Good premise, but the story failed in its execution. I have the writing was a bit juvenile, and there was way too much telling versus showing. That made it difficult to stay actively engaged with this plot or characters.

Our main character in Marigold Mind Laundry is Jieun, a girl with the magical abilities to dream wishes to come true and the power to take away pain and provide comfort. She accidentally dreams her parents away, and afterwards spends thousands of years living many different lives to try and find them. One day, she lands in a village named Marigold where she decides to open up a “mind laundry”, offering the service of washing or ironing away people’s pain.

Like many stories in the cosy genre, this book forces you to suspend belief just a little bit and not take everything too seriously so that the life lessons/messages can be conveyed using the “mind laundry” metaphor. I felt like this also had a similar feel to The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, where the butterfly effects of our characters actions eventually culminate to her “finding her place”. The message of the story is easy to understand and there are some cute moments but overall, the plot is thin and the characters two dimensional with over-simplified issues.

It bothered me how Jieun’s main motivation is supposed to be finding her parents, but there is nothing in the beginning of the story that makes you care about this or illustrates the relationship. The importance of this goal isn’t revisited until the very end which makes her ultimate “realization” quite flat. There is also very little environment building/setting description in the book. Everything that takes place outside of the laundromat seems to exist in a nebulous space where characters just talk. If lack of character and world building doesn’t bother you, I think you might enjoy the story and the metaphor at a surface level.

Thank you very much for NetGalley for the ARC and privilege of writing this review.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this novel for review.

It may have just been the translation, but this book really felt like I was reading a middle schooler’s story they wrote for class. From page 1 the writing was very amateur and predictable, and the plot hardly made sense because we were dropped in so suddenly with no explanation and yet far too much exposition.

The dialogue was choppy and the messaging was so overt it became redundant. Overall, this was not the book for me, but I am never going to dissuade someone from reading or recommending it, because I think it had a lot of potential that just wasn’t met. That said, interestingly, I’m seeing a lot of high Goodreads ratings with reviews in different languages, so maybe the English version just wasn’t to my taste.

When Jieun overhears her parents speaking one night about her very unique powers, she misunderstands and makes a wish that changes her lives forever. Her wish causes her beloved family to vanish, she lives a million restless lives in search of them. In one of her lives, she finds herself in the village of Marigold where she conjures the Marigold Mind Laundry, a place where people can come to remove their memories. Through helping five very different people remove the stains from their lives, Jieun eventually comes to a realization about the lives she has been living. Very philosophical and optimistic about the choices we make.

Marigold Mind Laundry is a wonderfully whimsical and cozy book. It follows Jieun, a woman who has two magical powers: she can comfort others and heal their pain, and she has the power to make things come true if she dreams about them. One night as a young girl she dreams that her parents have vanished, and she lives hundreds of lives to try to find them. Eventually she settles in a small village and establishes a "mind laundry" service where people can come and have their problems washed away if they choose. This book has many beautiful insights on what it means to suffer, love, and live. I'm very glad I got the opportunity to read it.

Book Review: Marigold Mind Laundry by Jungeun Yun

Marigold Mind Laundry introduces us to Jieun, a lonely woman with magical abilities she doesn’t fully understand. Born with the power to literally wash away people's pain, she starts a business that helps others by removing their painful memories, which manifest as stains on a teeshirt. This concept, especially with Jieun’s character at the center, had me intrigued from the start. Her personal character drew me in, and I became invested in her personal journey.

As the story progresses, customers arrive at the Marigold Mind Laundry, each bringing their own painful experiences to be cleansed. While these individual stories are touching, the book started to feel a bit formulaic to me. I wanted more depth with Jieun’s personal journey and less surface exploration with the other characters.

Despite this, the book was sweet and entertaining throughout. This is a gentle read with themes of love, loss, beauty in pain, and the importance of human connection.

"There are moments in life when a wish, if desperate enough, might bend reality to our hopes," writes Jungeun Yun in "Marigold Mind Laundry." Thus begins the magical reality tale about a timeless woman who heals people by removing stains from their hearts and minds.

