Books took me to places I could never go otherwise. They shared the confessions of people I'd never met and lives I'd never witnessed. The emotions I could never feel, and the events I hadn't experienced could all be found in those volumes.”

Almond” - Medium 7 Reminders From Won-Pyung Sohn’s “Almond” - Medium

Quite melodramatic and with a lot of coincidences. However what especially did not sit well with me is how the neurodiverse main character is supposedly “cured” by friendship, romantic love and a Disney like act of self sacrifice. Well, and then his grandma died and his mother was out of the picture as well, leaving him to fight through all the troubles on his own. Okay, almost all on his own because Dr. Shim was amazing and I loved that he helped him out! Honestly, bless his soul because he just accepted Yunjae the way he was and tried to help him as best as he could. <3 But Dr. Shim isn’t the only one that helped him to find his way and Gon as well as Dora had an impact on the MCs character development.

Educado por su madre y su abuela, aprende a identificar las emociones de los demás y a fingir estados de ánimo para no destacar en un mundo que pronto lo tachará de extraño. «Si tu interlocutor llora, tú entrecierra los ojos, baja la cabeza y dale una suave palmada en la espalda», le dice su madre. Así construye una aparente normalidad que se hace trizas el día en que un psicópata ataca a ambas mujeres en la calle. Desde entonces, Yunjae debe aprender a vivir solo, sin deseo de derramar una lágrima, sin tristeza ni miedo ni felicidad. Though everyone has different ways of expressing themselves, it is still not right to speak to someone a certain way and pass it off as a joke if they express their discomfort. Even more so to people like Yunjae who struggles in deciphering feelings and emotions, the relationship between our words and our actions are vital. 2. Being able to feel is a blessing. Don’t take it for granted.

Almond Quotes by Sohn Won-Pyung - Goodreads Almond Quotes by Sohn Won-Pyung - Goodreads

Almendra" me ha recordado a "Flores para Algernon". En este caso un protagonista (Yunjae) al que sus amígdalas cerebrales ("Almendras") no se han desarrollado del todo, impidiéndole experimentar los sentimientos o de leerlos en los demás. Esto dificultará sus relaciones personales en su día a día. There is no such person who can’t be saved. There are only people who give up on trying to save others.ALMOND is such a stark and powerful book, written in spare prose and with surprising depth of emotion. I loved the neurodivergent hero and his quest to just try to live his life, despite his disability. I liked the subtleties of his development, and how the people around him helped him relate to himself and those around him in various ways (whether deliberately or inadvertently). I still feel like this could (and should) be read and enjoyed by a young adult audience, but again, it does have some dark content, like the aforementioned crime scene, and a scene involving graphic animal cruelty (a butterfly) that was quite hard to read and made me pretty sad. Obviously, as a psychology major, I was super-psyched (ha!) to receive a copy of this book from the publisher. It's also a translated work from Korea, which makes it an excellent choice for celebrating AAPI heritage month. Interestingly, I heard another reviewer saying that in Korea it's marketed to a young adult audience, but in the United States, it's been rebranded as an adult title. I can see why. This book is very dark. The teenage character sees his mother and grandmother bludgeoned and stabbed before him, killing his grandmother and putting his mother into the hospital. After their respective death and incapacitation, he is put into the care of a well-meaning neighbor, who lets him continue to live alone and run his mother's bookstore while he goes to school and tries to have some semblance of a normal life.

Almond: A Novel by Won-pyung Sohn | WHSmith

Suddenly Yunjae falls in love with a girl and we are told doctors sometimes get things wrong and now his amygdalae (!) are working and maybe even grew. Even though a few chapters ago Yunjae felt nothing when he saw his mother and grandmother bludgeoned with a hammer, he now magically can fall in love. Lastly, and I know it sounds like an excuse but neither you nor I nor anyone can ever really know whether a story is happy or tragic" This quote was extracted from the Author’s Note. She clarified that she would not classify whether Almond was a happy or tragic story, as no one would truly know. Will Yunjae be able to fully feel all emotions in the future? Will he be able to find love? Will he and Gon be friends for a long time? Will Yunjae and his mother be okay? In the prologue it states that, “I won’t tell you whether it has a happy ending or a tragic ending…neither you nor I nor anyone can ever really know whether a story is happy or tragic.” I think that perfectly sums up the book. It is sad at times, but there is still hope and happiness. The book toes the the line between both very well and highlights the complexities of life.Given the idea of nunchi in Korean culture, I personally found this story especially compelling. In a different setting, I don’t think it would have the same impact. And while there’s definitely subtext of commentary on Korean society, overall, I feel like the author was after telling a fresh YA/coming-of-age story, which this certainly is. The last part of the book is unbelievable as well. Too cutesy and neat of an ending. It didn't make sense and I didn't buy it. The first two-thirds (basically part 1&2) of this book was easily 5 stars for me but then it unfortunately went a bit downhill.