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pm_me_book_recs's review
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?
Idk, hmm... maybe stay away from this one if you've received bullying or abuse due to neurodivergence?
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Toxic friendship
sillyduckie's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Sexual harassment
lucyrudd's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Gaslighting
spineofthesaurus's review
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Ableism, Gaslighting, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Classism, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Body shaming, Child death, Domestic abuse, Stalking, Murder, Acephobia/Arophobia, Sexual violence, Fatphobia, and Pregnancy
Minor: Medical trauma, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, and Fire/Fire injury
teslis's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
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
2.5
This book was interesting. It’s about a woman working in a convenience store for all her life and never beginning a romantic relationship. I liked the book in the begging allot! The main character were interesting and new from other books I had read before, but it change. When her “guy friend” comes in her life and take over is when it lost me. She lost all of herself which is what’s makes her grow and understand herself in the end, but I really disliked that part. It’s a book that’s good to read it has some great lessons and you’ll reflect on your own life and what you what to do with it. It was just some parts that put if off for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying and Sexism
Moderate: Emotional abuse
francescasoph's review
challenging
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
0.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Toxic relationship, Stalking, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Ableism, Rape, and Sexual harassment
kiraa's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism and Emotional abuse
myk_yeah's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
This book was not what I was expecting at all. From reviews I had heard on youtube I thought it was going to be about a woman who was truly happy with her job, even though she has to live under capitalism.
It was darker and heavier than I feel people represent it. It's about the pressures of society and how they are sexist, ableist, and anti-worker. It's about how people push those pressures onto their loved ones. And how we survive, but no one in this book is really thriving.
It was darker and heavier than I feel people represent it. It's about the pressures of society and how they are sexist, ableist, and anti-worker. It's about how people push those pressures onto their loved ones. And how we survive, but no one in this book is really thriving.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism
Moderate: Emotional abuse
Minor: Stalking and Violence
melodyb's review against another edition
emotional
informative
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? It's complicated
5.0
Engaging, emotional, and a little bit heart-breaking. Must-read, and I found myself rooting for, worrying about, and being so glad for Keiko as the book went on. I disagree with reviews stating it is quirky or funny because - spoilers ahead - Keiko’s attempts to navigate normal life - masking to not be excluded but still being rejected, finding steady employment that meets her needs but it’s not good enough for others, being betrayed by societal standards for women and being upset that she has been demoted to “human woman” and not what she really finds purpose in (her job) - it made me so sad for her. I kept waiting for something “funny” or “quirky” to happen, but I just saw a neurodivergent lady being taken by a ride by the people around her. They cared for her in the store but couldn’t related to her - and she just couldn’t understand why they were so obsessed with this guy (when they were trying to make sure he’d be a provider for her). She was being shoved into a box she didn’t want to be in just because of expectations which, frankly, were incompatible with the life she wanted to live. Her grand stand at the end, against a total asshole who was taking advantage of a vulnerable person who could not understand the danger she’d put herself in initially made me so happy for her. Good for her. .
Seriously recommend this book - it’s a great read and a compelling story, and you’ll feel deeply involved with Keiko’s life and sense of purpose at the convenience store.
Seriously recommend this book - it’s a great read and a compelling story, and you’ll feel deeply involved with Keiko’s life and sense of purpose at the convenience store.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Misogyny
erebus53's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-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? It's complicated
4.0
I was recommended this book by Abigail Melton Munday on the Autistics Worldwide Facebook Group. This is not a person I know, but as the group is public I feel OK naming them.
Seemed like a good idea to read a few titles in aid of Autism month.
The first thing that struck me about this book was how the sales pitch on the cover was completely wrong. As an Autistic reader, perhaps I have a different take on it, but I don't think it's witty or hilarious. I'd go with interesting and perhaps thought provoking. It's definitely much more funny (oh.), rather than funny (ha ha!).
My Japanese is quite sketchy, but as someone who ran the anime club for about a decade I was fairly culturally literate. This is a story set in Japan, and some of its "oddness" is Japanese, and some is neurological. It wasn't until the end of the book that I heard the original title was コンビニ人間 (Kombini Ningen - or convenience-store person). Looking up the Kanji for the protagonist's name, I was amused to find that it could indeed be considered a pun as, I have been told, is common in Japanese literature. Alternate readings of the name "Furukura" do have different meanings and though it could be commonly read as Old "River", it could also be read as "Hideaway", "hiding place" or "storehouse". This is an apt name for a girl who learns early in life that if she acts intuitively, her ways of doing things will get her into in big trouble. She instead becomes someone who masks herself behind walls of affectations and habits learned by copying the "normal" people around her.
This characterisation was interesting to me in a couple of ways. The first is that this girl is depicted as feeling justified for violence. In my experience, denying regret for childhood violence used when you are in the middle of a panic or urgent situation, is less about being remorseless and more about protecting yourself from being criticised. Engaging with negative self-critique can be really difficult when you don't even understand your own motivations. She clearly has some failure to understand the emotions of others, but her disdain for others at times borders on not just Autistic, but callous. Some writeups online suggest that the character might be sociopathic, but her rigid attention to rules and guidelines and her disinterest in lying or manipulation has me convinced that she's Autistic. I do find it a little problematic that this Autistic child is depicted as creepy and dangerous.. but at the same time, it's realistic to demonstrate the fact that when people don't understand you they may want to keep away from you.
