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dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
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
Un libro lleno de esperanza y empatía
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Blood
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Violence
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
It’s not every day you read a book from the perspective of an individual—more specifically, a boy—with Alexithymia. (Then again, it’s not every day you come across such a trait in a book either.) The protagonist, Yunjae, has such a distinct voice that’s frank and detached, but in some ways, curious, that occasionally makes you pause to think about why we do and think the things we do.
There were a couple things that threw me off about this book, though. The main one is that I’m not a huge fan of the overcoming narrative, especially when it’s as neatly packaged as the one you’ll find in this novel. It’s not that I want characters to suffer, but I also think this constant strive for normalcy is a problematic one, so it was a little disappointing to see how things wrapped up. I also can’t tell if this is just the result of the translation, but I felt the dialogue between characters were really awkward, and I couldn’t really make head or tails of the nuances of their relationships. Korean having degrees of formality in the language is really hard to translate, so I don’t entirely fault the translator for this, but I think there could have been a way to navigate this a bit better.
Almond is worth reading, especially because it is told from a unique perspective. However, I didn’t find this as heartwarming and enjoyable as others seem to have found it, but that’s likely because I wasn’t the biggest fan of how things ended.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Death, Violence, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail
emotional
mysterious
tense
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:
Complicated
Did not expect to cry, but I did. You could tell a lot of plot points in there were for the shock factor and to make it edgy, but given that the protagonist can’t exactly feel anything, I understand how the author felt the scenes were necessary. It was an easy read, too! I kept wanting to know what happened next after I finished each (short) chapter.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Violence
Moderate: Death
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Torture, Violence, Murder
dark
emotional
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: Bullying, Violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death
dark
emotional
informative
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
This book is sad, f*cked up, uncomfortable, and beautiful. It really makes you think about emotions and empathy and how we take those things for granted. The ability to love, and how love can change everything. I found the nuanced similarities of Yunjae and Gon fascinating. One can speak eloquently and give you all the definitions of emotions but can’t express them. The other desperately wants to express their feelings but doesn’t know how to and lacks the vocabulary so they resort to frustrated physical acts. One is searching for a way to feel love but can’t feel it and the other is looking to be loved but can’t find it. I also found it really telling who the real monsters in this book were, all of the people that were so quick to judge, stereotype, and so slow to sympathize, and understand.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Death of parent
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
tbh everything was an easy 5 stars for me untill it begin to close with the ending. serius, chapter 1-3 beneran ringan tapi seru buat diikutin.
chapter 1
perkenalan tokoh utama yg mengidap penyakit alexitimia karena ukuran amigdala nya yg kecil serta interaksi tokoh utama dengan keluarganya dideskripsikan dgn cara yg apik. trus juga kadang tuh lucuuuu misal kaya pas dia deskripsiin ibunya yg awet muda tapi pemilihan katanya tuh aduhhhhh malah bikin kesannya jadi kaya sebuah ejekan😭👎
chapter 2
penggambaran interaksi sosial tokoh utama setelah peristiwa naas yg dialami oleh nenek dan ibunya. interaksi sosial bermakna tuh pertama sama prof. shim dan ke depannya dia bakal bantuin tokoh utama buat berinteraksi.
trusss nanti di sini bakal ketemu sama gon, tokoh yg ngajarin arti "teman" buat tokoh utama.
