sercem_w_ksiazkach's reviews
418 reviews

Somehow even worse and more preachy than the previous one. Can't believe THAT was how Laurie's love struggles were resolved. That felt too fast and I couldn't believe there were actual feelings there. Can't believe that non-conforming, strong-willed Jo was made to adhere to traditional gender roles. Not HER! Her having kids and being married? To an old man, too... I was joking around calling him old at first but he was already 40 when they married? DUDE that's fishy. I hated almost everything about this. The ending with mother March saying she wants nothing more for her daughters than to be married and have families? Nauseating. I hated it.

preachy conservative bullshit. made my blood boil

Convenience Store Woman follows a story of an autistic, 30-something year old woman who has worked in a convenience store for over 8 years and never changed her job. The society expects her to either change her job, or get married and start a family, none of which Keiko cares to do. The book explores the main character navigating those expectations.

When I first heard about this book, I didn't know that the MC is autistic and I expected way more commentary on capitalism and insane expectations of getting a "good job" in a system that puts most people, especially women, at a disadvantage. I was disappointed to find out that it wasn't the point of the story at all. If anything, it commented more on the marital expectations people place. It is the case for Keiko, as well as incredibly annoying side character, Shiraha. He is one of the most unnerving men I have ever encountered in literature, and that is including misogynistic classics. He was an incel, spitted misogynistic bullshit, and seemed to have no original thought ever. I am not sure whether he was supposed to also represent an autistic person or not, and whether his thought process was supposed to reflect that, but autism doesn't make you a bigot so idk what was the deal with him.

Had Shiraha not been a part of the story, or if he was less of an incel, I would enjoy the story way more. That way, the conversations about marriage and other people being happy for us if we follow traditional gender roles would have been way more interesting. I also wouldn't lose my energy on that guy being annoying.

The thing I did enjoy was Keiko's love of the convenience store. It was her source of comfort. Thanks to the store, she knew how to play her role in the society, being a <i>convenience store worker</i>. She knew it thoroughly, and I liked how well she knew the habits of the people who lived or worked close to the store. As someone who works at a similar place (a chain bookstore), I would relate to her hyperfixation on the shop and it was fun.

In general, I expected way more philosophical critiques of the society and not in the "we're stuck in the Bronze Age" way (which was not further developed and repeated on almost every page), but in the actually-tells-me-somehing-original way. Had this book covered more of this topic, I would like it way more.

This was SO much fun and so cute I loved the characters' chemistry

I really enjoyed this book. My favorite part was the twisted story of Cinderella, its concept was very original and I enjoyed the plot twists of Cinderella's sisters and Prince Charming. I loved the main character, Sophia was fierce and charming. She fought to make every girl's life better, and never resigned from her beliefs. She was hopeful and strong-willed, and I enjoy reading about characters like that. In general, this book was fun. Like other reviewers, I also think that this book could have been a little longer and could include more descriptions: for example of Sophia's friendship with Liv and Erin, Sophia's relationship with her parents, or of Sophia, Constance and Amina making the plan of overthrowing the villain. Nonetheless it was a lovely book with a very cool concept and cute romance, and that was all I needed from it.