Sadly this was a DNF for me. I’m not sure if it was the way the book had been translated, or the authors writing style, but the stories were convoluted and confusing, so that you really had to fight with yourself to keep reading. I didn’t enjoy the story so eventually gave up fighting with myself to continue

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK, Transworld Publishers for the ARC

A beautiful book with five interesting stories interwoven in a main storyline. The book tackles grief and self-help in a stunning way. I was so intrigued by every storyline and found myself so immersed in the book. A cozy and aching read.

Jieun creates Marigold Mind Laundry and she helps her customers to wash away their "stains", which are their pains, from existence. She seems not to be capable of doing the same with her own. Throughout the stories in this book, people overcome obstacles and heal themselves. I found the stories a bit too long and also confusing to follow up. The concept of this book is great but may not be properly executed, written or translated. However, I love the cover!

"Just as there are heartbreaking memories that need to be erased if you want to move forward, there is also the pain that is a kind of fuel that keeps us going. Sadness can sometimes give you strength."

The Marigold Mind Laundry is a philosophical book told through whimsical stories. Jieun has special powers. She can make things come true by dreaming about them and she had the power to heal others' pain. Her parents disappear after she dreams so. It is after this that she lives many lifetimes. I was really unsure as to how she did this because it really wasn't clear. Did she die and then get reborn? Did she just turn into a different person overnight? She is a broken person who cries about her parents every night and is always looking for them.

Jieun manifests the Marigold Mind Laundry into existence. She gets customers who come to tell her their stories and she washes away their 'stains' - their pain from existence. Yet, she is unable to wash away her own pain.

This is a book about overcoming obstacles and self-healing. I found the various characters' stories interesting but there were parts when the writing wasn't very straightforward and felt quite confusing by frequently going off on a tangent.

Thank you for the advanced copy!

I have been trying to read more translated books, there’s a whole world of books out there and so little time! What drew me to this book is the concept. The idea that a laundry could wash away emotion made for an interesting idea. I felt at times, the plot was too thin and underdeveloped. Which is a shame, this book had so much potential!

I read an eARC of this book so thank you to the author, publisher and Net Galley.

This was a beautiful written, dreamy book. It focuses on a character with magic and how she seeks to find a place in the world and help others alongside. It’s a loosely connected set of separate short stories but all that have interlinked characters and relate to our main character and her laundry. She can help people wash away trauma and stress through her mind laundry in the charming coastal town of Marigold.

Where I felt the story was most fully realised was in the story of the influencer. This felt like it brought all of the story elements together so well. It felt so poignant how the character was trying so hard to support her family and how the fame and wealth just ended up creating division and misery. It was really thought provoking.

I very much liked the idea of this book, and the message that talking about/facing issues in your life lets you move past them or alter your feelings about them, and I liked the idea that these could be transferred to a tshirt as stains that could then be removed or faded.

I have to confess that the deeper magical realism story was too deep/obscure for me and I didn't connect with that, or indeed understand it fully, but I think that this is a fault with me not the book.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a digital arc of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. The Marigold Mind Laundry follows Jieun, who has the magical ability to erase painful memories from people's minds. To help people and give her own life purpose, she runs a laundry salon, where she uses her powers to help others. I can say that the premise of the story is something I haven't heard of before. It immediately intrigued me, so I had to ask for an arc. Sadly, the execution wasn't what I imagined. While Jieun has a lot of people whom she tries to help, I couldn't connect to the characters in the book, nor did their stories resonate with me. The way of storytelling kept throwing me out of the plot, and the pace felt a little off at times. Although, I wanted to love this story, I couldn't find it in me to stay interested.

A very sweet story about a woman with magical powers (never really explored fully) who opened a ‘mind laundry’, able to wash bad memories from people’s hearts.
A little too sweet for me though

A beautifully translated novel from Korean, telling the story of Jieun, who runs a magical laundry that washes away painful memories. Through her work, she helps people heal, while dealing with her own grief over her parents' disappearance.

Similar to Before the Coffee Gets Cold, this book is filled with gentle life lessons and magical realism. You learn about family, love, and letting go through the experiences of the Mind Laundry's visitors.
It's a perfect read for anyone looking for a gentle, heartwarming tale!

Sorry but this really isn't a book for me - it's a little bit too gentle and flowery so not my writing style at all.

Thank you regardless for opportunity to read!

Another wonderful example of the most beautiful translated fiction, this time from Korean literature. Quiet, unassuming, enchanting.

