edition

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hopeful mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

3.75

I read this for the Books Unbound bookclub, which is the first book club I’ve taken part in. I’m glad this title was chosen because it’s not a book I would have picked up on my own, but I was surprised and really enjoyed it.

The story follows the main character’s exploration of the world of work after burning out from her career. Tsumura brings every character we meet to life with sensitivity and warmth. I wasn’t expecting each job the protagonist tries to include a mystery, and this made the book for me.

Overall, There’s No Such Thing As An Easy Job is an enjoyable and gently thought-provoking book, and I recommend it to anyone looking for a slower paced, calm read with an intriguing mystery element.

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niaaaaa's review against another edition

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dark funny hopeful reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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babblingbooks's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Such an entertaining look at job seeking and work satisfaction. A few reviews call it absurd or surreal, but honestly I think it was just unflinching. Jobs like the ones the protagonist tries out, particularly ones with small organisations and where you have to deal with the public are really strange (though perhaps the surveillance job was leaning into the absurd). I loved it.

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