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biancahartley's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Misogyny, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, and Murder
ana_reads's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
This book was a lot darker than I had anticipated upon starting it. I finished it in the middle of the day and kept thinking about the ending for the next few hours. The narrator is super unreliable and the plot/events of the novel are very bleak, sometimes harrowing and more often than not really upsetting, but the writing was so engrossing I couldn't put it down. The mystery felt pretty straight forward, with more of the focus being on the narrator figuring out his motives rather than the "who" and "what" of the nights events, which I think made for a more interesting read. Overall, it was a very well written and compelling read, but I would definitely advise looking though the content warnings before starting because it does get quite intense at times and can be quite upsetting.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Stalking, and Murder
Moderate: Animal death and Misogyny
nadir's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Stalking, and Car accident
Moderate: Child death, Suicidal thoughts, and Injury/Injury detail
whitney_walton's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
For those who enjoy reading unreliable narrators, crime thrillers or Gillian Flynn novels. Easy to read in a few days, but very dark with difficult scenes. Definitely take note of the content warnings.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Chronic illness, Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, and Sexual harassment
itsmemaj's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
This book was a strange one. I liked it, but I was also hoping for more! There was a lot of potential for more plot twists, but I guess that's just me and the thrillers that I'm used to reading: a heart-pounding plot twist after plot twist. 😀 I had a lot of questions and was hoping for some big reveal at the end. I did like the ending though. It fit very well with the story.
I've read quite a lot of gory books (Lars Kepler books are a good example), but the perspective and the way this story was told left me feeling almost nothing while reading all the gory parts in this book! 😅 There's a moment with a rabbit that had me almost skipping to the next page (I'm VERY sensitive to animal cruelty), but the parts where stuff happened to people, were told in such a calm and emotionless way they didn't creep me out as much as I was expecting.
Still definitely worth a read, and I would try something else by the same author, now that I know her writing style!
Ahh, also my first buddy read here, thank you @livinglifewithlindsreads! I had so much fun reading this with you! 💜
I've read quite a lot of gory books (Lars Kepler books are a good example), but the perspective and the way this story was told left me feeling almost nothing while reading all the gory parts in this book! 😅 There's a moment with a rabbit that had me almost skipping to the next page (I'm VERY sensitive to animal cruelty), but the parts where stuff happened to people, were told in such a calm and emotionless way they didn't creep me out as much as I was expecting.
Still definitely worth a read, and I would try something else by the same author, now that I know her writing style!
Ahh, also my first buddy read here, thank you @livinglifewithlindsreads! I had so much fun reading this with you! 💜
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Animal cruelty
lindsloveslit's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
2.25
I should preface ALL of this with: I don't read many horror, mystery, or thriller books. So, take everything I say with a grain of salt!
"The Good Son" shook me within the first ten pages, and caused me to jump at every unfamiliar sound I heard for the remainder of the book. 😅 It immediately grips you, with the narrator Yu-jin waking up to Mother's body at the bottom of the stairs. He doesn't remember anything, and for the next three days he pieces together the mysery.
I really enjoyed the writing of this translated thriller/crime for the first 40% of the book, but the remainder ended up being pretty predictable and more gory than I'm used to. 🙈 To add, reading a book from this perspective ended up feeling so haunting and claustrophic. There were sentences that made me really uncomfortable and I'm not sure if I love or hate the book... what i am sure of is that it is the darkest, most creepy book I've ever read. The dreams it caused and sleep it stole was REAL. 🤣
P.S. This was my first ever buddy read through @the.storygraph and I LOVE IT (shout out to @majreads for joining me). It was really helpful for me to bounce questions and thoughts back and forth.
"The Good Son" shook me within the first ten pages, and caused me to jump at every unfamiliar sound I heard for the remainder of the book. 😅 It immediately grips you, with the narrator Yu-jin waking up to Mother's body at the bottom of the stairs. He doesn't remember anything, and for the next three days he pieces together the mysery.
I really enjoyed the writing of this translated thriller/crime for the first 40% of the book, but the remainder ended up being pretty predictable and more gory than I'm used to. 🙈 To add, reading a book from this perspective ended up feeling so haunting and claustrophic. There were sentences that made me really uncomfortable and I'm not sure if I love or hate the book... what i am sure of is that it is the darkest, most creepy book I've ever read. The dreams it caused and sleep it stole was REAL. 🤣
P.S. This was my first ever buddy read through @the.storygraph and I LOVE IT (shout out to @majreads for joining me). It was really helpful for me to bounce questions and thoughts back and forth.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Stalking, Death of parent, and Murder
ansdnl's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
akira_outofthegravity's review against another edition
dark
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Very well written but the ending made me so mad/sad. In like, a semi good way.
HAE JIN DESERVED BETTER. I will forever be pissed off at that he was so kind ;3; *cries*
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Stalking
incigiru's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Mental illness, Violence, Medical content, Stalking, Death of parent, and Murder
jayisreading's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
3.75
The Good Son is a great book to pick up if you’re a fan of twisted revenge and diving into a murderer’s psyche. What I particularly liked was Jeong’s structure of the novel. Rather than a build-up to the murder, it happens from the get-go, leaving the rest of the book to be an exploration of motive and consequences. There were a few things that I felt weren’t answered, but I also can’t tell if that was intentional or not, especially considering that this is a translation.
On that note, I would have loved to have read the original, especially to get a feel for the nuances in how these characters are speaking to one another. Unfortunately, that’s something that can’t be translated from Korean to English, but I think it would have made a pretty big impact on the overall tone.
There isn’t anything phenomenal about The Good Son that would merit it a must-read, but it kept me engaged and interested enough to get through it in a few days.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Child death and Emotional abuse
Minor: Death of parent