ALMOND ENGLISH 10 BOOK

First: THE ONE-SENTENCE VERSION

Almond is about Yunjae, a teenage boy with alexithymia who has trouble experiencing and understanding emotions, and how his relationships with Gon and Dora, along with major loss, gradually change his understanding of emotions, friendship, and what it means to be human. 

👦 YUNJAE — KNOW THIS CHARACTER REALLY WELL

Yunjae = main character/narrator

He was born with a very small amygdala, an almond-shaped part of the brain involved in processing emotions. This contributes to his alexithymia, meaning he has difficulty recognizing and experiencing emotions in the way most people do.

IMPORTANT:

Yunjae is NOT incapable of thinking.

He’s intelligent and observant. He just doesn’t automatically understand emotional reactions.

His mom basically teaches him how to act “normal.”

She puts notes around the house telling him things like when he should smile, laugh, apologize, etc.

So Yunjae often knows:

“This situation is supposed to make someone sad.”

but not necessarily:

“I feel sad.”

That’s REALLY important to the entire novel.

👩‍👦 HIS FAMILY

Mom

Yunjae’s mother loves him very deeply, but she’s also extremely worried about how the world will treat him.

She spends years teaching him how to behave so that people won’t realize how different his emotional responses are.

She and Yunjae live above/run a used bookstore.

His father died before Yunjae was born, so Yunjae is raised primarily by his mother.

Grandma

His grandmother eventually moves in with them.

She’s loud, blunt, funny, and extremely protective of Yunjae.

She calls him a “monster”, but it’s actually affectionate.

That is important because the word monster comes up repeatedly throughout the book.

She accepts Yunjae instead of constantly trying to “fix” him.

🎄 THE BIGGEST EVENT IN THE BEGINNING

Yunjae’s birthday is Christmas Eve.

His mother and grandmother take him out to celebrate.

Then a random act of violence happens outside the restaurant.

His grandmother dies and his mother is left in a coma.

Yunjae survives.

And here’s the important part:

Yunjae doesn’t react the way everyone expects.

At the funeral, he doesn’t cry.

People think this is disturbing.

But Yunjae isn’t choosing to be heartless.

He genuinely doesn’t experience the emotion in the normal way.

This event completely changes his life. 

🏪 AFTER THE ATTACK

Yunjae is basically left to figure out life by himself.

He:

• visits his mother in the hospital

• keeps the bookstore running

• continues going to school

• tries to follow the rules his mother taught him

A really important adult enters his life:

👨‍⚕ Dr. Shim

Dr. Shim is connected to Yunjae’s family and becomes a sort of guardian/mentor.

He helps Yunjae financially and gives him advice about emotions, relationships, and life.

He’s basically one of the few adults who actually supports Yunjae instead of judging him.

😡 THEN GON SHOWS UP

THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PARTS OF THE BOOK.

Gon

Gon is basically Yunjae’s opposite.

Yunjae:

doesn’t show much emotion

Gon:

feels EVERYTHING intensely and has trouble controlling it.

He’s angry, violent, impulsive, and gets into trouble constantly.

But underneath all of that, Gon is extremely lonely.

He has experienced abandonment and doesn’t really feel loved by the people who are supposed to care about him.

So you have these two boys:

Yunjae = can’t properly feel emotions

Gon = feels emotions so intensely that he can’t control them

And somehow…

THEY BECOME FRIENDS.

That’s basically the heart of the entire novel.

🦋 THE BUTTERFLY SCENE — KNOW THIS

Gon wants to see whether Yunjae can actually feel empathy.

So he brings a butterfly into the situation and tries to make Yunjae react emotionally.

Yunjae doesn’t react the way Gon expects.

And Gon becomes upset himself.

This is important because it shows something:

Gon actually has empathy.

He may act violent and angry, but he cares deeply.

Yunjae slowly begins to understand that Gon isn’t just a “bad kid.”

He’s a hurt kid.

🏃‍♀ DORA

Then Yunjae meets Dora.

Dora is a girl who loves running.

She’s independent and very focused on her passion.

Yunjae becomes interested in her because he starts experiencing unfamiliar physical/emotional reactions around her.

For example, his heart starts beating faster.

He doesn’t immediately understand:

“Oh, I like her.”

He has to figure out what the feeling means.

Eventually, Yunjae and Dora become romantically interested in each other.

⚠ GON’S JEALOUSY

This becomes a HUGE problem.

Gon is extremely attached to Yunjae.

When Yunjae starts spending more time with Dora, Gon feels abandoned.

