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Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

アーモンド by Won-pyung Sohn

68 reviews

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

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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emotional 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 emotional hopeful mysterious 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

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
emotional hopeful 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

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reflective tense medium-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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emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This was a good audiobook, if you choose to listen.  I thought the balance and dynamic between one character who has extreme emotions with one that feels nothing was interesting.  The ending was nice and wrapped any loose ends.  I loved the almond symbolism and candy (that specific one mentioned) metaphor throughout, it fit the story quite well.  I wanted to see more of Dora (sp? again, audiobook) and Yunjae's friendship.  Seeing some other reviews, I would've liked to hear the translator's notes because it sounds like it had an impact.  I loved the translation as it was simple, yet emotional.

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Complicated

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
emotional 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

so. beautiful. great heavens.
first of all, the motive behind this book is absolutely heartwarming and i am so in love with the characters. they were unique and seething with beauty and life. especially yunjae was deeply relatable for me, and i thought it was an absolute treat to explore his brain and how he perceives things. it was so nice to read about loss and feelings from an objective point of view.
i'm also a huge fan of short chapters, since they just keep me going, which this one undoubtedly did. the relationship dynamics were really nice as well, adventurous and new.
the only thing i didn't quite like was the love interest. her character is fine and has some depth, however yunjae falling for her so easily felt strangely out of character and i thought it ruined the idyll of his character a little bit. the love interest simply wasn't necessary in my opinion.
the ending totally made up for that though. it was soooo sad and satisfying. such a gracious book.

:) my fav quote:
so i don't know why people laugh or cry. joy, sorrow, love, fear—all these things are vague ideas to me. the words "emotion" and "empathy" are just meaningless letters in print.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings
challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

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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