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A review by gh7blis
Skeleton Flower: Things That Have Been Released and Set Free by Kim Jonghyun
5.0
5/5
I went to this book quite empty-minded since the summary was in Korean. I couldn't judge it by its cover or synopsis. With that being said I read the fan translated from AO3
The book contains 12 chapters, each named after various songs Kim Jonghyun has written and sung in his group SHINee and as a solo artist. And I would assume that the book is named after the song Diphylleia grayi in his album JONGHYUN The Collection "Story OP.1" which I highly recommend listening to while reading.
Jonghyun ties these songs together into a story about past lovers and how their love story came to a bittersweet end. It feels raw and real, and I found myself in between his words. As Jonghyun says in the author's note, he wishes to give those 12 specific songs a new perspective and hopes the readers listen to those songs with this new story in mind.
The story bundles into many ways these past lovers try to make themselves forget each other while still longing for one another. The woman drowns herself to work whilst the man drinks himself to sleep. The resentment they both share for each other turns into longing, which turns into them trying to forget one another, and after many trials and errors, they finally let each other go.
Jonghyun comes in the story as the radio host/singer whom both the woman and man find comfort in. He is often shown to speak about (healthy) loneliness and sadness on his radio show that both the woman and the man frequently listen to. Those are also that he hasn't shied away from in his music.
This book had my heart ache as I could feel through the characters' different stages of a breakup. I felt numerous different emotions all the way from bitterness to sadness and from that, I began to understand that all of this was for their own good.
The book was so beautifully translated, and though I have yet to read the Korean version of this, the translator did a fantastic job interpreting and fitting Jonghyun's poetic nature into words in English. It's such a shame that it's not translated to English officially I'm looking at you **.
Skeleton Flower isn't just a book of references to his songs. It has connections to his personal life, and if I may reach a bit, I feel like all the characters in the story are bits and pieces of Jonghyun's own identity, of course, altered a bit. It's such a good read, and I hope that my review or the other reviews here will inspire more and more people to read this book.
"The moment the rose-colored lenses of love come off is when all hell breaks loose."
I went to this book quite empty-minded since the summary was in Korean. I couldn't judge it by its cover or synopsis. With that being said I read the fan translated from AO3
The book contains 12 chapters, each named after various songs Kim Jonghyun has written and sung in his group SHINee and as a solo artist. And I would assume that the book is named after the song Diphylleia grayi in his album JONGHYUN The Collection "Story OP.1" which I highly recommend listening to while reading.
Jonghyun ties these songs together into a story about past lovers and how their love story came to a bittersweet end. It feels raw and real, and I found myself in between his words. As Jonghyun says in the author's note, he wishes to give those 12 specific songs a new perspective and hopes the readers listen to those songs with this new story in mind.
The story bundles into many ways these past lovers try to make themselves forget each other while still longing for one another. The woman drowns herself to work whilst the man drinks himself to sleep. The resentment they both share for each other turns into longing, which turns into them trying to forget one another, and after many trials and errors, they finally let each other go.
"That beautiful era had passed, and nothing that belonged to it existed anymore.
The man and the woman thought of how they wanted to be happy and realized that for that to happen, it was time to let each other go."
Jonghyun comes in the story as the radio host/singer whom both the woman and man find comfort in. He is often shown to speak about (healthy) loneliness and sadness on his radio show that both the woman and the man frequently listen to. Those are also that he hasn't shied away from in his music.
"Being alone, I don't see it as something that simply disappears once you take care of it —— I am going through a healthy loneliness."
"It's alright to be sad for a while. Please come to me whenever. Because I'll be here."
This book had my heart ache as I could feel through the characters' different stages of a breakup. I felt numerous different emotions all the way from bitterness to sadness and from that, I began to understand that all of this was for their own good.
The book was so beautifully translated, and though I have yet to read the Korean version of this, the translator did a fantastic job interpreting and fitting Jonghyun's poetic nature into words in English. It's such a shame that it's not translated to English officially I'm looking at you **.
Skeleton Flower isn't just a book of references to his songs. It has connections to his personal life, and if I may reach a bit, I feel like all the characters in the story are bits and pieces of Jonghyun's own identity, of course, altered a bit. It's such a good read, and I hope that my review or the other reviews here will inspire more and more people to read this book.