Welcome to Hyunam Dong Bookstore felt like a nice, warm hug for a lonely and lost soul. Exactly the book I needed at this very moment. Leaving a job, especially when one's entire life and identity surrounded it is so difficult, and I love how the book showed us the journey of Yeonju getting there (albeit it not being the book's main focus) and how the after can be so wonderful even if the journey is fraught. 

It is a very, very cozy book but it is also filled with flawed characters who have their own issues that they are working through. We meet a huge cast of characters and while it can be difficult to be invested in each of them, especially since this isn't an extremely long book, meaning we don't spend a lot of time with each of them, I still really cheer for them and be happy for them when they have dealt with whatever they needed to. I also like how the author doesn't prescribe a way of life as perfect, she merely presents it as an option to the alternative mainstream way in Korea - and this is important to note because the Korean society has a very straight and narrow path that each person has to follow to be deemed "successful". One of the main things is to get employed in a permanent position in a good company. And to quit that is sort of "insane". But the main character did, and I really loved that for her, this decision brought her peace and friendship and love. 

I don't think I have much to say about the plot, it's a simple one but very well executed. What really drew me in was the way the characters interacted with each other and how their relationship with each other built up. Prior to this book, the author only wrote short stories/essays and in the author's note, she mentioned that she found writing a book daunting, but she simply added characters and got them to interact with each other, and the story flowed from there. I really loved that because this is just like the organic connections you can make from visiting a bookstore again and again and again. I think it is precisely because she wrote it this way that she was able to capture that magic of a bookstore in a neighbourhood. 

Lastly, I'd like to comment on the translation. I think if you were not familiar with the Korean language, you might find certain translated portions awkward or weird. For me, as I do understand a decent amount of the language and consumed quite a bit of Korean content, I liked that the translator took the time to ensure the meaning was accurate based on how the author wrote it even if the phrasing may be a bit awkward. I really liked that it is probably quite close to what the author's intentions were.