Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing for the arc! This was a charming novel with a magical premise that tackles love, loss, and grief. The author spins a magical tale that is reminiscent of other recent popular Asian translated novels which I have loved and The Midnight Library (which another reviewer has pointed out). It’s hard to put in detail what I felt the book was lacking but I think it’s still a good picture of different hardships that people have gone through in life from a very optimistic mindset.

I have been enjoying many translated Asian fiction recently, this one was another good one.. I find Asian fiction very unique and creative with their ideas of how to discuss difficult topics and healing. This is a fast short read - the book approaches peoples many forms of pain and discusses how to best to heal by washing away the stains or ironing out the creases on the soul- as existing in the present moment will help to bring us a happy life. Each persons unique story are relatable for many people, and the main characters development and growth maintains your interest.

Thank You to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group - Random House | The Dial Press for this ARC. This is my honest review.

Thank you so much to Random House + NetGalley for this ARC - as someone who loves translated Korean fiction, this one certainly did not disappoint. I had so much fun with this short read - there are no other words to describe it aside from healing. To wash away the stains of a wounded soul is such a vivid image. This books also made me nostalgic for a quiet peaceful living experience that I've never exactly experienced. I cannot recommend this enough.

I really enjoyed the premise of this novel, but the delivery was not what I was exactly expecting.

In the past, I have enjoyed a few translated stories, but they are not my main genre of choice. If you know you love translated novels, and stories set in other countries surrounding characters from other cultures, this book might be perfect for you. Much like the description says, this book is very introspective. It really digs into past traumas and how they can really take control of your life and how you interact with the people around you.

Things that really lowered my rating: the pacing, this book was very slow. When we were going through each story for each character, I was expecting a bit more emotional impact (which might just be my interpretation). I think if the delivery was different I would have been able to rate this book a little higher and been a little more excited or satisfied by the ending.

Dear Author,

Your book was a joy to read. I understand why it's such a bog hit in Korea, and I hope it does just as well here. You reminded me, through this gorgeous, breathtaking novel, that existing in the present moment is most important to living a happy and joyous life. Following Jieun through her discovery of this and the fulfillment a found family can bring to one’s life was a pleasurable experience.

Yours truly,
J.D. McCoughtry

Thank you, NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the opportunity to read this e-arc.

*I received a copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this opportunity*

<I>Light and darkness aren't two sides of a coin; they form a continuum. She gazed at the dimming landscape. Even in the darkest spaces, there is light.</I>

Charming and heartwarming, MARIGOLD MIND LAUNDRY tackles the themes of love, loss, family, and grief.

In a small village where the air and water is clear, and the inhabitants know no pain, a young Jieun-- who's powers to grant wishes and comfort those in pain manifested later than the other children-- makes a devastating mistake. Suddenly alone in the world, Jieun vows to never rest until her beloved parents are returned to her.

Over a million lonely lives later, Jieun stumbles into the seaside village of Marigold. Tired of traveling, she decides to open the Mind Laundry; offering the services of mind cleansing and de-wrinkling. And in the process of helping others, Jieun herself may have some heartwarming revelations.

English readers should note, this book follows the trend of other Asian-translated books I've read (i.e. Before the Coffee Gets Cold, What You Are Looking For Is in the Library, and The Traveling Cat Chronicles) of having a thin plot in favor of deeper thematic exploration. This type of writing isn't for everyone, and should be taken into consideration before deciding to read MARIGOLD MIND LAUNDRY or not.

This novel is almost two books in one. First book, a quirky sweet story set in Korea. Imagine a laundry where the stains of regret, unhappiness, even sadness get washed away and replaced with self- confidence, contentment and joy. Second book, an advice book on how to move beyond your past, those memories and feelings that hold you back and instead focus on the positive things in your life. Instead of providing step by step instructions, advice is dispensed via a lovely story where the individuals in the story receive the advice and are able to overcome their obstacles.

I enjoyed this story, although a few terms were foreign to me such as Aigoo (Korean for OMG) but overall, I liked how the author dispensed advice without sounding preachy and in a story format. If you enjoy stories with a bit of magic, where the characters strive for new beginnings and where advice is given in a gentle caring way, this book is for you.

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