Reviews - Willkommen in meiner Buchhandlung

8.14k reviews for:

Willkommen in meiner Buchhandlung

Hwang Bo-Reum

4.01 AVERAGE

jmmoore2003's review against another edition

5.0

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective 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: Complicated

lucyjkimee's review against another edition

5.0

emotional hopeful inspiring 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: No

So simple, and yet not.

So easy to digest, and yet not.

So perfect, and yet not.

But always beautiful and spiritually profound.

The characters felt real because they are real. I know a minjun and a yeonju and a jimi. In fact I’m all of them all at once. I’m scared of failure and I’m scared of tomorrow, but this novel made me feel less so.

I shed quarts of tears for these characters. Both happy and sad. A world with ever shifting narratives and ideals and regular people who have no choice but to conform.

I’ve heard people say that this novel should’ve been more than it was. More radical in its politics and views on society with more outspoken characters. How behind Korea is compared to the west in its political development. But I disagree. In some ways Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop was more radical than any political manifesto I’ve ever read.
(An exaggeration I guess, but also not…?)

I won’t lie and say this book cured all my woes and worries for the future. It didn’t decimate my fears of failure and a certain desire to conform to the capitalist system that runs this forsaken world. But it healed me just a bit. It changed me just a little bit. It made me feel is the point, just as the author intended. And isn’t that the point of everything?

rongrong's review against another edition

4.5

reflective 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: No

Delightfully cozy and warm, like a mug of hot tea you didn’t know you wanted because there was always so much coffee on offer.

sam_dt's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing tense medium-paced

Hal yang paling aku suka dari novel ini adalah bagaimana penulis mendeskripsikan Toko Buku Hyunam-Dong. Toko buku lokal dengan fasilitas yang sangat nyaman bagi para pengunjung. Bukan hanya itu saja, Toko Buku Hyunam-Dong bisa juga sebagai tempat kegiatan mengulas buku, mengulas film, dan terkadang bisa menjadi tempat nyaman untuk beristirahat dari dunia luar yang begitu sibuk dan melelahkan, serta sebagai tempat untuk mencurahkan berbagai masalah kehidupan dan pada akhirnya saling menguatkan satu sama lain. Contohnya Yeong-Joo yang merasa hidupnya hampa walau sudah berhasil mendirikan toko buku, dan Min-Joon yang selalu merasa hidupnya berjalan di tempat.

Penulis juga menyempilkan berbagai macam judul buku lain di novelnya ini, dan tentu bisa dibaca oleh kalian.

kklara's review against another edition

5.0

hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

joeesuuu's review against another edition

5.0

★★★★★ // i am often cautious with popular books especially one that is in the league of “self-help” since it ends up being disappointing or preachy. but this one was something else — it got me right from the start. maybe it is because i am actually feeling the work burnout and going through a lot. every time i read this, may it be an entire chapter, a conversation, or just one line that resonate with me, i find myself almost crying or sighing in relief knowing someone felt or experienced the same. to me, this novel is like a warm hug. someone in this world understands exactly what i feel, my fears and worries, and most importantly that i deserve to love myself better.

i have so many favourite parts in the book but maybe if i can pick one, it is the chapter called “i’ll be rooting for you.” it is a chapter dedicated to the idea of happiness and what we believe should make us happy and where to find it. life has so much to offer, happiness can be found anywhere, we just have to reach for it and get ourselves there.

all of the characters here are lovely, and at one point or another, i got to relate to them and their stories. despite not sharing the exact circumstance, there was always something worth picking up from their experience. the character i identified with the most was minjun the barista though. i understood the pressure that he felt to find a “good” job and the disappointment when he struggled to land one. how do you pick the pieces of yourself that you lost because you had been so focused on one thing that you did not immediately see that there are other options? in a world that attempts to suck the life out of us by ascribing all these steps to success, it was through minjun that i realize even more the importance of finding your own place in this world and not letting anyone define it for you.

for so long, these characters had let themselves be defined by the work that they do. they think that they can only be happy as long as they do good work and get recognized for it. they somehow got lost in the work until they reached their breaking points. hence the running theme of understanding all forms of love is an essential part of this book. central to this is the way that yeongju cares for her bookshop, not just about trying to meet goals or earning profits. they are essential, but the experience of falling in love with books and reading again was her priority and what she tries to influence her staff, friends, and customers. everything you do, you do out of love, and eventually it will grow and reach more people. love is supposed to be nurturing, doing things out of love sustains us in life.