Reviews with content warning for Rape - A Crane Among Wolves

Absolute power corrupts absolutely whether it’s in the Roman empire or present day dictatorships or 16th century Joseon. I’m not usually a June Hur fan, but immediately from the description, I was interested in this piece of Korean history not really well-known. The plot is not focused on describing the horrors King Yeonsan inflicted on his people, but the terror and fear is shown adding to the suspense and tension of the narration. Iseul is a commanding heroine doing everything she can to right her world and if it makes others’ better as well, that’s a bonus. Her constant courage and determination counters the usual Western stereotypical views Asian female characters in a way that is subtle and refreshing.

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justinekorson's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this story.
SPOILERS TO FOLLOW

I throughly enjoyed all the characters in this book and the plot (minus the TW aspects of it). Iseul was funny and fiercely confident in an almost foolish way. I loved how she threw herself into things with barely a thought (as I feel I do the same at times). I also loved how she gave the people she didn't like nicknames instead of trying to learn their actual names. I thought that was really funny of her. I also enjoyed Prince Daehyun. He was charismatic and clever when he needed to be. The plot twist at the end really got me there. I was so stressed about the outcome of the story. Wonsik and Yuel were great characters too.

I'm really glad I ended up buying a special edition version of this book! It's going to look so pretty and I'm excited to add it to my collection.

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storiesatstarfall's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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googles's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy!!! I'm not one for historical fiction, but this was a blast. There is a coup, romance, murder mystery, and a lot of interesting characters. With a tight deadline to solve the mystery, and not just because of more victims, this one kept trying to make stay reading when I had a real world to return to.

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eliaflight's review

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adventurous emotional informative mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Set in the Joseon era of Korea, Reading the book is like watching a historical k-drama. The characters were very fun to read and the author has put in an intensive amount of research to tell this story. The story contains some romantic elements, but definitely focuses more on the politics and mystery solving. Overall I very much enjoyed A Crane Among Wolves.

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