Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Almond by Won-pyung Sohn

204 reviews

_meganrose's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad fast-paced

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

4.0

Fast-paced and simultaneously compelling. The ending has left me feeling a bit skeptical with how it all played out, but overall I enjoyed this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Death, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder

mulrine's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death

twentysomethinggirl's review

dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Bullying

julierambaeck's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, and Violence

die_on_mars's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty

winterdelight's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Death, Violence, and Death of parent

jessicamusch's review

challenging dark inspiring sad 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

The tragic tale of Yunjae (Almond), a boy with Alexithymia, the inability to identify and express emotions. When Almond’s mother and grandmother are shockingly attacked, Almond’s life changes forever. 

This is an excellent read. Fast paced, full of heart and the universal experience of youth. Although this is a sad story, hope is the shining key theme. 

The narrative voice of Almond, detached and slightly dejected, is juxtaposed with the extreme expressions of emotions by other characters, in particular his friend Gon. This is extremely effective in drawing out the subtle character development over the course of the book. 

The translation is excellent. The translator has taken liberties to make phrases feel natural to an English speaking audience. 

I find the portals of Korean society to be quite realistic, but query whether a western audience would find some aspects of the story relatable. For example, when Almond sees a middle schooler viciously beaten and runs to tell a local shopkeeper, the shopkeeper doesn’t have a strong reaction. Later, when the shopkeeper finds out the identity of the middle schooler, he blames Almond for not conveying the urgency of the situation. While I think the behaviour of the shopkeeper is certainly not common in Korea and is an extreme example, as a “mind your own business” mindset is strong in Korean society, I found this character compelling.

I feel like this is a book I will revisit again and again. 

"If you close your eyes first, you lose. I always won these kinds of games. Other people struggled to keep their eyes open, when I just didn't know how to close my eyes in the first place."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty and Violence

shaleen64's review

challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad medium-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

4.25

The book follows the friendship of two boys, both affected by traumatic events, who are both lovable in their own very different ways. 

An easy and heartwarming but at times heartbreaking read that explores the struggles of feeling either nothing at all or feeling too deeply. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Medical content, and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Drug use, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

deedubb's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

mh_reads's review

challenging emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Death of parent

Moderate: Domestic abuse

Minor: Rape