Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Almond by Won-pyung Sohn

220 reviews

plxtoprojector's review

hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, and Death

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Mental illness

Minor: Medical content and Violence

teabrewer's review

challenging emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

When this book was first shown to me, it was described as Yunjae's story but it actually both Yunjae and Gon's. Two young boys called monsters and rejected by society for different reasons. They're so opposite they become similar.

Dora seemed like a random adition to the story, mainly because she could be completly removed without altering much. She felt like an accessory only written in to make an oportunity where romantic love could also be mentioned.

I don't know if the alexithymia representation was well done since I know nothibg about it and haven't seen anyone that does talking about this book. I didn't fully like the end, but didn't fully hate it either. I like the scenes where he was a small child, helpless for depending on grown ups that didin't take him seriously and trying to correspond to his mother's expectations. It made very interesting scenes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Violence, Murder, Bullying, Toxic friendship, Animal death, and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Child abuse

rosalind's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful inspiring 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Animal cruelty, and Death

Moderate: Bullying, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood

Minor: Mental illness, Animal death, Child death, Death of parent, and Abandonment

httponyo's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.75

   I found myself crying at random parts. It made my chest ache but in a good way. Gon and Yunjae are very precious children and should be protected. 
   My only problem is that the ending seemed to come a little quickly? The build up to that momet is obvious but it reads like it happened suddenly. Other than that , read the story yourself and see if it brings out anything in you. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Moderate: Death, Bullying, Grief, Blood, and Child abuse

Minor: Abandonment and Animal cruelty

randeerebecca's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

• 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Bullying, Grief, Death, and Murder

cami_chai's review

dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Ableism, Death of parent, Murder, Blood, Death, Gore, Abandonment, and Bullying

Moderate: Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Deadnaming, Violence, and Cursing

Minor: Grief and Animal death

claudiashelf's review

emotional 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

4.25

❝ Mom said everything was for my sake, calling it love. But to me, it seemed more like we were doing this out of her own desperation not to have a child that was different. Love, according to Mom’s actions, was nothing more than nagging about every little thing, with teary eyes, about how one should act such and such in this and that situation. If that was love, I’d rather neither give nor receive any. But of course, I didn’t say that out loud. That was all thanks to one of Mom’s codes of conduct—Too much honesty hurts others—which I had memorized over and over so that it was stuck in my brain. ❞

The book centres around an enigmatic and complex character named Yunjae, who suffers from a rare condition called Alexithymia. This condition leaves him unable to experience emotions, which makes it difficult for him to interact with people and understand social cues. As the story unfolds, Yunjae meets an array of intriguing people, each with their own unique personalities and backgrounds. I see how Yunjae's relationship with them develops over time, how he tries to make sense of his emotions, or lack thereof, and how he navigates the world around him.

The author paints a vivid and compelling picture of Yunjae's journey, capturing every nuance of his struggles and triumphs. The book is a poignant exploration of the human condition, and the author's masterful storytelling keeps me captivated until the very end. Although the ending may have felt a little underwhelming, the book as a whole is a beautifully written, thought-provoking, and emotionally resonant tale.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Grief, and Bullying

miriyumi's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Murder

Moderate: Bullying

naa_'s review

challenging emotional hopeful lighthearted reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Murder, Bullying, Animal cruelty, Violence, Emotional abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Cursing, Grief, Child abuse, and Abandonment

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, and Suicidal thoughts

kyullua's review

hopeful inspiring sad fast-paced

• 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

4.0

the writting grabbed me in a way that it hasn’t happened since i was a teenager. i just had to know what happened next, you could feel yunjae devolpments in each page you read and because of that i couldn’t stop

the thing is this book is incredible if you take out the alexithimia part as it’s incredibly poorly portrayed, which is a shame considering that’s the main “thing” surroding the book.  it just feels like the author never researched what alexithimia even is

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Grief

Moderate: Blood, Bullying, and Death