Unique story about self reflection. It follows the main character and her journey to help others and herself. It has found family, and well developed characters for how short the story is. Interesting story that I'm happy I read.

Thank you NetGalley and The Dial Press for the opportunity to read this e-arc.

Such a heartwarming read!
Although the book started off a bit shakily, it steadily progressed to one of my favorite reads in a while.
I loved the descriptions, the subtle hints of magic, the characters, and the female lead’s road to learning how to live and feel again.
There were times when tears actually came to my eyes.
I would recommend this book for those who feel heavy at heart, for anyone whose mind troubles them and wishes to be embraced by the warmth of a good book.
I really loved the mysterious aspect that the author gently wove through the book, it left me wanting more and more.
Although this title is less than 200 pages, it was certainly able to capture the essence of the characters and fulfill the story line wonderfully in such a short amount of space.

This book has such a great cover and description. The concept of having the ability to choose whether or not one wants to lose all of their heartaches, sadness, regrets and difficult memories is appealing. However, the writing seemed too much like a Hallmark card, and it felt like much of the story was told rather than shown. Readers who are fans of the author and/or fiction about healing might enjoy this. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I wanted to love this but I just had a hard time. It had moments where I would get pulled in but the story as a whole just didn't hold me.

Marigold Mind Laundry has a great concept behind it- if we had the chance to rid ourselves of our heartaches, regrets, ill-feelings, or bad memories, would we? A thought provoking plot that fell completely short. The writing was juvenile, even through translation.

After reading The Dallergut Dream Department Store and loving it, I just assumed I would really connect to Marigold Mind Laundry but it didn’t hit the same. And that’s fully on me for placing the success of one author onto another, for sure. It could have something to do with something being lost in translation too. I could also just be experiencing some ARC burnout. This is book 24 out of 25 approvals so I could fully just be running out of steam. Please still give this book a go, don’t let my meh-ness dissuade you!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

One of the most therapeutic and affirming books I've ever read in my life. The characters felt real, raw and authentic and gave everything that happened even greater weight and impact. A truly magical book.

Full of nice sentiments, cast of characters, and denouement, 'Marigold Mind Laundry' lives up to being a 'healing novel' as it's been called among its South Korean readership and shares a literary spirit akin to 'The Midnight Library'. Elements of a novel are there, but this book is more about what the author wants readers to feel about themselves than what characters are doing. Perhaps it comes with the territory of being translated literature, but this book put what the author wants the reader to feel all too plainly. The plot is so weak and the language more 'telling' than 'showing,' I struggled to stay engaged because everything I was meant to glean had been given to me in the first 5 chapters.. While the pieces and the intent of creating a fun story with lovely sentiments was there, final execution fell very short.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review

Marigold Mind Laundry by Jungeun Yun is a third person multi-POV South Korean cozy contemporary fantasy. Jieun was born centuries ago with mysterious powers to two loving parents. Unable to control her powers, she accidentally causes her parents to vanish and vows to live as many lifetimes as it takes for her to find her family again. In the present day, Jieun is living yet another cycle and creates the Marigold Mind Laundry to use her powers to help others.

The overarching theme of Jieun’s story and the stories of the people she helps is family. Jieun’s first two customers, Jaeha and Yeonhee keep coming back to the laundry to spend time with her and create a found family of the three of them, the older woman who runs the snack shop next door, and Hae-in, a photographer friend of Jaeha and Yeonhee. Despite Jieun not really doing much to encourage Jaeha or Yeonhee’s behavior, they refuse to leave her on her own, slowly helping her achieve what she has been missing for so long.

In Jaeha’s story, the pain of his mother needing to leave him during the day so she can work was the thing he wanted the laundry to remove, effectively also wiping away his love of movies and desire to be a filmmaker. Eunbyuk, a young influencer, is slowly killing herself as she tries to keep up with her family's demands of her as she is essentially their sole source of reliable income. Yeonhee misses a former relationship, someone who was a potential future life partner. The way relationships impact us and our decisions, our desires, how deeply a wound hurts, is on display in each story as is recognition that sometimes people can try their very best and still fail the people they love.

The idea of being able to choose which wound to remove from your life and wash it away is quite intriguing. There is an obvious butterfly effect, such as Eunbyul choosing to give up fame and no longer knowing how to be an influencer, that shows the impact of core wounds and how they define our tastes and interests and which goals we are going to pursue. Eunbyul, in particular, hit quite hard and I found her to be quite empathetic as she made a bad business decision because of pressure from her parents and siblings and that essentially almost ruined her life.

Content warning for mentions of attempted suicide and child abandonment

I would recommend this to fans of Korean contemporary cozy fantasies, readers of contemporaries with lighter speculative elements, and those looking for a more episodic fantasy