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challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Violence, Death of parent
Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse
dark
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book was a strange read for me. From a literary standpoint, it absolutely does what it sets out to do. The author, in conjunction with the translator weave language beautifully to capture the complicated emotional states (or lack thereof) of the main characters- something that’s hard to do in an engaging manner when your central protagonist quite literally lack any internalized emotional experience. I have a great deal of respect for being able to pull that off. Unfortunately, it was that lack of internal emotional experience that made the characters feel detached to me as a reader as well. For my personal tastes, that sense of emotional connection is important to my enjoyment of the story. Without it, the few plot points felt a bit disjointed, and I get that feeling that this book is not one that will linger with me and that I’ll think about long after I’ve closed it, like I’d hoped.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Violence, Murder
challenging
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-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
Beautifully written and empathetic coming of age story that explores the human condition and what it means to feel and be able to read other people. I loved the pace of the novel and the narrator, Yunjae.
Yunjae was born with a brain condition, that makes it hard for him to feel and read emotions. We follow him along his way after a shocking act of violence rips apart his world and he is left without his grandma and mother.
The coming of age story is written out of Yunjaes perspective, it‘s his account and exploration of the human condition, of what it means to be alive, to feel and to connect with others. I loved how the reader get‘s to see the world through his eyes, how the language transmits his observatione of and confusion about people‘s expressions and emotions.
Yunjae was born with a brain condition, that makes it hard for him to feel and read emotions. We follow him along his way after a shocking act of violence rips apart his world and he is left without his grandma and mother.
The coming of age story is written out of Yunjaes perspective, it‘s his account and exploration of the human condition, of what it means to be alive, to feel and to connect with others. I loved how the reader get‘s to see the world through his eyes, how the language transmits his observatione of and confusion about people‘s expressions and emotions.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
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
I always appreciate books that have a theme around friendship. It was neat to see how Yunjae and Gon were basically the opposites and they learned from one another. Yunjae , not being able to experience emotion yet chooses to go about the world with actions of kindness. Gon, who experiences emotions intensely and manifests them through violence and puts on a facade to hide his vulnerability. Yunjae is doing his best to show emotions, Gon is doing his most to hide them. This book was a simple but in a beautiful way; the author has a good balance of being straight to the point and still yanking at your heart and emotions. The characters were easy to love and root for. I will say the ending felt a little too good to be true in that he now feels emotion and he mom woke up; I would have preferred an epilogue where we see a gradual growth in his ability to feel and maybe it being his mom waking up that starts triggering that.
Some notable quotes / paraphrasing I took away:
- “Luck plays a huge role in the unfairness of the world”
- “We just live because we are alive”
- Violence is proof of weakness, a manifestation of vulnerability because they longed for strength
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Ableism
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
dark
emotional
hopeful
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder
Moderate: Animal cruelty
dark
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:
N/A
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Violence, Blood, Murder
Moderate: Ableism
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved it, I couldn't stop reading until I finished it, it was an addictive read. I really liked the narration, and the depth of the main character.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Death, Violence, Blood
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Decided to update to 5 stars because I was telling my sister about it and the feelings I got just talking about it were so overwhelmingly good!
I enjoyed this much more than I thought I would. There was a particular part, maybe 1/4 way through that threw me off, it was just very unexpected. This part and one other part is a little dark so maybe check trigger warnings.
I enjoyed this much more than I thought I would. There was a particular part, maybe 1/4 way through that threw me off, it was just very unexpected. This part and one other part is a little dark so maybe check trigger warnings.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Violence, Murder