He becomes increasingly angry and starts hanging around dangerous people.

Eventually, Gon gets involved with Steel Wire, a dangerous older criminal.

💰 THE SCHOOL TRIP

Something goes wrong during a school trip involving missing money.

The money ends up associated with Gon, and people assume he stole it.

Gon becomes furious because he feels like nobody believes or cares about him.

This pushes him further away from Yunjae and toward the people he is hanging around with.

🚨 THE CLIMAX

Yunjae realizes Gon is in serious trouble.

Even though Yunjae doesn’t completely understand all of the emotions involved, he knows:

Gon is his friend and he needs help.

So Yunjae goes looking for him.

He eventually finds Gon being held by Steel Wire.

Yunjae is put in an extremely dangerous situation.

And THIS is the moment that shows how much Yunjae has changed.

Earlier in the book, Yunjae mostly follows instructions about how he’s supposed to behave.

Now he makes his own choice.

He chooses to protect Gon.

❤ THE BIG EMOTIONAL BREAKTHROUGH

Yunjae is seriously hurt during the confrontation.

Gon is devastated.

He cries over Yunjae and begs him to survive.

And Yunjae finally experiences something different.

He feels emotion rather than simply observing or memorizing it.

Later, his mother wakes from her coma.

When Yunjae sees her again, he finally cries and laughs with her.

That is incredibly important because at the beginning of the novel, he couldn’t understand those emotions in the same way.

By the end, he’s changed. 

🧩 THE BIGGEST THEMES

If your teacher gives you an essay question, these are GOLD.

1. 🫶 What does it mean to be human?

The book constantly asks whether emotions are what make someone human.

Yunjae doesn’t experience emotions normally, but he’s still capable of:

• caring

• learning

• forming relationships

• making choices

• protecting people

So the novel challenges the idea that being human = feeling emotions in a specific way.

2. ❤ Empathy

This is probably THE biggest theme.

The book compares different kinds of people.

Yunjae: struggles to feel emotions.

Gon: feels emotions extremely intensely.

Other characters: may feel emotions but still fail to understand other people.

The point is basically:

Empathy isn’t just automatically feeling what another person feels. It can also involve choosing to understand and care about them.

3. 👹 “Monsters”

Yunjae calls himself a monster because other people view him as strange.

Gon is also treated like a monster because of his anger and behavior.

But the book asks:

Who is actually the monster?

Is someone a monster because they’re different?

Or because of the choices they make?

This is a HUGE idea.

4. 🧠 Nature vs. growth

Yunjae begins the story with something that seems like it will define his entire life.

But his experiences change him.

His relationships with:

Gon + Dora + Dr. Shim + his mother

help him grow.

So the novel suggests that people aren’t completely defined by their starting circumstances.

🌰 WHY IS IT CALLED

ALMOND

?

THIS WILL ABSOLUTELY BE TESTABLE.

The title refers to the amygdala, the almond-shaped part of the brain connected to emotional processing.

Yunjae’s amygdala is unusually small.

So:

Almond → amygdala → Yunjae’s emotional processing

It also becomes a symbol for the central question of the book:

Can someone with a different emotional experience still learn about love, friendship, and humanity?

👥 CHARACTER CHEAT SHEET

🚨 10 THINGS YOU NEED TO MEMORIZE TONIGHT

If you’re REALLY short on time, memorize these:

1. Yunjae is the protagonist.

2. He has alexithymia and an unusually small amygdala.

3. His mother teaches him how to imitate normal emotional responses.

4. His grandmother accepts him and loves him despite his differences.

5. A violent attack on Christmas Eve kills his grandmother and leaves his mother in a coma.

6. Dr. Shim helps Yunjae after the tragedy.

7. Gon is Yunjae’s opposite: extremely emotional, angry, and impulsive.

8. Yunjae and Gon become close friends despite being very different.

9. Dora helps Yunjae experience unfamiliar feelings, including romantic feelings.

10. Yunjae ultimately risks himself to save Gon, showing that he has developed genuine connections and emotional understanding.

⚠ BUT DON’T STOP HERE

This is enough to understand the basic story, but your teacher can absolutely ask specific-detail questions like:

• What happened to Yunjae’s father?

• Why did his mother put notes around the house?

• Why does his grandmother call him a monster?

• What exactly happens between Gon and his father?

• Why does Gon become involved with Steel Wire?

• What does the butterfly represent?

• Why is Dora important to Yunjae’s development?

• What does Dr. Shim teach Yunjae?

• How does Yunjae change from the beginning to the end?

• Why is the title Almond significant?

