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There's not a lot of good information I can add on the educational value of what seems to have recently become THE Japanese learner starter book. I read it 5 books (and lots of other media) in, and at this level found it to be the smoothest, closest thing to relaxed reading I've done yet, so I can only support its position.
As a piece of literature, I'm really impressed! This was cruising to a likely 5 star and all I can really say is while the ending totally makes sense and ties it up thematically, there was something missing for me. Hard to put my finger on what, I just lost some of the magic that had me enthralled for the first ~80%.
All the same, it's remarkable how immersive and impactful the story can feel despite its relatively bare prose, and I have a total fondness for the themes at hand. It's an excellent book for anyone who has spent a lot of time feeling they don't fit in, or frustrated at the weight of expectations from those around them, or displeased with the way we are socialized to connect one's value with the esteem of one's occupation. It always blows my mind how workers in jobs like the convenience store get no respect. There are hugely respected and well-compensated jobs that we could certainly do without. For better or worse though, the way modern society is structured, if all the convenience stores stopped running, it would feel as if the world was ending.
In some ways this book is as low-stakes as it sounds (it managed to not feel like that to me though), so it's going to depend on the tastes of the reader. The best endorsement I can give is that I plan to keep reading books by this author, because I'm pretty sure she has some 5 star works within her.