The thematics of this book seem quite tongue in cheek. It's a commentary of the cultural ideas that we take for granted. You are an inhuman weirdo if you dedicate yourself to something you are an expert at, passionate about, but that also confers low social status. You are expected to selflessly find a man to dedicate yourself to the service of, maintaining your looks, cooking and cleaning, and bringing comfort with a calm and positive demeanour for the benefit of your household.
But, that's basically the same thing.. only with one of them you are required to also be a bedslave, and if, like this character, you are asexual, then you also come up against the influences of those who tell you that you are not good enough, and that you need to have a baby to be a valid contributing woman within a society.
Keiko feels pressured into finding a human male to affect a relationship with so as to keep the people around her happy with her. As she becomes more and more aware of the masks she feels she has to wear just to have human contact, she realises how false her friendships with others are, and how unwilling they are to accept her. The talk of Curing her difference hit me like an emotional fist. It's been so many years since I faced a person in my sphere who thought I was unworthy because I was strange, and it brought some of that memory back.
Some of the most moving parts in this story for me were Keiko's sense impressions of the Kombini. I know exactly what it is like to sense your environment through its sounds, and the clues and patterns that hint what your next interaction will be. I feel with my house. I am in tune with its rhythms and sounds in much the same way. I know when pets need feeding, and when the traffic will be loud, or quiet. The act of getting off public transport a block before your stop I immediately understood as a chance to figure out what the mood of the day was; is it likely to rain?, is a special event on?, are there roadworks?, will people feel energetic, or low?.. all these would affect the systems in the shop, and the hypervigilance that she channels into managing those systems felt SO familiar to me. Recognising patterns like how a person's body language or sounds can tell you what method of payment they might use, cash or card. Yep, this is how I interact with my world.
I think this book packs quite a bit in for a short read.
Seemed like a good idea to read a few titles in aid of Autism month.
The first thing that struck me about this book was how the sales pitch on the cover was completely wrong. As an Autistic reader, perhaps I have a different take on it, but I don't think it's witty or hilarious. I'd go with interesting and perhaps thought provoking. It's definitely much more funny (oh.), rather than funny (ha ha!).
My Japanese is quite sketchy, but as someone who ran the anime club for about a decade I was fairly culturally literate. This is a story set in Japan, and some of its "oddness" is Japanese, and some is neurological. It wasn't until the end of the book that I heard the original title was コンビニ人間 (Kombini Ningen - or convenience-store person). Looking up the Kanji for the protagonist's name, I was amused to find that it could indeed be considered a pun as, I have been told, is common in Japanese literature. Alternate readings of the name "Furukura" do have different meanings and though it could be commonly read as Old "River", it could also be read as "Hideaway", "hiding place" or "storehouse". This is an apt name for a girl who learns early in life that if she acts intuitively, her ways of doing things will get her into in big trouble. She instead becomes someone who masks herself behind walls of affectations and habits learned by copying the "normal" people around her.
This characterisation was interesting to me in a couple of ways. The first is that this girl is depicted as feeling justified for violence. In my experience, denying regret for childhood violence used when you are in the middle of a panic or urgent situation, is less about being remorseless and more about protecting yourself from being criticised. Engaging with negative self-critique can be really difficult when you don't even understand your own motivations. She clearly has some failure to understand the emotions of others, but her disdain for others at times borders on not just Autistic, but callous. Some writeups online suggest that the character might be sociopathic, but her rigid attention to rules and guidelines and her disinterest in lying or manipulation has me convinced that she's Autistic. I do find it a little problematic that this Autistic child is depicted as creepy and dangerous.. but at the same time, it's realistic to demonstrate the fact that when people don't understand you they may want to keep away from you.
The thematics of this book seem quite tongue in cheek. It's a commentary of the cultural ideas that we take for granted. You are an inhuman weirdo if you dedicate yourself to something you are an expert at, passionate about, but that also confers low social status. You are expected to selflessly find a man to dedicate yourself to the service of, maintaining your looks, cooking and cleaning, and bringing comfort with a calm and positive demeanour for the benefit of your household.
But, that's basically the same thing.. only with one of them you are required to also be a bedslave, and if, like this character, you are asexual, then you also come up against the influences of those who tell you that you are not good enough, and that you need to have a baby to be a valid contributing woman within a society.
Keiko feels pressured into finding a human male to affect a relationship with so as to keep the people around her happy with her. As she becomes more and more aware of the masks she feels she has to wear just to have human contact, she realises how false her friendships with others are, and how unwilling they are to accept her. The talk of Curing her difference hit me like an emotional fist. It's been so many years since I faced a person in my sphere who thought I was unworthy because I was strange, and it brought some of that memory back.
Some of the most moving parts in this story for me were Keiko's sense impressions of the Kombini. I know exactly what it is like to sense your environment through its sounds, and the clues and patterns that hint what your next interaction will be. I feel with my house. I am in tune with its rhythms and sounds in much the same way. I know when pets need feeding, and when the traffic will be loud, or quiet. The act of getting off public transport a block before your stop I immediately understood as a chance to figure out what the mood of the day was; is it likely to rain?, is a special event on?, are there roadworks?, will people feel energetic, or low?.. all these would affect the systems in the shop, and the hypervigilance that she channels into managing those systems felt SO familiar to me. Recognising patterns like how a person's body language or sounds can tell you what method of payment they might use, cash or card. Yep, this is how I interact with my world.
I think this book packs quite a bit in for a short read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Gaslighting, Ableism, Grief, Misogyny, Violence, Emotional abuse, Sexism, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Acephobia/Arophobia, Bullying, Mental illness, Stalking, and Xenophobia
Minor: Chronic illness