I can make you a full “TEST TOMORROW” study guide next with the plot broken down into the actual sections/chapters + the specific details teachers are most likely to test. That would be MUCH more useful than just rereading a giant summary tonight. 😭📚

YES. 😭📚 I’m making you the actual emergency Almond study guide. I checked the chapter structure for the HarperCollins/Joosun Lee edition you showed me, so this is organized around the Prologue → Part 1 (Ch. 1–18) → Part 2 (Ch. 19–48) → Part 3 (Ch. 49–62) → Part 4 (Ch. 63–Epilogue) structure. 

⚠ MASSIVE SPOILERS BELOW. That’s exactly what you need for tomorrow.

🌰 ALMOND — TEST TOMORROW CRASH COURSE

FIRST: THE ENTIRE BOOK IN 90 SECONDS

Yunjae is born with unusually small amygdalae, which makes it difficult for him to recognize, experience, and express emotions normally. He is diagnosed with alexithymia.

His mom spends his childhood teaching him how to behave in situations where he’s “supposed” to feel something. His grandmother accepts him much more naturally.

On Christmas Eve, Yunjae’s mother and grandmother are caught in a violent attack. His grandmother dies and his mother ends up in a coma. Yunjae survives, but his lack of an emotional reaction makes other people see him as strange or even monstrous. 

Afterward, Yunjae meets Gon, a troubled boy who is basically his opposite. Yunjae doesn’t show much emotion; Gon feels emotions intensely and has trouble controlling them.

They start off badly, but eventually become friends.

Then Yunjae meets Dora, a girl who loves running. Through Dora, he begins discovering feelings that he doesn’t fully understand, including romantic feelings.

Meanwhile, Gon becomes increasingly angry and isolated. He’s falsely accused of stealing money at school, and after feeling abandoned by basically everyone, he disappears.

Yunjae realizes that he can’t just stand there and observe what happens to Gon. He chooses to go find him because Gon is his friend.

Yunjae eventually finds Gon in serious danger and risks himself to protect him.

Afterward, Yunjae’s mother wakes from her coma.

And for the first time, Yunjae genuinely experiences and expresses strong emotion with her.

At the end, Yunjae has graduated and plans to visit Gon.

The biggest change:
At the beginning, Yunjae learns emotions as a set of rules.

At the end, he begins to experience relationships and emotions for himself.

📖 PART 1 — CHAPTERS 1–18

What you NEED to know

This section establishes who Yunjae is and why he’s different.

Yunjae’s childhood

Yunjae doesn’t react to things the way other people expect.

His mother notices that something is different when he’s young.

Doctors eventually identify his condition as alexithymia.

His mom becomes determined to teach him how to function in a world where people expect emotional reactions.

She essentially teaches him:

Situation → appropriate reaction

For example:

Someone is crying → comfort them.

Someone tells a joke → laugh.

Someone dies → look sad.

Yunjae understands these rules intellectually, even though he doesn’t naturally feel the emotions behind them.

👩 Mom + 👵 Granny

His mother is extremely protective.

She worries:

“What happens when I’m not around to help him?”

That’s why she spends so much time preparing him for the world.

His grandmother is different.

She basically says:

This is who he is. I love him anyway.

She even calls him a monster, but it’s affectionate rather than hateful.

That becomes important later when the book asks:

WHO is actually a monster?

🌰 THE ALMONDS

His mother gives Yunjae almonds.

Why?

Because the amygdala is shaped like an almond, and she hopes that eating almonds will somehow help his brain develop.

Obviously, eating almonds isn’t going to magically change his amygdala.

But symbolically, this is important.

The almonds represent his mother’s hope that Yunjae can grow and change. 

🎄 THE CHRISTMAS EVE ATTACK

This is one of the MOST IMPORTANT EVENTS IN THE ENTIRE BOOK.

Yunjae’s birthday is Christmas Eve.

He’s out with his mom and grandmother when a violent man attacks people.

Yunjae watches what happens without reacting emotionally.

His grandmother dies.

His mother is seriously injured and falls into a coma.

Yunjae is left without the two people who had basically been his entire support system. 

WHY THIS MATTERS

This is where the story changes.

Before:

Mom + Granny → protect Yunjae

After:

Yunjae → has to navigate the world alone

And other people interpret his lack of emotional reaction as being cold, creepy, or heartless.

But the reader knows:

He isn’t choosing not to care. His brain processes emotions differently.

👨‍🏫 PROFESSOR YUN + THE “LEESU” SITUATION

This part is REALLY important because it’s easy to mix up.

Professor Yun has a wife who is dying.

