Reviews tagging 'Acephobia/Arophobia'

Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

62 reviews

_al's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Ableism

Moderate: Stalking, Body shaming, and Gaslighting

Minor: Animal death

flashandoutbreak's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring reflective tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Acephobia/Arophobia, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Stalking, and Emotional abuse

hsteel's review against another edition

medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Acephobia/Arophobia, and Ableism

spooderman's review against another edition

challenging funny reflective fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism

Moderate: Toxic relationship and Infertility

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Acephobia/Arophobia, Alcohol, Classism, Domestic abuse, Stalking, Animal cruelty, Pregnancy, Animal death, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Blood

thesunthesunthesunthesun's review against another edition

funny reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I love Furukura, she is so iconic, just let her be!!!! Just let her do her thing!! She deserves to just work at the convenience store 😭😭😭😭 (Dutch translation ftw, it just hits different than the english one)

The story is pretty fast paced, Furukura is an iconic main character and i love her. A truly painfully accurate account of society and the inner workings of some people's minds.

Amazing writing, Shiraha is the most annoying asshole ever and I hate him.

My partners read the book out loud to me and the only reason it took this long is because I needed to have a break three times per page because I had to yell about Shihara.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Ableism, and Sexism

Moderate: Acephobia/Arophobia and Classism

Minor: Animal death and Sexual harassment

serendipity421's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Acephobia/Arophobia, Body shaming, Bullying, Classism, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic friendship, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Stalking

Minor: Rape

ophycore's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted reflective fast-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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Acephobia/Arophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, Ableism, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Classism and Stalking

Minor: Rape, Violence, and Animal death

markwillnevercry's review against another edition

3.0

It was a kind of a good book? It is all about your purpose and your role in society. However, I did feel uncomfortable while reading a big part of it. I know that it is intentional and that Shiraha is supposed to make us feel uncomfortable, because he is so crazy, but it did not make this the best reading experience. The jury is still out on whether or not Keiko is just autistic and asexual, but the bigger point is that she found her place in the world, but that does not satisfy people around them. It would have been nice seeing this story entirely without Shiraha, it seems like there would have been other ways to evolve the situation into her being made less of a convenience store worker by people in the store and that leading her to a crisis of identity, but this is the way that the writer decided to go through with it and I did not enjoy it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Acephobia/Arophobia, Misogyny, Sexism, and Body shaming

Moderate: Stalking, Chronic illness, and Infertility

uparrowhead's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing 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? It's complicated

4.5

A wonderfully strange book that does for quite a fast but comfortable read, Convenience Store Woman shows the hopefullness in the hopeless. I really enjoyed the overarching message of the story that heavily focused on how people are influenced and perceived by society when it comes to normality and conformity.

This isn't the kind of book that I tend to find myself reading, but it was very enjoyable while also being simple. There were times where I found the protagonist, Keiko, being very relatable in the ways in which she strays from what is considered normal in humans.

The overall message of the story, despite the hardships that lead up to it, is just a classic tale of "Be yourself, even in a society that opposes you." The story wasn't exactly ground breakingly major, but I feel like it carried it's message really well and proved to be an entertaining read. Definitely recommend to people who might feel outcasted in this world, one way or another.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Acephobia/Arophobia, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Sexism, and Toxic relationship

dexlud's review against another edition

funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.25

Convenience Store Woman is a fantastic book by Sayaka Murata, and an excellent read and introduction to her work! I loved this book and the way she made Shiraha such a detestable character so well! I would definitely recommend to anyone wanting to get into translated fiction! The book has such a wholesome and hopeful vibe that really emphasises Keiko's loneliness throughout.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Acephobia/Arophobia, Confinement, and Cultural appropriation

Moderate: Pregnancy

Minor: Rape