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elanuruysal's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, and Murder
darkcamellia's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Won-pyung Sohn explicitly illustrates her opinions on the crucial role of family, love, and empathy in a person's life, which corresponds in a rather straightforward manner with the author’s desire to show that love is the fine line between a human being and a monster.
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Child death, Death, Physical abuse, and Violence
Minor: Child abuse
bmpicc's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I do wonder if I lost a little in the translation. There are some bits that felt almost too unbelievable for me, but I still liked it.
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder
evabeva's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Death, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Bullying and Cursing
Minor: Animal cruelty
star_witch's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
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)
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Torture, Violence, Murder, and Toxic friendship
fruitsaladsk's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Mental illness, Violence, Murder, and Abandonment
meeklovestoread's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I'd like to note that I didn't know this was a piece of translated fiction so maybe certain concepts that were supposed to be more prominent were lost in translation.
Okay, I'd like to say the first half was promising and then it just went "downhill" for me. Which is not to say the story was bad, but I just felt like it could've been more emotional, more impactful, more promising.
The friendship between Yunjae and Gon felt so lackluster to me which renders Yunjae's gesture towards Gon idiotic to me
Also, Dora's characterization also felt lackluster to me as well. I understand her purpose but in my opinion, her presence was very much so unimpactful and didn't bring much to the story at all. Honestly, because I've consumed a decent amount of ya coming of age stories, I honestly thought there was going to be something between Gon and Yunjae. It's fine that there wasn't, but I was just expecting more.
The way Yunjae introduced Gon and Dora I thought they were going to impact the main character in a life-altering way and it was going to be this epic, emotional story about the binds of friendship and family and illness and sadly it all just fell so flat for me. And the ending. I hate reusing adjectives, but again, lackluster and felt kinda like a cop-out. And felt like a forced "HEA".
I know I keep harping on about my qualms about this book, but it honestly wasn't a bad book by any stretch of the phrase. I really enjoyed learning about alexithymia and the way the main character thinks and views things. It was nice to get a glimpse into another type of human experience that I didn't even know existed so learning about Yunjae and his struggles was nice. And getting to witness the relationship between his mother and his grandmother and their past lives. As well as Yunjae's relationship with Dr. Shim.
Overall, again this is not a bad book. It has so many 4 and 5 stars ratings. It sadly just didn't hit for me and that's okay!
Graphic: Bullying, Death, Mental illness, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Cursing and Violence
Minor: Child death, Sexual content, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, and Toxic friendship
annamgoodman's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Gore, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
flashandoutbreak's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Death, Blood, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail
lambclown's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Abandonment
Moderate: Animal cruelty and Child abuse
finally a book with a happy and not-vague ending!