chapter 3
MULAI KENAL CINTA AHAHAHA lucuuuu bgt pas deskripsiin perasaannya ke dora😭
pokoknya sampe chapter 3 semuanya oke oke aja gue seneng bgt. humornya dapet, dinamika kisahnya gak datar, and the protagonist is also lovable. besides that, tbh gon is such a cliche character. kelakuan preman tapi hati hello kitty. tapi tuh tetep bikin simpati sama gon atas semua masa lalunya😭😭😭💕
oke sekarang bagian ending sama epilog
alias alasan kenapa kaga jadi 5 stars soalnya
jujurrrr kecewa sama endingnya. kaya hah sinetron bgt ga sieee ueueueueue
sebenernya juga ga ada riset terbaru ttg how to cure alexithymia cuma tuh dari ceritanya juga ga dijelasin secara rinci penyebab penyakitnya (cuma dijelasin kalo secara anatomis ukuran amigdala nya kecil) dan proses patofisiologisnya jg ga dijelasin secara rinci jadiiii pas tiba2 endingnya bisa sembuh dgn kekuatan cinta dan persahabatan tuh kaya ???? sinetron bgt😭😭😭
sebenernya si masih masuk akal, soalnya dari awal jg dijelasin progress interaksi sosialnya. mulai dari mengamati mimik wajah gon, trus nanya2 ke prof. shim, apalagi pas naksir dora itu jelas ada bgt perkembangannya. cuma tuh gatauuuuu kenapa tapi gue kecewa bgt pas endingnya dia nangis kaya wahhhh sembuh nih??? padahal jg sebelumnya dia udh ngalamin peristiwa tragis jg. ngeliat anak dibully sampe meninggal, nenek ditikam, nyokap koma. tapi giliran kecelakaan sm temen dia gitu😭👎 ah gatau dehhhh mungkin ekspetasi gue aja yg krg sesuai hhhhh emg harusnya mah gausah berekspetasi hiks
oiya gue sukaaaa bgt karakter yoonjae si tokoh utama. dia memandang dunia apa adanya tanpa bias emosi karena alexitimia yg dideritanya. dia jg kesannya terlalu serius dan apa adanya tapi justru itu yg bikin lawak. his struggles to understand the complexity of our society is enjoyable to read.
overall, this book is really worth to read. serius deh ringan, easily-read, informative in fun way!
chapter 1
perkenalan tokoh utama yg mengidap penyakit alexitimia karena ukuran amigdala nya yg kecil serta interaksi tokoh utama dengan keluarganya dideskripsikan dgn cara yg apik. trus juga kadang tuh lucuuuu misal kaya pas dia deskripsiin ibunya yg awet muda tapi pemilihan katanya tuh aduhhhhh malah bikin kesannya jadi kaya sebuah ejekan😭👎
chapter 2
penggambaran interaksi sosial tokoh utama setelah peristiwa naas yg dialami oleh nenek dan ibunya. interaksi sosial bermakna tuh pertama sama prof. shim dan ke depannya dia bakal bantuin tokoh utama buat berinteraksi.
trusss nanti di sini bakal ketemu sama gon, tokoh yg ngajarin arti "teman" buat tokoh utama.
chapter 3
MULAI KENAL CINTA AHAHAHA lucuuuu bgt pas deskripsiin perasaannya ke dora😭
pokoknya sampe chapter 3 semuanya oke oke aja gue seneng bgt. humornya dapet, dinamika kisahnya gak datar, and the protagonist is also lovable. besides that, tbh gon is such a cliche character. kelakuan preman tapi hati hello kitty. tapi tuh tetep bikin simpati sama gon atas semua masa lalunya😭😭😭💕
oke sekarang bagian ending sama epilog
alias alasan kenapa kaga jadi 5 stars soalnya
jujurrrr kecewa sama endingnya. kaya hah sinetron bgt ga sieee ueueueueue
sebenernya si masih masuk akal, soalnya dari awal jg dijelasin progress interaksi sosialnya. mulai dari mengamati mimik wajah gon, trus nanya2 ke prof. shim, apalagi pas naksir dora itu jelas ada bgt perkembangannya. cuma tuh gatauuuuu kenapa tapi gue kecewa bgt pas endingnya dia nangis kaya wahhhh sembuh nih??? padahal jg sebelumnya dia udh ngalamin peristiwa tragis jg. ngeliat anak dibully sampe meninggal, nenek ditikam, nyokap koma. tapi giliran kecelakaan sm temen dia gitu😭👎 ah gatau dehhhh mungkin ekspetasi gue aja yg krg sesuai hhhhh emg harusnya mah gausah berekspetasi hiks
oiya gue sukaaaa bgt karakter yoonjae si tokoh utama. dia memandang dunia apa adanya tanpa bias emosi karena alexitimia yg dideritanya. dia jg kesannya terlalu serius dan apa adanya tapi justru itu yg bikin lawak. his struggles to understand the complexity of our society is enjoyable to read.
overall, this book is really worth to read. serius deh ringan, easily-read, informative in fun way!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Blood
Moderate: Death
Minor: Child death
emotional
informative
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Violence, Blood, Murder
Moderate: Bullying