Reviews with content warning for Animal cruelty - アーモンド

Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

アーモンド by Won-pyung Sohn

242 reviews

deedubb's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional hopeful 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

Great, fast read. Enjoyed characters and the struggle. Timeline was a little hard to follow.

Was worried it would be really tragic but the ending was so happy it was almost gooey.

Content Warnings

mh_reads's review against another edition

4.0

challenging emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

starglitters's review against another edition

4.75

emotional reflective 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

Love is what makes a person human, as well as what makes a monster.

Almond is a deeply touching and poignant book about what it means to love, and what love means to one. Despite not understanding what love is, Yunjae shows his ability to love through the way he thinks of his grandma, the way he visits his mom, the way he eats with Dr. Shin, and the way he chooses to understand Gon. Despite having never been shown love, Gon shows how capable he is of love, how willing he is to give them if he is given the chance.

Luck plays a huge part in all the unfairness of the world. But it is also luck that brings you to meet the person that will help you understand what love is.

Content Warnings

cho_da_in's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-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

This book destroys the meaning of ratings. Every other book I've rated 5 stars looks like a selfish diary entry by comparison. This is life transcribed in a book, and yet you turn your head and it also becomes the most beautiful collection of words I've ever seen strung together. Seriously guys the writing style is so beautiful and the characters are even better please give this a chance

Content Warnings

beatrizmlemos's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Content Warnings

elanuruysal's review against another edition

4.75

dark hopeful sad fast-paced

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

evabeva's review against another edition

4.5

challenging emotional 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

Content Warnings

star_witch's review against another edition

2.0

fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I purchased and read the book because I had only heard positive reviews…

I have been misled and deceived.

I could not take this book, the characters and their actions, or the plot seriously. This book reads like a kdrama and having finished this book, I still don't know if this is a good or a bad thing. Take a look at the plot points (spoilers ahead):

A deranged man committed a heinous crime that resulted in the death of Yunjae's grandmother and left his mother in a coma.

Following this event, a baker assumed the role of Yunjae's caretaker, only in the sense that he provides him with financial assistance and horrible advice.

Another man approached Yunjae at the hospital, where the latter was visiting his comatose mother. The man requested that Yunjae assume the role of his long-lost son in front of his dying wife. (despite having discovered his biological son and deeming him ill-fit to meet his mother)

The biological son (Gon) is a gangster with a criminal record who attends the same school as Yunjae.

Gon bullies Yunjae, motivated by Yunjae's deception regarding his identity to his [Gon’s] late mother, whom he had not seen or spoken to for 13 years due to him being missing. This escalates to a physical altercation where Gon inflicts severe injuries upon Yunjae.

Gon decides he wants to befriend Yunjae.

Manic pixie dream girl appears, because apparently every book needs a love interest. She has a quirk for running and offers nothing to the story.

Gon runs away and gets in with the wrong crowd.

Yunjae decides he wants to find Gon, which he successfully does but he has to give something in return.

Yunjae is beat within an inch of his life and ends up in the hospital. When he awakens he is greeted by his mother who has woken up from her coma.

The end.

The plot is ludicrous. It's so absurd I want to laugh.

I should also note that I don't have any personal experience with alexithymia, so I'm not sure if my interpretation is totally accurate, but it seemed like Yunjae's condition was used for the convenience of the plot.

- - -

Anyway,
I regret to inform you that the presence of quotable lines in a book does not guarantee its quality. While it is okay to read books purely for entertainment purposes, let’s not misrepresent this book's value.

No character exploration on an individual level
No relationship exploration
Unrealistic plot (that could have been interesting if it was handled with care)

If this sounds like a book you might enjoy, go ahead and read it. (please read the trigger warnings, and summary —which in my opinion, downplays the severity of some events)

…Or you can just watch a kdrama.

Content Warnings