Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Amêndoas by Won-pyung Sohn

38 reviews

mykes's review against another edition

reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, Blood, Body horror, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Torture, Toxic friendship, Bullying, Death, Gore, Violence, Mental illness, and Physical abuse

rudychleb's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

szybko się czyta, rozdziały są krótkie, przez co akcja też szybko mknie do przodu. jest pierwszoosobowa narracja, pisane jako forma jakiegoś dziennika głównego bohatera.
ciężkie tematy są poruszane, bardzo graficzne opisy przemocy wobec ludzi i zwierząt, momentami ciężko się czytało.
pierwsze 160 stron mi się podobało, ale ostatnie 60 stron... miałam wrażenie, że wszystko za szybko się zmienia. i końcówka w ogóle mi się nie zgrywa, na przestrzeni 5 stron 5 różnych wątków się domknęło i zakończyło happy endem, ale przez to że wydarzyło się to nagle i tak szybko, nie odczuwa się zbytnio szczęścia z tego powodu. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Toxic friendship, Medical content, Physical abuse, Animal death, and Death

abibliophobic_nerd's review against another edition

dark hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I see why 남준 and 윤기 liked this book. I see both of them in it. Should have written the review sooner though, my links are starting to blur but again it was still interesting to see, throughout my reading, two of my favorite people “reflected” in this story.

 Contrary to what I heard from some people, I thought the author did a good job of telling a story through someone who cannot feel emotions without making it seem lifeless. Not the most memorable book but still one that will stick with me, I think.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Hate crime, Animal cruelty, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, Bullying, Cursing, Animal death, Blood, and Toxic friendship

just22jess22's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A beautifully crafted coming-of-age book that centers around a young boy with a brain condition that singles him out at every turn, Almond is a book that is hard to forget. 

I loved the juxtaposition between Yunjae and Gon, although they were such contrasting characters, I really loved the scenes of them interacting with each other and taking on the world they had been dropped into with such different approach. 

There were so many things in this book that I thought were really clever, most of which I am hesitant to write about in detail for fear of ruining the plot... But I will say that I found Almond to be heartfelt, reflective, complex and impactful. I loved how the hopelessness and frustration leapt off the page in places and most of all, I loved how immersive and all-consuming the writing style was.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Medical trauma, Murder, Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Toxic friendship, Violence, Alcoholism, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Physical abuse

kaymichelle's review against another edition

challenging dark funny reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship and Death of parent

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts

emilyharmonica's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The brilliance of this novel is how, despite the story being told through the lens of someone incapable of experiencing typical emotions, the overall effect is a highly emotional one. It’s unsettling and upsetting, yet strangely uplifting. Yunjae’s inner monologue is oddly charming as he tries to make sense of the world and of human nature without a frame of reference most people take for granted. What is “good” or “evil” without the fear most of us are born with, or without the moral compass our society instills into us? What is love, exactly, without the fear of losing the ones who are dearest to us?

I enjoyed the short “chapters” of this book, which made it quick to read through and enhanced the fragmented, almost stream-of-consciousness style of the narrative. Part of me felt like resolution of the story was way too convenient, and while I was expecting a slightly darker or more ambiguous ending, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t relieved that everyone got a happy ending, more or less.

Almond clocks in at under 300 pages, making it easy to breeze through in a day or two. This was such a unique little story, and I’m so glad I picked it up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Ableism, Bullying, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Violence, Animal death, and Blood

mon11257's review against another edition

dark emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Gore, Toxic friendship, and Violence

Minor: Animal cruelty

cutepatzie's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

If you fan of webtoons, manga and anime. This book is for you. Such an amazing example that chapters doesn't have to be very long but so much pact with action, reflection and incredible amazing placment in the world of the story. I very great story with good character development. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Terminal illness, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Death

Moderate: Deadnaming, Dementia, Grief, and Gun violence

atomicbritt's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Kidnapping, Medical content, and Murder

jayisreading's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

3.5

It’s not every day you read a book from the perspective of an individual—more specifically, a boy—with Alexithymia. (Then again, it’s not every day you come across such a trait in a book either.) The protagonist, Yunjae, has such a distinct voice that’s frank and detached, but in some ways, curious, that occasionally makes you pause to think about why we do and think the things we do.

There were a couple things that threw me off about this book, though. The main one is that I’m not a huge fan of the overcoming narrative, especially when it’s as neatly packaged as the one you’ll find in this novel. It’s not that I want characters to suffer, but I also think this constant strive for normalcy is a problematic one, so it was a little disappointing to see how things wrapped up. I also can’t tell if this is just the result of the translation, but I felt the dialogue between characters were really awkward, and I couldn’t really make head or tails of the nuances of their relationships. Korean having degrees of formality in the language is really hard to translate, so I don’t entirely fault the translator for this, but I think there could have been a way to navigate this a bit better.

Almond is worth reading, especially because it is told from a unique perspective. However, I didn’t find this as heartwarming and enjoyable as others seem to have found it, but that’s likely because I wasn’t the biggest fan of how things ended.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Violence, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Toxic friendship