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.

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