In this manga, Marie takes us through her process of tidying up via Chiaki Suzuki. Marie is your average adult, so busy with work and life, her home has become more of a storage facility than a place of relaxation. When she schedules her first lesson with Marie Kondo she is in for more than just a clean apartment.

I love the simplicity of this book, compared to her original which can be an overload for someone facing the daunting task of tidying. This story takes you through the method in about an hour. Marie teaches how and why to tidy, without feeling the pressure of knowing what you will tackle. The story is adorable and gives you the information you need to began your own journey into a tidy life. ( )

This was a cute, quick read about a fictional character Chiaki. She works as a sales rep for a beverage company and is constantly on the go. One day she goes to take her trash out to her balcony (where she seems to leave all her old trash bags) This action prompts her new neighbor to knock on her door to request she remove the bags as they are stinking up the place. He makes his way into her extremely messy apartment and ends up leaving in disgust. Chiaki, determined to show that others are just like her, finds an ad for KonMarie’s services. She soon finds that tidying up is achievable and learns some valuable lessons through the course. This was a reread for me, as I had originally read it back in 2019. I ended up demoting some stars upon this second read. The illustrations are cute, and the story is motivational, but I found myself not quite agree with some of the teachings. Mainly those surrounding books haha, I just could not get behind the thought that sometime later never comes. I personally find that I do get to those books I have not read on my shelf at some point, just when I need to and I will usually donate after reading, only keeping ones I really love. I do recommend a quick intro to the Marie Kondo method and will be happy to read her other non-fiction books about tidying. ( )

The art was great, but I felt a great deal of sympathy for the poor main character who, apparently, does everything wrong, and just goes along with whatever Kondo tells her to do. Have a little more spine, cartoon lady! You need that winter coat! You will be cold in the winter without it! You will have to buy a new one!

I definitely agree with de-cluttering, that is certainly good, but a lot of things Kondo does are just whacky. Like folding bras and underwear. And then putting the bras in a little display tray like she lives inside a lingerie store. This consumes more space, is actually more unsightly, and it is time consuming. My bras go unfolded into a drawer and there they shall continue to go until I am dead, thank you very much.

Other things I dislike - keeping out your winter clothes when it is summer or vice versa. It's true that this keeps your total wardrobe under control size-wise, but at what cost? The cost is extra time looking through my clothes every day because there are clothes I don't need in my drawer. This is decidedly not worth it for me.

Another thing I dislike is her vendetta against hanging clothes. We rent. We have a large built in closet/wardrobe. No amount of railing against closets is going to make me stop using the storage space I actually have and which, by the way, works fine and keeps the clothes nicer than the stuff in the drawers. Kondo keeps her clothes nice in the drawers by very carefully folding them and storing them upright, but this is a ton of effort and, by the way, doesn't work for me because I don't actually have enough clothes to keep all of my clothes upright in a drawer! They just flop over, because they need the pressure of the other clothes being there to keep them upright. This is just not a flexible enough kind of storage, it requires you to have a very precisely measured amount of clothes and precisely sized dressers.

It has affected my behaviour a bit. I have recently thrown out some of things that certainly don't spark joy, just like the lady with the winter coat, actually. But like the coat they were things I needed so I had to replace them, which gets expensive. I can only do so much of that! ( )

Em se tratando de arrumação (basicamente, organização de alguma coisa) é sempre interessante conhecer a perspectiva de diferentes culturas. Esse mashup que a Kondō propõe. A edição tem alguns errinhos, mas nada grave. É divertido e porque não dizer, para um número enorme de acumuladores e pessoas consumistas.. útil. ( )

I loved it. I am feeling inspired to declutter and minimize my house. Now I just have to get my husband on board. Lots of helpful tips to get out of your own way and turn your home and workspace into your happy place. ( )