Reviews

okay wow i literally just finished it and i actually thought yunjae died and didn’t read far enough ahead to realize he hadn’t so i went through all that grief and he woke up alive 😭 anyways the ending was pretty heartwarming. yunjae’s realization of his feelings(?) and the way gon acts towards yunjae 😭 like they both grew so much even in the face of tragedy because of each other which is why i was so fucking sad when i thought yunjae died. gon’s reaction there was fucking heartbreaking because he truly does seem like a good kid who grew up without a stable environment or any good coping mechanisms. obvi he still had his moments because that can’t be fixed immediately but he was going to therapy and working on it. and yunjae’s mom woke up! and gon’s dad is trying to focus on his son only! honestly positive endings on all fronts which i truly thought was not going to happen because the book opens by saying i don’t know whether this will be a happy or sad ending 😭 i was a bit scared for parts because i was expecting a sad ending… but that just made the positive ending so much better! beautiful story of friendship between two outcasts who help each other become better <3

alexarose19's review against another edition

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emotional medium-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

mariahcarey666's review against another edition

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4.0

"But books were different. They had lots of blanks. Blanks between words and even between lines. I could squeeze myself in there and sit, or walk, or scribble down my thoughts. It didn't matter if I had no idea what the words meant. Turning the pages was half the battle."

"I have never been abandoned by anyone. Even though my brain was a mess, what kept my soul whole was the warmth of the hands holding mine on both sides."

" 'What does love mean' Mom asked mischievously.
'To discover beauty'."

4.5 ⭐

blacboba's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny inspiring lighthearted reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

ankimonkey26's review against another edition

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emotional reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

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

4.5

natato's review against another edition

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2.75

I really liked the author's note and the translator's notes - i think they made this a 3ish star rather than a 2ish star read for me. The idea and plot itself was an interesting approach to discussing empathy when emotions can't be felt, through a more objective experience.

Very interesting and quick read - I agree with a couple of the reviews that the second half seems quite rushed compared to the first half, and in particular the resolution/ending parts end up feeling a bit convenient rather than a natural progression of the story.

The book was ~200 pages on my Kobo and had 75ish chapters, which sometimes felt like an excuse to include kind of tangential paragraphs (because sometimes a chapter really was just a paragraph long) amongst the rest of the story. It made it a super quick read, but just felt a little disjointed because of it.

bookswithkarolina's review against another edition

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dark emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

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