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A review by ohsoreads
Almond by Won-pyung Sohn
5.0
Born with a mental disorder that disrupts one’s abilities to feel emotions, Yunjae and his mother puts up sticky notes of ways to react/behave so that he can be normal/blend in with the social community. A tragedy dawns on Yunjae when he was a teenager, on his birthday he loses his family and soon his purpose of living 'normally'. As he retreats further into his mother's used-bookstore, an unruly Gon comes barging into his life. A foe and a friendship forms between them, their lives then became intertwined as Gon attempts to help Yunjae gain true emotions.
This novel features themes of coming-of-age, sudden loss of a loved one, friendships and humanity.
I never expected this YA (young adult) novel to be so funny and an emotional rollercoaster. I am beyond grateful to add this to my 2021 Read pile. Almond is a true page-turner, I picked it up and couldn't put it down! I also love the character developments. Despite the lack of emotions in his life, Yunjae remains wise and considerate. Truly a wonderful being even without his missing element. As a bookworm, I found love in the book references. It's a kind of easter egg I look for in novels when the author weaves in those quote-worthy phrases.
I have included some of my favourite excerpts below:
"Books took me to places I could never go otherwise. They shared the confessions of people I'd never met and lives I'd never witnessed. The emotions I could never feel, and the events I hadn't experienced could all be found in those volumes."
"a bookstore is a place densely populated with tens of thousands of authors, dead or living, residing side by side. But books are quiet. They remain dead silent until somebody flips open a page. Only then so they spill out their stories, calmly and thoroughly, just enough at a time for me to handle."
"You eventually just move on with your life. I'm sure others would go back to their normal lives too, eating and sleeping and all, although it may take them longer than me. Humans are designed to move on and keep on living after all."
This novel features themes of coming-of-age, sudden loss of a loved one, friendships and humanity.
I never expected this YA (young adult) novel to be so funny and an emotional rollercoaster. I am beyond grateful to add this to my 2021 Read pile. Almond is a true page-turner, I picked it up and couldn't put it down! I also love the character developments. Despite the lack of emotions in his life, Yunjae remains wise and considerate. Truly a wonderful being even without his missing element. As a bookworm, I found love in the book references. It's a kind of easter egg I look for in novels when the author weaves in those quote-worthy phrases.
I have included some of my favourite excerpts below:
"Books took me to places I could never go otherwise. They shared the confessions of people I'd never met and lives I'd never witnessed. The emotions I could never feel, and the events I hadn't experienced could all be found in those volumes."
"a bookstore is a place densely populated with tens of thousands of authors, dead or living, residing side by side. But books are quiet. They remain dead silent until somebody flips open a page. Only then so they spill out their stories, calmly and thoroughly, just enough at a time for me to handle."
"You eventually just move on with your life. I'm sure others would go back to their normal lives too, eating and sleeping and all, although it may take them longer than me. Humans are designed to move on and keep on living after all."