Their son, Leesu, disappeared years earlier.

Professor Yun finds Yunjae and asks him to pretend to be Leesu so his dying wife can see her son again.

Yunjae agrees.

His fake identity eventually becomes connected to Gon, because Gon is actually Professor Yun’s real son.

So:

Professor Yun → Gon’s father

Leesu → Gon/Yun’s missing son identity

Yunjae → temporarily pretends to be Leesu

This creates a weird connection between Yunjae and Gon before they actually become friends.

😡 PART 2 — CHAPTERS 19–48

ENTER GON.

Gon comes to Yunjae’s school.

And he is NOT happy about Yunjae.

Gon basically sees Yunjae as someone who has taken his place in his family’s life.

So Gon starts bullying him.

🆚 YUNJAE VS. GON

This is one of the MOST IMPORTANT CHARACTER CONTRASTS.

They’re basically foils.

A foil is a character who contrasts with another character so that we understand both characters better.

TEST QUESTION:

Why are Yunjae and Gon considered opposites?

ANSWER:

Yunjae struggles to experience and express emotions, while Gon experiences emotions intensely and often struggles to control them. Their differences help the novel explore different ways people experience emotion and empathy.

🦋 THE BUTTERFLY

Gon becomes obsessed with getting Yunjae to actually feel something.

He tries to use a butterfly to provoke an emotional response from Yunjae.

But something interesting happens:

Yunjae doesn’t react.

Gon does.

Gon becomes upset himself.

This is VERY important.

Gon thinks Yunjae is the one who lacks empathy, but the butterfly incident actually shows that Gon cares deeply.

Yunjae eventually realizes that Gon isn’t simply a violent “bad kid.”

He’s hurt.

👦 GON’S FAMILY

Gon has a really complicated relationship with his father, Professor Yun.

Gon feels abandoned and unwanted.

One of the most emotional moments between Yunjae and Gon happens when Gon asks Yunjae about his mother.

Yunjae tells Gon what he remembers about her.

Gon cries.

WHY THIS MATTERS:

Yunjae doesn’t necessarily understand Gon emotionally, but he listens to him without judging him.

That’s something Gon desperately needs.

Gon later explains that part of the reason he likes being around Yunjae is because Yunjae doesn’t judge him.

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 YUNJAE + GON BECOME FRIENDS

This is the turning point.

At first, Gon wants Yunjae to react.

Eventually, they actually start choosing to spend time together.

Gon comes to Yunjae’s family’s bookstore.

They talk.

They slowly develop an actual friendship.

And here’s a REALLY important idea:

Yunjae originally wants Gon around because he thinks Gon can help him understand emotions.

But eventually:

Yunjae stops looking at Gon as an experiment.

He just sees him as Gon. His friend.

That distinction matters A LOT.

🏃‍♀ PART 3 — CHAPTERS 49–62

ENTER DORA.

Dora is a girl at school who is passionate about running.

She’s confident, independent, and doesn’t seem particularly interested in fitting in.

Yunjae becomes interested in her.

But because he’s Yunjae…

He doesn’t immediately think:

“I’m in love.”

Instead, he’s trying to figure out:

“Why am I behaving differently around her?”

😂

That’s basically his version of a crush.

❤ DORA’S IMPORTANCE

Dora helps Yunjae understand a completely different type of emotion:

LOVE.

Gon helped him understand:

friendship + anger + pain + grief

Dora helps him understand:

attraction + excitement + romantic feelings

That’s why both characters are important to Yunjae’s development.

😬 GON GETS JEALOUS

Yunjae doesn’t tell Gon about Dora.

Eventually, Gon realizes that Yunjae and Dora are getting close.

Gon becomes jealous.

Why?

Because Yunjae is basically his first real friend.

He feels like he’s losing Yunjae.

This is also connected to Gon’s deeper fear of abandonment.

💰 THE SCHOOL MONEY

This is another TEST-WORTHY EVENT.

During a school trip, money goes missing.

Some of the money is found in Gon’s backpack.

Everyone assumes Gon stole it.

But:

HE DIDN’T.

Gon insists he’s innocent.

Nobody really believes him.

The school basically treats him like:

“Of course Gon did it.”

because he already has a reputation as a troublemaker.

💥 GON BREAKS DOWN

Gon becomes increasingly angry.

He feels like:

Nobody trusts me.

Nobody likes me.

Everyone already thinks I’m a monster.

Eventually he lashes out at school.

Dora even calls him “trash.”

Gon leaves.

He tells Yunjae that he needs to become stronger.

