Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

アーモンド by Won-pyung Sohn

68 reviews

emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-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

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challenging dark funny reflective sad 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

I was gripped from page one. The characters are complex, unique, and so lovable. Despite being voiced by a character who cannot identify and express his emotions, the book is absolutely full of them, in a tender and simple way that makes them even more powerful. Some popular Korean books, especially those about mental health, have fallen a bit flat for me - but not this one. I absolutely loved it. 

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emotional hopeful 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

In terms of reading it, it was enjoyable and a quickie. It t might just be being webtoon rotted but it felt like I was reading a manhwa in part with shorter term character developments. The incremental pace made hops from highlights, from the attack to Gon’s fight and meeting Dora.

The author does a very good job portraying alexityynia and the associated apathy and that hinders and hurts the story development, as it adds more impact but for me it also made it harder to parse and map out how other characters were thinking and for Yunjae’s state of mind in the end of the book.

For now I shall let it simmer because I have not formulated a satisfying moral (again it still kinda felt like a drama manhwa in that regard)

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emotional lighthearted reflective fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Una lectura corta interesante que muestra cómo los seres humanos perciben a las personas con discapacidad en el contexto de la conservadora sociedad surcoreana. Es una traducción, un libro muy rápido de leer con capítulos cortos y de escritura sencilla.

La historia trata sobre un niño que nació con una condición llamada Alexitimia que le dificulta sentir emociones como el miedo o la ira. Vive con una madre muy dedicada que hace todo lo que está en sus manos para ayudarlo, y una abuela que es un pilar de apoyo para él y su madre. Pero su vida sufre un gran cambio cuando su familia atraviesa una inmensa tragedia que lo deja huérfano, tras lo cual enfrenta muchos obstáculos en su vida diaria y escolar.
Entabla amistad con un compañero de clase temperamental y descubre la amistad y el amor.

Creo que el contraste entre los dos personajes principales fue  interesante. El chico que no siente nada conoce a un chico que siente mucho. La dinámica era interesante. El trasfondo de la sociedad coreana también es muy interesante.
Creo que este libro funcionó mejor porque estaba ambientado en Corea. Hay críticas sutiles a la sociedad rígida y conservadora: la vida de rutina y las presiones sobre la clase media. Algunas escenas, incluyendo libros, están descritas de manera muy vívida y la escritura es hermosa en esos momentos.

En algunos puntos, ciertos elementos parecieron casi irreales, incluyendo algunos momentos con estallidos repentinos de violencia, pero en general es un libro intrigante y reflexivo sobre la mayoría de edad que captura sentimientos de tristeza y esperanza. Me gustó la historia aunque el final no fue mi favorito.

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emotional inspiring reflective 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

This is what I call a wonderful read. 

The book follows the story of Yun-jae, a boy who was born with a problem: he cannot express any feeling - no happiness, no sadness, no fear. Because of that it's very hard to fit in the society. The whole story is written from his point of view - the pov of aomwone who tries to understand what others feel and tey to read social ques and mimics in order to knoe how to respond to things. 

Another important character in the book is Gon. Their relationship is so special, for both of them, it's even harder to understand it in the beginning but it does make sense. 

This book is about feelings, friendship, lovw and family. The book shoes how conplex feelings are and how hard actually is to understand them, to misinterpreted a smile, or tears or words such as "go away". 

This book made me cry as a baby in the end. It is a beautiful story with beautiful writing and amazing growth. 



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emotional reflective sad fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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challenging emotional hopeful sad fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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emotional informative inspiring reflective relaxing sad slow-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

I liked reading this book, and I thought it was satisfying, but I’m just not sure how memorable it will be which is why I withheld a star. I really loved Yunjae as a protagonist and hearing the story through his detached voice was a unique experience. 

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emotional reflective fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes

I loved this book. I read it because it's recommended by 방탄소년단 members. This book is easy to follow but its a lot to unpack as you go, so I listened to it slightly slower than I normally consume audiobooks. (Still in one sitting but at 2x instead of 2.5 or 3) It's very well translated and narrated.
The only thing that keeps it from getting 5☆ is that I dont love the ending. It felt kind of off and too sweet after everything. 
Would definitely recommend. 

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dark emotional sad tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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