Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Almond by Won-pyung Sohn

48 reviews

jhabelita's review

emotional

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

4.75

“Parents start out with grand expectations for their kids. But when things don’t go as expected, they just want their kids to be ordinary, thinking it’s simple. But son, being ordinary is the hardest thing to achieve,”

It was a heartwarming story after reading Britney's memoir. Pero may sapak pa rin sa heart. 🥺

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

rachjy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative reflective relaxing sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Animal death, Ableism, Gore, Grief, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Animal cruelty, Emotional abuse, Bullying, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Cursing, and Torture

gossameralbum's review against another edition

emotional reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

Somebody shook my shoulders. Gon was hugging me in his arms. “Don’t die. I beg you. I’ll do anything for you . . . anything . . .” Gon whimpered. He was covered in blood.

this chapter shattered me. though the ending was a bit clunky, this was such a beautiful read, it made me smile many times.
here is another part i highlighted that i found profound:

There was this day when Mom asked a question to Granny, who was carefully writing hanja for love.
“Mom, do you even know what that character means?” “Of course!” Granny glared at Mom, then in a deep low voice, she said, “Love.” “What does love mean?” Mom asked mischievously. “To discover beauty.” After Granny wrote the top part of the character , then the middle part,  (meaning “heart”), she said, “These three dots are us. This one’s mine, this one’s yours, this one’s his!”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Physical abuse, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Grief, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Ableism, Blood, Bullying, Medical content, and Violence

Minor: Rape

errie's review against another edition

reflective

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, and Bullying

siriface's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, and Death

user_as's review against another edition

emotional 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

3.75

It was a good read but the ending felt too short. Maybe it's me because thats something I feel with a lot of books. Either ways it was a unique perspective to read from.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Medical content, Death of parent, and Kidnapping

ldpaige's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.75

What are you going to do here? Do you think enduring all this will make you strong? This isn’t strong. It’s just pretending to be.

i absolutely enjoyed this book. it started out rocky for me, and i was even contemplating DNF-ing this book due to some plot continuity issues early on. if i could give a word of advice to someone interested in this book (namely people like me who read reviews to see if it’s up their alley and worth the read), hang on. it WILL get better.

i LOVED the characters, even though some were more fleshed out than others. the story, as well as the world around it, is so interesting and beckons you to lean in and feel what others can’t. it explores emotions and the boundaries of it, imposed by ourselves and what we are simply exposed to.

i recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a bittersweet coming-of-age story or anyone who just wants a fresh perspective. it felt a bit preachy in the beginning, maybe even pretentious. however, understanding the character put everything into perspective and helped me to best grasp what the author was trying to say in the first place. you realize, towards the end, the author and MC may be more similar than different.

this is a book that earned all of its 4.75 stars.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, and Blood

Moderate: Mental illness, Abandonment, and Domestic abuse

molly_rose's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Grief, Violence, Mental illness, Murder, Torture, and Death of parent

Moderate: Abandonment and Toxic friendship

ankita1996's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Bullying, Animal cruelty, Chronic illness, Mental illness, Cursing, and Death

sarahemhavens's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I am absolutely blown away by this book. This book floats around all over Bookstagram and I am so grateful for that because it deserves not only popularity, but to be digested and appreciated by many. 

Almond is a story of true identity, the core of people, friendship, family, and love. It is an incredibly unique look at human emotions, through the eyes of a boy who “can feel nothing.” Both Won-Pyung Sohn and translator Sandy Joosun Lee capture Yunjae’s emotional constrictions while letting him soar with more understanding and care than most people capable. Almond faces the human condition with grace, tackling not only the question of inherent good vs inherent evil, but also whether a story is happy or tragic. 

I was not expecting this book to steam roll over me and my emotions, but I am truly enthralled by this book. The characters, the writing, the story, the translation - this book is a masterpiece. I already wish I could read it for the first time again. I wish I could teach myself a whole new language just to read this in it’s original text 😭(Please make sure you go in blind and don’t spoil this book for yourself and please please read this!!!!😭)

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Content Warnings

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