A review by tashanslone
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

4.0

Convenience Store Woman is a quick, easy read from the POV of Keiko Furukura. Keiko is a convenience store worker struggling with societal expectations and pressure of being “more adult” or “cured”. It is never said within the novel if the MC is neurodivergent, but I see a lot of me in the character. This is a hard review to write because I fell in love with her. Her spirit and passion is inspired and captivating. My heart ached for her at times, but I wanted to scream at her as well. Keiko is truly content and happy with her life until someone comes along to tell her she’s not doing it right. Shiraha made me irrationally angry. Yet, it reminded me of how close our society is to saying the same things. Stop putting people in boxes of normalcy. That box, it does not exist. It is a made-up box that society has created to measure a person’s worth in life. College, high paying job, marriage, family and retirement. Specifically in that order. I think that is why so much anxiety and depression exist today. Stop making people fit in boxes. Let them have their own box.