Yun Jung-eun
Transworld
3 October 2024
272
eBook - PDF
Contemporary/Magical Realism
ARC via NetGalley
Welcome to the Marigold Mind Laundry where we wash away the stains from your heart.
After young Jieun accidentally misuses her powers, causing her beloved family to vanish, she lives a million restless lives in search of them.
Overnight, in the village of Marigold on top of a hill, she conjures up her Mind Laundry, where she cleanses painful experiences from the heart, transferring them into stains on a T-shirt and turning them into dazzling red petals.
We meet five wounded souls: a frustrated young filmmaker; a tortured social-media influencer; a distraught mother who has discovered her husband’s other family; a young woman two-timed by her lover; a talented photographer and victim of bullying, who runs away into a mundane job.
After washing the pain and ironing their creases, Jieun discovers an astonishing revelation that will change her life.
Marigold Mind Laundry was a book with an interesting premise reminiscent of the style of many of the magical realism novels coming out of Japan in recent years. However, it didn't quite reach the level of some of those works. I enjoyed meeting the characters and hearing their stories as they considered what painful memories to wash away. However, I felt the background story of Ji-eun wasn't as well developed as it could have been, and it confused me at times. I would have preferred either to learn more or for it to have been omitted, keeping her more mysterious. That said, it was still a pleasing enough read and will have something to offer to fans of the genre, so I am giving it four stars.
I received this book as a free eBook ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
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