Almond is the story of Yunjae- a person who was born with alexithymia. It is a condition where the amygdala of the brain doesn’t grow and respond to the human emotions.
The book gets its name for two reasons: Yunjae’s mother’s obsession of feeding him almonds everyday in the hope that it would cure his condition; and the fact that amygdala looks like an almond.
It is a simple novel about a complex condition. It doesn’t confuse the readers with excessive medical terms that might go over the head as the language is easy to comprehend.
The contrast between the narrations of Yunjae and Gon- his frenemy is brought out well. Yunjae gives a straight-forward narration like that of a diary-entry which lacks any emotion. Gon’s narration is filled with impulsive emotions like that of a kid trying to figure out the sentence as he writes in his shabby handwriting. The change of Yunjae’s narrative style and his response to the ways of world around him as he befriends Gon is subtly evident.
While this book represents a generation of kids who seem to be misunderstood in a world where the adults are too stringent with the way of their lives; it also depicts the societal pressure that the adults have to deal with which makes them take the parenting choices they do.
Personally, I would have liked to read a more realistic approach of the story as it suddenly felt too dramatic and fast-paced towards the end. However, if we consider it as creating a spike to the readers, it is a valid approach. Given that it is a neurodivergent condition that is rarely represented, I like the fact that the protagonist was shown in a positive light, because typically, a character with lack of feelings would be portrayed as a psychopath. Overall, it is well-rounded book that creates enough curiosity for the reader to feel for a character who cannot feel anything.