ALMOND - Won Pyung Sohn

ALMOND - Won Pyung Sohn

“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 book follows the story of Yunjae, a teen born with alexithymia - a condition where a person’s emotional senses are dimmed. Yunjae's relationship with his grandmother and mother is depicted beautifully;  when tragedy strikes and he loses both in a day, I can see and feel the depth of Yunjae’s condition and his mom’s concern.

I am also a huge fan of Yunjae’s and Gon’s friendship. They are completely different people; Gon feels everything a bit too much and tries to hide under a mask while Yunjae never feels enough to remove his mask. I enjoyed their conversations about various things and Gon’s attempt to ‘change’ Yunjae.  Dr Shim was a necessary character but I did not feel his backstory added anything to the story. As important as Dora was, I felt her introduction was rushed. The sudden recovery of Yunjae’s mom felt like the author was trying for somewhat of a fairytale ending for the book which according to me did not suit the story well and hurt Yunaje’s character development. My favourite thing about this book is the friendship dynamic between Gon and Yunjae. Yunjae’s willingness to stand up for Gon shows that their friendship is more than just chemicals in the brain, rather a bond they worked for.  

I loved the book mainly because it is  different from what  I previously read. 

4.9/5