I judged this book by this cover. I am a sushi fiend and when I saw the little soy sauce on the cover of this book, I knew I had to read it. It was reasonably priced on the Kobo store so I took the plunge, and read it in an evening. I am so, so glad that I did.

Keiko is a 36 year old woman working in a convenience store in Japan. Since childhood, Keiko has known that she is different, and her solace in life is her work in her convenience store. Convenience Store Woman follows a short period in the life of Keiko, and you get a real insight into how she views the world, and how it views her.

The writing is wonderful. It never explicitly states so, but I firmly believe Keiko is autistic, and this is because of the way she is written. 

For example, near the start she recalls a fight in the playground at school. Someone says “Please stop them”, so she goes over to the shed, takes, a shovel, and twats one of the boys round the head with it. He’s pouring with blood, everyone is mad at her, and she can’t understand why because he did stop fighting.

It’s these little things that showcase the lived experience of individuals with autism in a non-judgemental, funny sort of way.

The plot broadly follows an enemies-to-lovers type plot, but it doesn’t exactly go that way. I won’t go too deeply into it so I don’t accidentally spoil the plot, but it’s paced well, has ups and downs, and never dwells on one thing for too long.

It only takes a few hours to read, and if you want a small, warm, friendly insight into people who are different, then I highly recommend Convenience Store Woman to you.