If you enjoyed the "Before the Coffee Gets Cold" series, "The Full Moon Coffee Shop," or "We'll Prescribe You a Cat," I think you might enjoy "Marigold Mind Laundry." The book consists of several vignettes about people who have sought the laundry's services and about the troubles that plague Jieun, the woman operates the laundry.

When she woke up one morning, her parents had disappeared. Jieun dedicated her whole life to finding them. The longer she searched for her parents, the more she worried that she would not recognize them if she saw them. Jieun began to channel energy into helping those in her neighborhood who were carrying heavy burdens in their hearts.

"Marigold Mind Laundry" has been a Korean bestseller. The style differs from many books of the magical realism genre that I've read. I was touched by the characters' expressions of their pain and their willingness to help those in need. It is a book with heart and I recommend it.

The intention of this book is to inspire and energize people with imagination.

A woman who has exceptional powers has decided to create the “Marigold Mind Laundry” where stains on the hearts are removed from the customer’s shirts. It instills positive thinking, joy and love. Examples of five customer’s setbacks are shown with their aching past and they have a choice of removing theses bad memories. Yet, can sadness give you strength?

The story may work for some readers who need a boost of encouragement. However, I found the laundry idea to be far-fetched and had a difficult time paying attention to the words. I wasn’t familiar with the people’s names and their food which made it more of a struggle. However, this book may help others who are depressed from their past and need to be lifted up knowing that people in different parts of the world have similar problems.

My thanks to The Dial Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book with an expected release date of October 1, 2024.

*“What was it like to love life, to feel as though every day held something hopeful?”*

*Marigold Mind Laundry* read like the smell and warmth of laundry fresh from the dryer, like the feeling of the warm sun shining on your face, and like a long and deep hug from a loved one. This novel tackles feelings of regret and sadness through the stories of the characters’ pasts. *Marigold Mind Laundry* offers hope for a spring day and challenges the reader to persevere through the trials in their lives. It was a very heart-warming read and I love how Jieun helped others find their happiness and was able to find her happiness at the end.

There were some awkward moments that I believe is due to this novel being translated fiction and having the magical realism aspect on top of that could have contributed to things being lost. However, the meat of the story and the overarching themes the author wanted to share still shone through and I found the book to be a highly enjoyable and healing read.

This was a really short and sweet magical realism novel. I can see why it was popular. I do think that some things were lost in translation as it was a little strange with the wording at points which I'm sure wasn't a fault of the author.

Marigold Mind Laundry took me on a lovely journey of friendship and finding happiness, even in the darkest times. I loved the overarching message of this book, but the fantasy elements and writing fell short for me. I wanted this to be a whimsical fantasy read, but I felt like I was reading a mindfulness book for children. There were lots of therapy-esque quotes tossed into the narrative that took away from the ambiance of the story. I was hooked into the first two chapters, where we learn about Jieun, her magic, and the village of Marigold. However, after the exposition, the prose fell victim to telling instead of showing, The dialogue was clunky and the sentences were simplistic enough to make me feel like I was reading a novel for kids. I liked the concept of this book- I just wish it had lived up to my expectations for a fantasy novel.

This may be my favorite book of the year, I feel so grateful to have read it! The story was sweet, and the comments on life nourishing. I plan on reading more by Jungeun Yun ASAP.

[arc review]
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
Marigold Mind Laundry releases October 1, 2024

1.5

The use of the laundromat in this story was the sort of out-of-the-box creativity that I love, though I found fault in the fact that Jieun’s words kept contradicting her actions.

On one hand, she would advocate for others to remove the stains from their hearts, but then as she’s trying to convince them or is in the very act of washing their stains, she says things like:
> <I>“Just erase one. If you get rid of everything, what’s there left in life? Wounds are also a part of you. Just take out the most painful one.”</I>
> <I>“There’s no such thing as a life of smooth sailing. Avoidance doesn’t solve a problem—you need to face it and work through it.”</I>
> <I>“It’s the same with blemishes on our heart. Once we acknowledge their presence, they’re no longer stains but growth rings.”</I>

I’d argue that encouraging them to remove their most painful memories in their entirety would be quite the opposite of working through it. Why would you tell them these things <i>after</I> you’ve removed their “stain” and altered everything in their life leading up to that exact moment? Even life’s worst moments contribute to shaping us into who we are and leave us with something we can learn from. How can you grow to appreciate the good when you take away any sense of what your rock bottom is?
I just don’t understand how she kept giving profound advice to the people walking into her shop to live life and accept that it isn’t easy all the time, yet the next second she’s still washing their shirt and permanently erasing their pain, sadness, loneliness, and vital memories.

