A review by perfectplaces
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

emotional reflective tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

“At that moment, for the first time ever, I felt I’d become a part in the machine of society. I’ve been reborn, I thought.”

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don’t get me wrong, i enjoyed this a lot! it was really easy to read, i pretty much sped through it in about an hour, and keiko is such a good character, i just…feel like i took away something entirely different to everyone else? like i’ve been reading reviews talking about how this is a horror story and even more talking about it being quirky and funny when to me it’s so obvious that keiko is autistic (actually she’s probably one of the most clearly autistic characters i’ve ever encountered) and the book is a commentary on institutionalised ableism. 

like, some scenes in this put physical pits in my stomach because i’ve been there in some respect and the feelings keiko felt and inspired in others were so familiar! but this was also sold to me as a book with a “quirky” narrator and i wonder…am i the one missing something? or is it everyone else?
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