Marigold Mind Laundry is another shining example of the simplicity and beauty of translated Asian literature.
Similar in vibes to Before the Coffee Gets Cold, The Dallergut Dream Department Store, The Kamagowa Food Detectives and other similar novels.
This novel follows Jieun as she lives lifetime after lifetime, her only goal to help others in need, and suppressing the deep pain in her heart left by the disappearance of her parents due to a mishap with her powers as a child.
Intent on using her powers only for good, the Mind Laundry is Jieun's means of helping people wash out the stains on their hearts and iron out the creases I their lives. It's a cosy, easy read full of deep discussion of pain, grief and love. Through the stories of the patrons of the Mind Laundry, we explore themes of family and bereavement, and how negative emotions are I'm some ways important, and not everyone deals with pain the same way.
Once again, a lovely novel and stunning translation, I'd highly recommend to fans of Asian literature!

Definitely for fans of books like When The Coffee Gets Cold. It has the same base of magic realism with beautiful life lessons that make you cry and an abundance of intertwining characters. I only rated it so low because I have found that these types of books just aren’t for me lol. I did enjoy that it was Korean instead of Japanese though because I’m more familiar with Korean pronunciation so I didn’t have to get caught up with things like character names while reading. Overall, it wasn’t a bad book! Just not my preferred genre I guess. The cover and magic element are what initially drew me in. I would also read this in the fall instead of summer if you can.

Marigold Mind Laundry is a novel by Korean author, Jungeun Yun. Jieun, the main character, uses magical powers to create the Marigold Mind Laundry that allows people to have bad memories washed away like stains on a shirt. The memories turn into beautiful petals that she releases in the sunset every day. There are several characters we meet who visit the laundry and have epiphanies that change their perspectives and lives forever. Jieun comes to reflect on her own life and how to love herself in the present moment.

I would recommend this book for all readers. It is a book of reflection about life and love that makes you feel better for having read it. “Today is the most special gift. No matter how many regrets you have, yesterday has passed, and tomorrow is the future that has yet to come, so what we should do is to be in the moment, to live our life today. Perhaps the present is the magic given to us.” (Quoted from uncorrected proof)


Thank you Random House UK and Netgalley for the advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.

Tbh is was such a cute and hopefully story with a cosy setting. The characters were what I expected- loveable! Cant wait to read more. Thank you for the opportunity to review early.

I really liked the premise of this book, and I enjoyed it to begin with, but for me it went on too long and lost my engagement. I did finish it, but I was disappointed it didn't try to go somewhere different along the way.

Marigold Mind Laundry was a book with an interesting premise reminiscent of the style of many of the magical realism novels coming out of Japan in recent years. However, it didn't quite reach the level of some of those works. I enjoyed meeting the characters and hearing their stories as they considered what painful memories to wash away. However, I felt the background story of Ji-eun wasn't as well developed as it could have been, and it confused me at times. I would have preferred either to learn more or for it to have been omitted, keeping her more mysterious. That said, it was still a pleasing enough read and will have something to offer to fans of the genre, so I am giving it four stars.

I really enjoy the novels that are translate from Korean. I feel that they are often miss understood by the European market.

First off I love the cover. Lovely and bright and intriguing.

Like with a lot if the Korean translated novels, Marigold Mind Laundry has a fantasy feel and a self love message. I enjoyed this novel. The characters, for me, played their parts beautifully and I liked the variety.

I think that magical realism is a more precise descriptor for this book than fantasy, but I am glad I discovered it while reading the book because I am not the biggest fan of magical realism so I would not have requested it, and I would have missed an amazing book!
Aside from the fantastical element, this book is pretty similar to others I read this year, Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop and Il minimarket della Signora Yeom (the last one has no English edition yet, but I hope they will translate it soon!), and I really recommend these three books if you want something slow, slice-of-life kind of things, with characters that are profoundly humans and a slow, almost meditative pace that will lull you into feeling good.
They are not my typical books, and they were outside my comfort zone, but now they are strongly inside it.

When I started this book I wasn’t so convinced it was the right one for me, because the beginning of it is almost like a fairytale, and I am not really the biggest fan of those so… I was worried, but then the story began and I was completely drawn into it.
It is a book about small things, with people that are just normal and so human, and it is like a hot soup for the soul.
The idea of the book is pretty neat: the MC creates a laundry that washes away the stains on your soul. All the pains, all the hurts that you want to forget or that you are unable to let go will get washed away in this magical place. And so we met some people, all different from each other, all deeply humans, and we got to learn their stories, their pains, and their past. And you become slowly attached to every single one of them, at least a bit.
And we also get to see a small community forming with the people who frequent this place, and we see it growing. It is a heartwarming book, full of the pains that made up life, but also full of hope. And for this, it was really beautiful.