Convenience Store Woman

Huh, I think this is one that's going to stick with me for a while.

There is a danger in diagnosing fictional characters. The main character is neurodiverse, I assume that it is the author's intent to make her autistic, however there are times when Murata seems to wander into “Callous and unemotional” territory, mostly due to the violence. Although perhaps that is me being rigid.

I sympathized with Keiko; she seemed relatable, authentic and then my heart breaks as she suffers due to a society that says she is not enough. There was this period of depression after quitting her job — it made me very concerned and confused that she didn't line up a job before quitting — and I assume that she's running out of money and that society will throw her away, that she'll reach an unsavory rock bottom. Her social circle already thought she was low, but there is sadly much farther one can fall.

For not lining up the next job I tried to rationalize: 1) maybe the author thinks Keiko doesn't have good executive functioning for this sort of task2) felt in a rush to act/societal pressure3) it's difficult to line a job up for her due to the reasons she had mentioned: age, education background, no other experience, etc.I made a mistake and thought the book had ended, but due to an error in the audiobook I still had 3-4 segments left. I was thrilled to see that Keiko was able to get an interview and better yet make her own path of sorts, choosing herself over society. I greatly value that.

I did not care for the main male character. I'm not supposed to and want to blame him for all of Keiko's problems, but cannot as Keiko had autonomy and chose to given in to societal pressure. He was crude and seemed to take advantage of her. I assume the author also intends for him to be neurodivergent; autistic, ADHD, maybe both or something else.

I liked the ending; 3.5