A review by its_beautifully_bookish
Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum

challenging hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing slow-paced

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

5.0

Overall Rating: 5⭐️

Format: Paperback

Favourite Quote: “Reading makes you see with clearer eyes and understand the world better. When you do that , you become stronger - the feeling you associate with success. But at the same time with pain. Within the pages, there's much suffering, beyond that we've gone through in our finite experience of life. You'll read about suffering you didn't know existed. Having experienced their pain through words, it becomes a lot harder to focus on pursuing individual happiness and success. Reading makes you deviate further from the textbook definition of success because books don't make us go ahead of or above anyone else; they guide us to stand alongside others. We become more compassionate. To read is to see things from someone else's perspective, and that naturally leads you to stop and look out for other people, rather than chase after success in the rat race. If more people read, I think the world would become a better place.“

Tropes: reflective, thought provoking, healing fiction, power of second chances, the magic of books

By the rating you can probably already guess how much I enjoyed this book, I feel like my reading this year is going to be a lot less romance and more of these thought provoking stories. That being said there was an underlying tone of romance nearer the end. It was almost like a really slow slow burn but never really caught fire.

I really really enjoyed the way this book was written. It was so thought provoking every chapter made you think and see things from a different perspective and it wasn’t just that you saw it for the characters you were able to replicate that in your own life and be able to compare the two.

What I enjoyed is the slow pace of the book without the story dragging itself, it also broached very respectfully topics that many would rather not discuss and I really enjoyed thinking and reading about it all through this book.

I loved how this book spoke of the power of books and the power of reading, we all joke and share our reading with each other but if we do sit down and reflect we realise what a special and important hobby it is and what tools in life reading provides us!

I do feel like my review is not going to be detailed enough but I don’t think anything will truly do this story justice and help anyone who hasn’t read it understand what it was to be fully immersed in this story yet not feel consumed by it. It was beautiful!

I enjoyed each chapter as an individual and loved how they were carefully threaded together as a full storyline, the bookshop owner and the coffee bean seller, the barrister and the young boy, the boys mother and a women taking a break, the writer. All unique and playing a role in their own way.

I don’t think I’ve had such a thought provoking book in so long. I have read one recently but they are both so completely different but good in their own ways. I think if I had this book on a Kindle I would’ve highlighted most of it. I don’t currently tap my books but I really feel like I wanted to tap this book because it was just so incredible but then I wouldn’t have had any tabs left because I would’ve literally tapped pages every page…!! 

The amount of quotes that you stopped to think about and digest was so so good normally I read a book within three days. But I think I spent overall between 10 and 15 days on this book not because I wasn’t enjoying it I absolutely loved it but what I really liked is I wanted to put it down after a chapter and really think about how that chapter made me feel.

The authors note was really beautiful as well again more reflecting and more meaningful words written. I feel like this review is not gonna do this book justice.

Initially if I’m honest the reason I picked up this book is the cover is so so beautiful it’s detailed but it’s simple and it’s colourful but not overpowering and it really fits the story so well I can just imagine which characters are showing on the book. I am interested who the woman walking the dog is and all the chapters you can see her walking on the bottom of the pages. I don’t know why but I haven’t figured out who that is? I don’t remember a woman with a dog in the book. Is it the author?

So the cover pulled me in and the fact that it was about a book shop owner, but the story stole my heart!! 

I will definitely be looking out for more of this authors books.