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

emotional hopeful reflective sad 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

3.75

Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop is a cozy, slice of life read that examines burnout, disappointment, and abandoning your old life for a new one. It was a nice change of pace to read something that wasn’t so plot-focused — just a quiet examination of the inner self and the need for community, explored through a neighborhood bookstore.

Most importantly, she mustn’t forget her roots — that she was a book-lover at heart. If she and her employees loved books, wouldn’t the love also be passed on? If books were the medium though which the four of them communicated, joked, built friendships and love, wouldn’t the customers feel the same way? If people started to believe that there’s something in life that only people who read can discover, stories in this world that only people who read can tell, wouldn’t more of them be seduced to peel back the pages of a book? Yeongju wanted to live her life reading books and introducing them to others, so that when people walked in seeking a story, she could help them find what they needed.