Reviews with content warning for Blood - Almond

Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Almond by Won-pyung Sohn

125 reviews

ldpaige's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.75

What are you going to do here? Do you think enduring all this will make you strong? This isn’t strong. It’s just pretending to be.

i absolutely enjoyed this book. it started out rocky for me, and i was even contemplating DNF-ing this book due to some plot continuity issues early on. if i could give a word of advice to someone interested in this book (namely people like me who read reviews to see if it’s up their alley and worth the read), hang on. it WILL get better.

i LOVED the characters, even though some were more fleshed out than others. the story, as well as the world around it, is so interesting and beckons you to lean in and feel what others can’t. it explores emotions and the boundaries of it, imposed by ourselves and what we are simply exposed to.

i recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a bittersweet coming-of-age story or anyone who just wants a fresh perspective. it felt a bit preachy in the beginning, maybe even pretentious. however, understanding the character put everything into perspective and helped me to best grasp what the author was trying to say in the first place. you realize, towards the end, the author and MC may be more similar than different.

this is a book that earned all of its 4.75 stars.

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navayiota's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Yet another banger. I wish I had known earlier that there are so many great Korean authors, and I hope others won't make the same mistake as me and wait so long to explore Korean literature. I can easily see this becoming a modern classic, and it will be completely justified. Almond is a flawless exploration of disability in society, and a character study of a boy unable to feel emotions. This book had me gasping, tearing up and giggling.. highly recommend.

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molly_rose's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring fast-paced

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

5.0

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hareems's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.75

Spoiler

4.75/5

Only 0.25 docked because some loose ends weren't tied. I don't mind that, but I think it may have further enhanced the story to at least reach a reunion between the two friends, even if it was just wordless, just a smile seeing each other again. I think Gon seeing Yunjae smile would've itself been incredibly significant. It was significant for Yunjae to cry and laugh in front of his mom. But we knew Gon for longer and Gon had a bigger (narrated) impact on Yunjae, so he deserved to see Yunjae's change just as much as his mother did (in the context of the story).

I appreciated that the ending was happier than reality. Sometimes we need that. A book that is heavily dosed with reality but that still gives us a proper happy ending instead of just a small glimmer of hope at the end.

I'm hopeful Gon changes. He's been shown too soft to really turn out poorly. And Dora isn't going anywhere. She'll stay in touch because she wants to stay in touch.

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ankita1996's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective 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

3.0

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solasuaine's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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sarahemhavens's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I am absolutely blown away by this book. This book floats around all over Bookstagram and I am so grateful for that because it deserves not only popularity, but to be digested and appreciated by many.

Almond is a story of true identity, the core of people, friendship, family, and love. It is an incredibly unique look at human emotions, through the eyes of a boy who “can feel nothing.” Both Won-Pyung Sohn and translator Sandy Joosun Lee capture Yunjae’s emotional constrictions while letting him soar with more understanding and care than most people capable. Almond faces the human condition with grace, tackling not only the question of inherent good vs inherent evil, but also whether a story is happy or tragic.

I was not expecting this book to steam roll over me and my emotions, but I am truly enthralled by this book. The characters, the writing, the story, the translation - this book is a masterpiece. I already wish I could read it for the first time again. I wish I could teach myself a whole new language just to read this in it’s original text 😭(Please make sure you go in blind and don’t spoil this book for yourself and please please read this!!!!😭)

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