Jieun tells the influencer she meets that <I>“nobody can be perfect. That’s not human.”</I> Well, living in a utopia with only happy memories isn’t human either and doesn’t allow for the characters to be multifaceted.

The only reason why Jieun started helping others after <u>thousands</u> of years of rebirthed lives that amounted to no progress or character growth, was to be able to properly utilize her secondary power. Nothing felt genuine.

<i>“The mind laundry had been born out of her desire to release herself from her own fate. She’d taken it as a given that everyone would want to wash themselves clean of stains, but as she met people like Yeonja, who’d asked for a little ironing instead, Jieun started to question her assumption. What exactly were feelings?”</I>

There was also a lack of consistency, but I don’t know if it was a flaw in the world building or because this is translated fiction.
For example, with her first customer, they were warned that if they took off the t-shirt, the memories would also vanish. But with her third customer, they were given the option of leaving it or taking it home as-is, without altering their memories.

I’d recommend if you like fiction that oddly reads like a hybrid of self-help and a children’s fairytale.

cw: mentions of suicidal thoughts and disordered eating

<I>These days, we look for our chosen family—people on the same wavelength who come together in support of one another, just like us. Don’t you think that’s more like family?</I>

thank you to random house and netgalley for providing this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

no exaggeration, this was the most beautiful book i’ve read in a while—in plot, prose, characters, everything. it was such a simple and stunning portrayal of what it means to be alive and to hurt and to suffer and to love. a study in magical realism, marigold mind laundry has a way of making the mundane feel extraordinary. even as i write this now, i have a feeling of wonder, contentment, and warmth i didn’t have prior to reading this, and though i’ve been cursed with forgetting every book i read almost immediately, something tells me i won’t forget the way this one made me feel for a long, long time. even when the names and story fade away, i'll remember what it was like to read marigold mind laundry: like i was waking up after a long, deep sleep.

what a delightful gift.

To be honest, I have been trying to figure out how to review this. There are things I really enjoyed about it and others that I think were not so good. The things I did enjoy were the overall plot, linear (somewhat) timeline, the flashbacks showing the reasons for each person, and the idea/concept. I really did enjoy the reading experience of reading this. However, I feel like there really was no emotion in the book. The characters all felt a little flat and I wasn’t able to really connect with them. To me it felt like there was something missing while I was reading. The writing itself seemed to be more for a younger audience as well. I’m not sure if these issues were because of it being a translated work or not.
I do recommend it because I did enjoy reading it and some of the writing was lovely to read.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC of this title for my honest review.

I'm quickly beginning to realize that these types of book aren't for me, however, I don't think this book is bad at all. This book is translated from Korean, which is nothing new to me, since I have read books like The Full Moon Coffee Shop which was translated from Japanese to English. I think this book was far better than that one, mostly because it had a more linear, overarching plotline that I could follow instead of a few lightly interlinked ones. The story follows a magical girl whose dreams come true. When she dreams that her family was sucked through a hole in space, she wakes up to find out her dream came true. Later on, she becomes the owner of a laundromat and uses her powers to cleanse her patrons of darkness and despair.

Things I liked about the book: I quite enjoy reading books that make me think a little more than your typical book written for pure entertainment (what I like to call popcorn books). The theme of hope carried through the book, but tackled some harder topics. Contrary to other books that have similar interconnected, smaller stories, this one actually seemed to have a point to the person running the shop. This is a feel-good book that you can read in one sitting, since it's not that long. I really liked the illustrations! The story about the influencer was my favorite out of all of them. Perhaps it's because I could kind of relate! I also really liked that there was a good amount of dialogue, although there is a downside to that (mentioned below). I'm more of a dialogue-focused reader, so the fact that there was a good amount of it kept me interested.

