Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - Almond

Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Almond by Won-pyung Sohn

55 reviews

bella613's review against another edition

emotional reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.75

I loved this book. I read it because it's recommended by 방탄소년단 members. This book is easy to follow but its a lot to unpack as you go, so I listened to it slightly slower than I normally consume audiobooks. (Still in one sitting but at 2x instead of 2.5 or 3) It's very well translated and narrated as well.
The only thing that keeps it from getting 5☆ is that I dont love the ending. It felt kind of off and too sweet after everything.
Would definitely recommend.

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julierambaeck's review

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emotional informative inspiring reflective 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

3.0

An interesting thought-provoking book.

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deedubb's review

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Great, fast read. Enjoyed characters and the struggle. Timeline was a little hard to follow.

Was worried it would be really tragic but the ending was so happy it was almost gooey.

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cho_da_in's review

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad 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

This book destroys the meaning of ratings. Every other book I've rated 5 stars looks like a selfish diary entry by comparison. This is life transcribed in a book, and yet you turn your head and it also becomes the most beautiful collection of words I've ever seen strung together. Seriously guys the writing style is so beautiful and the characters are even better please give this a chance

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darkcamellia's review against another edition

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fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

A nice book, but for me personally not worth reading more than once.

Won-pyung Sohn explicitly illustrates her opinions on the crucial role of family, love, and empathy in a person's life, which corresponds in a rather straightforward manner with the author’s desire to show that love is the fine line between a human being and a monster.

I’d say it’s a light read thanks to the fast-paced plot, but the form is quite simple, inelaborate, without any particular rhetorical flourishes. I could easily imagine hearing it as a teenager recounts their life story late at night, in the kitchen, over a cup of tea.

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star_witch's review against another edition

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fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

I purchased and read the book because I had only heard positive reviews…

I have been misled and deceived.

I could not take this book, the characters and their actions, or the plot seriously. This book reads like a kdrama and having finished this book, I still don't know if this is a good or a bad thing. Take a look at the plot points (spoilers ahead):

A deranged man committed a heinous crime that resulted in the death of Yunjae's grandmother and left his mother in a coma.

Following this event, a baker assumed the role of Yunjae's caretaker, only in the sense that he provides him with financial assistance and horrible advice.

Another man approached Yunjae at the hospital, where the latter was visiting his comatose mother. The man requested that Yunjae assume the role of his long-lost son in front of his dying wife. (despite having discovered his biological son and deeming him ill-fit to meet his mother)

The biological son (Gon) is a gangster with a criminal record who attends the same school as Yunjae.

Gon bullies Yunjae, motivated by Yunjae's deception regarding his identity to his [Gon’s] late mother, whom he had not seen or spoken to for 13 years due to him being missing. This escalates to a physical altercation where Gon inflicts severe injuries upon Yunjae.

Gon decides he wants to befriend Yunjae.

Manic pixie dream girl appears, because apparently every book needs a love interest. She has a quirk for running and offers nothing to the story.

Gon runs away and gets in with the wrong crowd.

Yunjae decides he wants to find Gon, which he successfully does but he has to give something in return.

Yunjae is beat within an inch of his life and ends up in the hospital. When he awakens he is greeted by his mother who has woken up from her coma.

The end.

The plot is ludicrous. It's so absurd I want to laugh.

I should also note that I don't have any personal experience with alexithymia, so I'm not sure if my interpretation is totally accurate, but it seemed like Yunjae's condition was used for the convenience of the plot.

- - -

Anyway,
I regret to inform you that the presence of quotable lines in a book does not guarantee its quality. While it is okay to read books purely for entertainment purposes, let’s not misrepresent this book's value.

No character exploration on an individual level
No relationship exploration
Unrealistic plot (that could have been interesting if it was handled with care)

If this sounds like a book you might enjoy, go ahead and read it. (please read the trigger warnings, and summary —which in my opinion, downplays the severity of some events)

…Or you can just watch a kdrama.

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lambclown's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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lumew2's review against another edition

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dark 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? Yes

4.75

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noshinbean's review

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dark reflective fast-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? Yes

4.75

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teabrewer's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

When this book was first shown to me, it was described as Yunjae's story but it actually both Yunjae and Gon's. Two young boys called monsters and rejected by society for different reasons. They're so opposite they become similar.

Dora seemed like a random adition to the story, mainly because she could be completly removed without altering much. She felt like an accessory only written in to make an oportunity where romantic love could also be mentioned.

I don't know if the alexithymia representation was well done since I know nothibg about it and haven't seen anyone that does talking about this book. I didn't fully like the end, but didn't fully hate it either. I like the scenes where he was a small child, helpless for depending on grown ups that didin't take him seriously and trying to correspond to his mother's expectations. It made very interesting scenes.

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