And this is when the situation becomes REALLY serious.

🧠 THE BIG QUESTION: WHY DOES YUNJAE GO AFTER GON?

THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST POSSIBLE TEST QUESTIONS.

At first, Yunjae wanted Gon because he thought:

“Maybe Gon can help me understand emotions.”

But by this point, something has changed.

Yunjae tells Dora, essentially:

He didn’t find the answers he was looking for through Gon.

He just found Gon.

And that’s enough.

In other words:

Gon is no longer a tool for Yunjae’s emotional education.

He’s his friend.

That’s HUGE character development.

🚨 PART 4 — CHAPTER 63 → EPILOGUE

GON DISAPPEARS.

After everything that happens at school, Gon disappears.

Eventually, the actual thief admits that he framed Gon.

So we know Gon was innocent.

But the school doesn’t really apologize.

This is important because it shows how quickly people judge Gon based on his reputation.

👨‍👦 PROFESSOR YUN

Professor Yun is devastated that Gon has disappeared.

He even tells Yunjae that sometimes he wishes Gon had never existed.

Yunjae disagrees.

Even though Yunjae can’t give some huge emotional speech explaining why, he knows:

Gon is a good person.

That is another huge moment.

Yunjae is making a moral/emotional judgment for himself, rather than simply following something someone taught him.

🔎 YUNJAE GOES LOOKING FOR GON

Yunjae finds out where Gon might have gone.

Dora tries to stop him because it’s dangerous.

But Yunjae says he needs to go.

Why?

Because they’re friends.

Not because Gon is helping him understand emotions.

Not because his mom told him to.

Not because he’s supposed to.

Because he chooses to.

🧍 STEEL WIRE

Gon ends up in serious trouble involving Steel Wire, a dangerous criminal.

Yunjae finds Gon.

The situation becomes dangerous, and Yunjae chooses to protect Gon even though he could simply leave.

Yunjae is seriously injured while trying to protect his friend.

Gon breaks down emotionally.

And then…

💧 YUNJAE FEELS SOMETHING.

Gon’s tears fall on Yunjae.

Yunjae experiences a genuine emotional response.

This is a HUGE turning point.

Not because his brain suddenly becomes magically “normal.”

But because his relationships have helped him develop an understanding of emotion that he didn’t have before.

🏥 THE END

Yunjae survives.

Then Dr. Shim gives him a HUGE surprise:

His mother has woken up.

Yunjae sees his mother.

And for the first time, he cries and laughs with her.

That is the emotional payoff of the entire book.

At the beginning:

Yunjae knows what crying is supposed to mean.

At the end:

Yunjae actually experiences it.

🎓 EPILOGUE

Yunjae has graduated high school.

He plans to visit Gon.

And notice:

He doesn’t say he’s visiting because Gon is going to teach him something.

He goes because:

They’re friends.

That’s where Yunjae ends up.

🧠 THE 8 THINGS YOUR TEACHER IS MOST LIKELY TO TEST

1. What is alexithymia?

The difficulty or inability to recognize and express emotions.

Yunjae has it.

2. Why is the title

Almond

?

Because the amygdala, which plays an important role in emotional processing, is almond-shaped.

Yunjae’s amygdalae are unusually small.

3. Why are Yunjae and Gon foils?

Because they are emotional opposites.

Yunjae = emotionally numb

Gon = emotionally intense

4. What does Dora represent?

She helps Yunjae experience and understand love/romantic feelings and encourages his development.

5. What does the almond symbolize?

Growth and change, especially the hope that Yunjae can develop emotionally. His mother’s almond ritual also represents her desire to help him. 

6. What does the “monster” idea mean?

The book challenges the idea that people who behave differently are automatically monsters.

Yunjae is called a monster because he doesn’t react normally.

Gon is treated like a monster because of his behavior.

But both are much more complicated than their labels.

7. How does Yunjae change?

Beginning:

He follows rules about emotions.

Middle:

He starts forming real relationships.

End:

He begins experiencing emotion and making choices based on his relationships.

8. What is the MAIN MESSAGE?

Something like:

People don’t have to experience emotions in the same way to care about each other. Human connection can help people grow, and someone shouldn’t be judged only by how they appear on the outside.

🚨 CHARACTER RELATIONSHIP MAP

YUNJAE
⬇
Mom → teaches him emotional “rules”
⬇
Granny → unconditional acceptance
⬇
Dr. Shim → mentor/support
⬇
Gon → friendship, grief, pain, empathy
⬇
Dora → love, attraction, independence
⬇
Mother at the end → genuine emotional connection