Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - Almond

Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Almond by Won-pyung Sohn

49 reviews

hickorynut's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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This was very well translated, bringing an emotionless yet still engaging main character to life. Yunjae's journey through being taught how to be "normal" resonated deeply for me as an autistic reader. His experiences of trauma and tragedy and growing into young adulthood without guardians were narrated in a logical, factual manner with curiosity and an interest to learn and understand more. I ended up reading most of this in one sitting as his simple and straightforward method of communication combined with a complicated and traumatic life, kept me intrigued.

"Love, according to Mom’s actions, was nothing more than nagging about every little thing, with teary eyes, about how one should act such and such in this and that situation. If that was love, I’d rather neither give nor receive any. But of course, I didn’t say that out loud. That was all thanks to one of Mom’s codes of conduct—Too much honesty hurts others—which I had memorized over and over so that it was stuck in my brain."

"Books took me to places I could never go otherwise. They shared the confessions of people I’d never met and lives I’d never witnessed. The emotions I could never feel, and the events I hadn’t experienced could all be found in those volumes."

"But books are quiet. They remain dead silent until somebody flips open a page. Only then do they spill out their stories, calmly and thoroughly, just enough at a time for me to handle."

"“Do you think I could make others understand me, even though I can’t understand myself?”"

Author's note:
"I have come to think that love is what makes a person human, as well as what makes a monster."

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chrztnnn's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

My casual craving for best sad books has been satisfied. As an alternative for a review, I will be leaving personally favored quotes to tend my woes for this book.

"Books took me to places I could never go otherwise. They shared the confessions of people I'd never met and lives I'd never witnessed. The emotions I could never feel, and the events I hadn't experienced could all be found in those volumes."

"There is no such person who can't be saved. There are only people who give up on trying to save others. It's a quote by the American accused-murderer-turned-writer P.J. Nolan."

"Most people could feel but didn't act. They said they sympathized, but easily forgot. The way I see it, that was not real. I didn't want to live like that."

Now I understood why many loved this book. I am part of the 'many' now and perhaps forever.

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333amreen's review against another edition

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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? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Such an easy read year covers such complex topics. Only goes on to show how great the writing is! So philosophical and psychological all at once. LOVED HIS CONNECTION WITH GON but the Dora part felt forced and incomplete & that's the ONLY reason I took off the .5

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teacupsandfirereads's review against another edition

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hopeful reflective sad 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

3.0

I was really intrigued by the disability in this one. I had never heard of it and don't know if the representation was accurate, but I am not to judge on that. It does seem the author did their research. This definitely wasn't an easy read, but being short, it was easier to get through. The ending was not as I hoped. The translation was done very well.

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