A review by bookcheshirecat
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata

emotional reflective sad fast-paced

3.0

“When something was strange, everyone thought they had the right to come stomping in all over your life to figure out why. I found that arrogant and infuriating, not to mention a pain in the neck. Sometimes I even wanted to hit them with a shovel to shut them up, like I did that time in elementary school. But I recalled how upset my sister had been when I’d casually mentioned this to her before and kept my mouth shut.” 
 
➽ Convenience Store Woman caught my eye because the premise sounded so interesting! The story follows Keiko Furukura, who works at a Japanese convenience store. It was meant as a side job, but now that she's 36, people start to question why she's still stuck in a dead-end job. Furukura has always struggled with fitting in and the convenience store is the only place she feels comfortable with, as it has a guidebook for behavior. Instead of feeling out of place, Furukura follows the rules diligently and watches her coworkers for clues on how to act. I really felt for her as her few friends judged her for her lack of career and the fact that she has no spouse or plans to have children. The author discusses the narrow expectations of society and what happens to those who fall outside of the norm. I loved how the setting of the convenience store was described as Furukura's safe space, it was so immersive. She's one of the most dedicated employees and it was interesting seeing how the store worked. Her relationship with the store is intriguing, as Furukura finds a purpose and role within the setting that helps her appear 'normal' to society. The commentary on how service workers are treated was good, as most of her friends don't know why she's still in a job they view as low on the ladder of society.

➽ Unfortunately, I don't think the story did the themes justice. Not only is the book short and the ending very rushed, but it could have dived deeper into hetero and amatonormativity. It was heartbreaking to see Furukura being judged and shamed for her way of life. I got the feeling she was also neurodiverse in some way, yet it was never properly addressed. While the author clearly tried to add her commentary on toxic societal expectations, she didn't offer any deeper insights or solutions. The ending felt a bit depressing, as Furukura doesn't properly make peace with the way her life is -
except for realizing that working at the convenience store is what she's meant to do, no matter what everyone else says
- and a lot of things are left unsaid, especially regarding her sister who is hoping she'll be 'fixed'. The ending was so unsatisfying
because Furukura finally leaves  Shiraha but we don't see how she finds a new job or how everyone else reacts to her being single again
. It seems like we're mostly back at the start of the story with her being judged for not living up to other's expectations.
I don't think she truly realizes she doesn't need to be fixed, which is so tragic
.

➽ In general, Shiraha's character overstayed his welcome. I get what his character was meant to show us someone who's also an outcast but only views himself as a victim despite his privilege as a man. However, he was just so unbearably misogynistic and I have no idea why Furukura let someone so toxic into her life willingly. She knew he stalked and harassed other women, so letting him stay with her and use her was such a horrendous idea. He annoyed me so much and despite the shade Furukura throws at him, she doesn't really stand up to him. 
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