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bookedmybook's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
3.75
mikaellen's review against another edition
2.5
Too many characters that I was never sure which ones I should really be caring about…this meant that when big reveals came around, they just didn’t hit that hard.
The Korean history didn’t fully set in until the authors note at the very end. Again, I was so focused on trying to decipher which characters were going to be important that I was never really able to appreciate the historical side of the book.
Will still be giving the authors other books a shot.
The Korean history didn’t fully set in until the authors note at the very end. Again, I was so focused on trying to decipher which characters were going to be important that I was never really able to appreciate the historical side of the book.
Will still be giving the authors other books a shot.
lilymouse's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-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? It's complicated
5.0
Absolute masterpiece
mhmissey's review against another edition
Interesting historical mystery set in Korea
_bekah_grace_'s review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
mysticwiki's review against another edition
4.0
I spent a long time with this book, longer than I anticipated as I was transitioning back to working in the office after having worked from home for the past two years. Still, this book was there for me mostly during my train ride commutes home after long days of work and man! Did this book make the 40 minute train journey go by so much faster every time I picked it up.
While I don't intend to go super in depth with this review (since... well I don't really write reviews like that LOL), I just want to talk about how much I enjoyed reading this book and being able to live with such an interesting cast of characters. Though, I guess there are some spoilers maybe?
I'm always a fan of historical fiction, and June Hur's books are something I've been finding myself really enjoying, especially since she captures Korean history in such vivid ways that it always keeps me wanting for more. Seol as a character was, in the beginning, kind of annoying for me I'll be honest. But she grew on me relatively quick, as I saw her journey through an unjust and rigid class system and how much past events in her life shaped her character by the end of the story, I felt like she was a very strong protagonist, one that I often found myself thinking about even after putting the book down.
This might just be a me thing, but the constant back and forth in trying to figure out if Inspector Han really was Seol's older brother was confusing me, but it tied up really nicely in the end. I mean, I tried to really think if it made sense to completely shed or hide your identity from an estranged sibling, or one you thought was dead, and at first I thought it was nonsense. Wouldn't you recognize your sibling or family right away? But even then, the more I thought about, I realized that it could most likely happen. Loving and caring family, and even longtime friends, can and will do things if it means protecting their loved ones. From the moment I realized that they truly could be related, everything else just made so much more sense to me.
The last thing I want to talk about before I end this review is that the details of both the setting and what atrocities of the murders were so vivid. Having finished the book right before bed last night, the image of murder victims with their noses cut off was kind of haunting, not gonna lie. And it's those vivid and (somewhat) shocking details that really make me remember a book, so yeah I guess I'm always going to be thinking about that then! Anyway, I'd love to re-read this book again with the context I have now, because that's the beauty of mystery novels. You read for the journey of discovering what happens, and then when you find out, you may as well re-read to see where those things actually were hidden all along.
On a side note, I purchased Hur's latest novel and I'm very excited to read that soon! I look forward to more reads during my weekly commutes :)
While I don't intend to go super in depth with this review (since... well I don't really write reviews like that LOL), I just want to talk about how much I enjoyed reading this book and being able to live with such an interesting cast of characters. Though, I guess there are some spoilers maybe?
I'm always a fan of historical fiction, and June Hur's books are something I've been finding myself really enjoying, especially since she captures Korean history in such vivid ways that it always keeps me wanting for more. Seol as a character was, in the beginning, kind of annoying for me I'll be honest. But she grew on me relatively quick, as I saw her journey through an unjust and rigid class system and how much past events in her life shaped her character by the end of the story, I felt like she was a very strong protagonist, one that I often found myself thinking about even after putting the book down.
This might just be a me thing, but the constant back and forth in trying to figure out if Inspector Han really was Seol's older brother was confusing me, but it tied up really nicely in the end. I mean, I tried to really think if it made sense to completely shed or hide your identity from an estranged sibling, or one you thought was dead, and at first I thought it was nonsense. Wouldn't you recognize your sibling or family right away? But even then, the more I thought about, I realized that it could most likely happen. Loving and caring family, and even longtime friends, can and will do things if it means protecting their loved ones. From the moment I realized that they truly could be related, everything else just made so much more sense to me.
The last thing I want to talk about before I end this review is that the details of both the setting and what atrocities of the murders were so vivid. Having finished the book right before bed last night, the image of murder victims with their noses cut off was kind of haunting, not gonna lie. And it's those vivid and (somewhat) shocking details that really make me remember a book, so yeah I guess I'm always going to be thinking about that then! Anyway, I'd love to re-read this book again with the context I have now, because that's the beauty of mystery novels. You read for the journey of discovering what happens, and then when you find out, you may as well re-read to see where those things actually were hidden all along.
On a side note, I purchased Hur's latest novel and I'm very excited to read that soon! I look forward to more reads during my weekly commutes :)
easturgeon's review against another edition
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
ellenelly's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
puppydogzz's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
ymile_mahllew's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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
4.75