Things I didn't like about the book: There were some really confusing parts of the book that I either had to go back several times to understand, or just flat out didn't understand why they were there. The example is the very beginning of the book in the prologue. I would have liked to just meet our main character, because I instantly didn't think I was going to like the book because of the prologue! The second thing was the translation of the book. There were some things that were difficult to read. For example "It was a matter of time before she was reminded that wishes were often wishful thinking." While I get what that message says, it's kind of self-explanatory that wishes *are* wishful thinking... that's the whole point of a wish, right? I would have liked to hear the deeper explanation for this because it doesn't really make sense to me, but perhaps I'm reading too far into it. There was also one quote I remember where it was described as really hot outside and the character was going to "cook". I get the meaning, but this felt like odd wording to me. I wish translated books like this took a little more liberty in the meaning of the sentence vs the actual translation of it. There are so many cultural differences, including similes, that just don't translate from language to language.

So that note about the dialogue? I liked that there was a lot of it, because I enjoy dialogue-focused books. I tend to find it keeps the action going, but there was a lot of dialogue without descriptions. I just kind of imagined the characters either sitting there or standing there and talking, not moving or giving me context clues about their feelings in between dialogue by moving eyes or body language. There *was* descriptions, but they were lumped into bigger paragraphs and always described after the long exchange.

Overall, this will be a great read for people who like books like Full Moon Coffee Shop, Before the Coffee Gets Cold, or White Cat, Black Dog. It just wasn't really for me.

Thank you Netgalley and Jungeun Yun for the eARC in exchange for an honest review

Marigold Mind Laundry's premise is "We remove stains from the heart and mind, and erase your painful memories. Welcome to the Marigold Mind Laundry." I would be surprised if anyone truly doesn't want peace, and a clean shirt to move forward with better things. Magical realism, and five stories of different people and how they would utilize the laundry for their own aches. I wanted to like this novel, but it didn't give any character expansion for each of the mentioned five. Their stories seem like they were just an afterthought, a passing story. I understand that this is translated, and I fear that I am missing a majority of the depth due to the translator portraying it as simplistic and straightforward. I couldn't feel for what the original author is attempting to bridge across.

“Marigold Mind Laundry” by Jungeun Yun, is a magical realism book translated from the Korean by Shanna Tan. The idea of this book attracted me - “washing away stains from your heart” seems like such a good thing for those suffering from extreme depression or sorrow. There were a number of overarching themes of this book (hope being the main one), but the message was somewhat pounded into the reader through repeated mentions (sometimes in long allegorical wandering paragraphs) that had me skimming sections. I cannot say that I felt any of the characters were that well developed - including the main character - though there was the forming of a community. I wanted to like this book more than I did - from that adorable cover to the idea, it sounded like a book I could’ve sunk my teeth into, but instead I felt like I was in washing machine, hoping to be soothed by bubbles and warm water but instead feeling agitated as the book went on. While I found the overall idea interesting, I wish that the execution had been better.

This is a light fantasy novel that has a very unique premise. We follow Jieun, who is centuries old, and due to a magical mishap has lost her family. In present day she owns a laundry where she is able listen to her customers deepest troubles and transfer them into stains that can be washed away. We get the backstory of five separate customers, all of which are struggling in some aspects of their life. There are some deeper themes in these stories such as a suicide attempt but the author is very careful and responsible when writing about these subjects. This was such a marvelous story with very distinctive characters and an interesting magic system. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys cozy fantasy novels.

I was invited by the publisher to review this book. This is a really unique idea of a book, wherein a misuse of magic causes the main character to lose family. She winds up trying to cleanse her pain and those experiences from her heart, and they come out in the form of red petal "stains" on a T-shirt. From that, we are introduced to a variety of characters, each with their own pain to work through and the memories they wish to wash away.

Also of note, I really liked the illustrations in this book, which preceded each chapter. Very invented and they lent a small window into the storyline ahead.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/The Dial Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.