A review by kindredbooks
Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-reum

5.0

I received an e-galley of Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-reum from Bloomsbury Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

"Books are not meant to remain in your mind, but in your heart. Maybe they exist in your mind too, but as something more than memories. At a crossroads in life, a forgotten sentence or a story from years ago can come back to offer an invisible hand and guide you to a decision. Personally, I feel like the books I've read led me to make the choices I've made in life. While I may not remember all the details, the stories continue to exert a quiet influence on me.”

I love a good slice of life book about books, bookshops, and the love of reading. Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop was all this and more. As I read it, I was comforted by the stories and lives of the people who found themselves at the Hyunam-dong Bookshop, hidden away in a quiet neighbourhood in Seoul, South Korea. 

Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop is about a woman, Yeongju who opens the Hyunam-dong Bookshop who gives up away her previous life. As she tries to figure out how to survive in this declining industry of independent bookshops, she meets and encounters other individuals who are also trying to figure out how to live the life they want. The bookshop becomes a bit of a retreat and place of solace, comfort, and meaning as the individuals who come upon it interact and build their friendships. 

I truly enjoyed and loved Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop. It had all the elements that I enjoyed from reading Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, but with more individuals in the cast of characters to immerse myself in their stories and interactions with one another. And there were so many of these interactions and conversations between the characters that really connected and spoke to my heart and soul. 

"The worst thing was having to act like I was fine when I wasn't. I cried every night, feeling so sorry for myself for not being able to speak of my pain. I wonder if things would have turned out different, if I could have been like you, sitting here and letting go of everything else. The tears wouldn't stop, but you know, when we feel like crying, we could let it all out. Forcing them back only makes the wounds heal slower."