Almond is the kind of book you will not regret taking the time to read. I first saw it as a book recs reel of foreign authors, then as one for shorter books you can read in a day. Considering I love reading about different perspectives and experiences growing up, especially pertaining to cultures and regions, these reels put Almond pretty high on my priority list. Then I started getting some reviews across my feed and they did not disappoint. When it finally came to picking Almond up, I was in a reading slump and reader crisis (like a life crisis but for books and reading direction) so I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to read it before it was due back. I am so glad I have managed to do so, and though it might be a bit early to say it, I think Almond has put me back into the groove of reading.

Almond is on the shorter side, sitting at 255 pages, and the chapters are short and concise. This actually works really well with the characterisation and narrative style because of Yunjae’s condition. Yunjae, our protagonist and the narrator, has alexithymia, a condition which makes emotions difficult to feel and understand. Naturally, his thought process is one that is factual, observant in a clinical way simply due to growing up not without the ability to feel emotions. Things happen in his everyday life, and in the key points of the plot, that are highly emotive for the reader and its made even more so because Yunjae does not know how to react. This characterisation is so powerful and really encompasses all aspects of the story, making Yunjae into a unique, three-dimensional character who happens to have alexithymia rather than being an emotionless boy just for something different.

Not only do we have different familial relationships to the mainstream story, but the friendships aren’t ones we’d see (or admit to having) for a lot of places around the world. Yunjae’s mother is a single mum who has a strained relationship with her mother since before Yunjae was born and it’s not until Yunjae is seven that she rebuilds the bridge between them and brings her mother back into her life. Then the turning point happens and things horrifically change. The friendships in Yunjae’s life aren’t simple, nor are they ‘ordinary’ friendships. It may come across as a little depressing to some, the fact his friends have parents who either don’t treat them right or don’t care for their dreams, but in many places this isn’t a far-fetched or unrealistic note. I won’t go into too much detail because I do want you to read the book as see for yourself, but these family relationships and friendships really make me question the important things in life and how seemingly basic questions can be really difficult to answer, especially when we don’t feel like we’ve really understood what it means.

I wish I could say more about this book because it deserves a long review but I am lost for words. I highly recommend this to all. Not only is Almond a fantastic book and a mesmerising read, but it poses so many questions and challenges us to really think about life and the meaning of things. Go check it out, request it from the library, ask a friend if you can read it. Really, you will not regret it one bit.