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#Japan
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Mimi28
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Up next- This book has mixed reviews but the words “ cozy” and “ cats” in the reviews sold me, lol

review
Robotswithpersonality
Convenience Store Woman | Sayaka Murata
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Pickpick

I feel like I'm wading into the deep end of terminology I don't have enough knowledge of, but I'd be surprised if some of the most common keywords in reviews for this book weren't neurodivergent and masking. 1/?

Robotswithpersonality 2/? The protagonist is on the outside looking in, providing a unique perspective: when you feel excluded because your behaviour is considered abnormal, being a cog in society, being homogenous is desirable, a convenience store job is not repellant or soul-sucking but fulfilling, communal.
Considering retail jobs in my past, this was a completely different perspective from my own and I really enjoyed experiencing it.
2d
Robotswithpersonality 3/? A different type of nonconformity than the more radical punk variety, but it still boils down to being happy in a harmless way regardless of how others might view it.
Not sure how much the author was heightening judgement/conflict for the sake of the plot, but I was staggered by how entitled her family and coworkers felt to investigate and critique her life.
2d
Robotswithpersonality 4/? I shouldn't draw conclusions about the culture from one novella, but there are some very archaic reinforcements of gender roles and sexism on display.
It feels like part-slice of life, part-satire, people are more accepting of a person when they see themselves reflected back, a shallow form of connecting to another person.
2d
See All 6 Comments
Robotswithpersonality 5/? Shiraha needs to not be stuck in a society that demands certain markers of toxic masculinity, but he also needs several feminist seminars and therapy, and to accept that as long as we're all putting along in a capitalist hellscape, he needs to do his part in a work or home setting. 2d
Robotswithpersonality 6/? I get why he exists and why he had to be so awful, but it's worth emphasizing that even if he was pointing out some major flaws in society, the fact that he was a breath away from incel behaviour should not be swept under the 'he is speaking some hard truths' rug of man-behaving-badly-is-a-rebel-and-so-automatically-forgiveable. Do the work, jackass. Thankful that Keiko did eventually ditch his B.S. 2d
Robotswithpersonality 7/7 ⚠️ harrassment, stalking 2d
16 likes6 comments
quote
Robotswithpersonality
Convenience Store Woman | Sayaka Murata
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Most of the time I'd like to think I would not wish a set of instructions (aside from the mostly unvoiced, implicit, learned the hard way set achieved via the struggle to adulthood) to dictate my behaviour. But there are days when a manual for functioning in society would come in very handy...

15 likes1 stack add
review
nicolesxaxbooked
Before the Coffee Gets Cold | Toshikazu Kawaguchi
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Pickpick

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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ImperfectCJ
Butter: Roman | Asako Yuzuki
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Pickpick

This novel is longer than it seems. It unfolds in a similar way to many Japanese novels I've read, peopled by characters with rich internal lives and busy but somewhat held-back lives. It makes me think of the pressure that builds up when playing a double-reed instrument. The main character is recognizing this pressure through the article she's writing and trying to identify ways to opt out of some of the pressure. I enjoyed it.

ChasingOm I love that analogy! 1w
50 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Sara_Planz
Puzzle Box | Danielle Trussoni
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Pickpick

The Puzzle Box is a fast-paced thriller with interesting characters and a twisty, fun plot. As I enjoyed the first book in this series, I knew I would be pulled into this story. I love how Trussoni mixes legends, cultures, and modern technology to create believable adventures that are true page-turners. Mike Brink is such a unique character, and his ability to solve everything thrown at him will keep readers invested in his unique solutions.

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BookmarkTavern
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Mehso-so

A group of friends decides that an abandoned haunted manor, full of the ghosts of women buried alive, is the perfect place for a wedding party. The house agrees.

I really wanted more out of this. At the end of every chapter, I felt like it needed to be twice as long. I needed more set up of the friends, more set up for the climax. The descriptions were visceral & unsettling, & would have been better suited for a more gradual horror.🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑

BookmarkTavern General warning for gore, violence, toxic friendships, and references to suicide attempts 1w
PuddleJumper I didn't get on with this one. I had a lot of potential for being something really unsettling but it fell short 1w
BookmarkTavern @PuddleJumper Right? I need to be able to sit with a haunted house story. I wanted the horror to creep up on me slowly, instead of going from 0 to 100 and then stopping short. It didn‘t help that I really didn‘t feel like I was supposed to care about any of the characters. 1w
PuddleJumper @BookmarkTavern The characters were awful! I don't know why they were friends or if they actually cared about one another 1w
59 likes5 comments
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Charityann
The Star Festival | Moni Ritchie Hadley
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Pickpick
review
Jari-chan
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Mehso-so

Well... Why were these people friends in the first place? They all seemed to hate each other, so I didn't really care about them. Maybe the horror in this was too subtle, and I might should've tried to find a translation to get into this a bit better. Next time maybe.

#queerbc @PuddleJumper

PuddleJumper I didn't understand why these people were friends either. It was a weird dynamic and hard to get into the horror when I wasn't sure if they actually cared about each other 2w
Jari-chan @PuddleJumper I'm somewhat relieved you had the same experience. I didn't feel any connection between those characters. 2w
TieDyeDude Yeah, this didn't quite do it for me. Unlikable characters, and mythology that had no set-up and that I didn't really understand 😕 2w
Jari-chan @TieDyeDude I'm relieved that I'm not the only one with that experience. 2w
34 likes4 comments
review
Kboltz
The Turtle House: A Novel | Amanda Churchill
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Pickpick

Loved this read. A grandmother who was a wartime Japanese bride who had to move to Texas. A granddaughter who wants to be an architect but who allows a person to squash her dreams. What a story! People be who you are and live your lives!:)