Eight years after its publication and after having been translated into the main languages, the book that consecrated the South Korean writer as a novelist also won a translation into Portuguese, made directly from Korean by Yong Hui Qio Pan, edited by Presença. An international phenomenon, especially among young adults, this book catches the current of South Korean culture, which has been gaining more and more followers, whether in music, entertainment, cinema and animation, as in food and, more recently, in literature. 'Almond' tells the story of Yunjae, a young man diagnosed with alexithymia, a neurological condition that makes its carriers unable to identify and express feelings. The title is an allusion to the cerebellar tonsils, two structures in the brain that are shaped like almonds and are responsible for the functioning of the brain's emotional system. The protagonist cannot, therefore, identify or express emotions, which causes him serious problems in life, starting at school and the inability to make friends, but also to identify danger. The mother and grandmother create a kind of code system, with colored papers scattered around the divisions, which indicate to Yunjae how to behave according to the situations, namely when to thank, smile or worry. One day, an act of violence destroys everything he knows and leaves him completely alone, leading him to an ever-increasing isolation and silence, in a hostile world that does not accept different people, until he meets another "problematic" boy, with whom he establishes friendship. In the prologue, we read: "This story is, in short, about a monster who finds another monster. One of the monsters is me". The sentence leads to the question of whether a person who is unable to identify and express feelings is a monster, or is just a different person who needs a different approach. Praised by critics, 'Almond' was described as "bold and original", a novel that transports the reader "to the depths of the human condition". The book, which addresses themes such as friendship, violence and abandonment, was also praised for its ability to provoke reflection on the complexity of the world of feelings and the difficulty of expressing emotions. In an introductory note, it is explained that alexithymia is a mental illness, which was first described in medical publications in the 1970s, with more recent studies suggesting that the tonsils' ability to process fear and anxiety can be improved with training. Won-Pyung Sohn, who has since published two more novels, one of which has also been awarded, continues to work in the area of cinema, alongside writing. Born in South Korea, she graduated in Social Sciences and Philosophy from Sogang University and in Film Directing from the Korean Academy of Cinematic Arts. Read Also: Empréstimo de ebooks nas bibliotecas públicas disponível no final do ano (Portuguese version)