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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
I don't know if it was the writing or the fact that I was listening to the audiobook, but I had a hard time remembering who all of the characters in this book were. One notable character I am still confused about even after finishing. And for the first half of the book, I also was very confused by all of the different plot threads. About halfway through I started getting really into it though, and I ended up enjoying it a lot, or at least as much as you can enjoy something that also really depresses you. Still, it was a time and place that I previously only knew about from watching Kdramas (probably not the most reliable source of information), and I will check out future books from June Hur once I feel less sad about the plot of this one.
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
After hearing a lot of praise for this author's work, I finally checked it out as I was craving an intelligent mystery. While I think the investigative part played second fiddle to the characters and the tensions between them, I still found it thrilling and a thorough page-turner.
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Love the culture and the clear research done, it is agonizingly slow to read.
DNF-ed at around 60%
The Silence of Bones reads exactly like a Korean period drama on TV—it's just incredibly boring and predictable, doing the compelling concept of the novel great injustice. I really liked the cultural aspect of the novel, but the mix/usage of Korean vocabulary was annoyingly inconsistent and I kept wondering why the author chose to use one Korean term or title but not another. With this book the characters are its biggest issue. I really didn't connect with any of them and the narrator's voice felt odd to me throughout my entire reading experience.
Generally, The Silence of Bones isn't a bad book, but I just didn't have the drive to bother with the story as it was so predictable that I did't think I would miss anything.
The Silence of Bones reads exactly like a Korean period drama on TV—it's just incredibly boring and predictable, doing the compelling concept of the novel great injustice. I really liked the cultural aspect of the novel, but the mix/usage of Korean vocabulary was annoyingly inconsistent and I kept wondering why the author chose to use one Korean term or title but not another. With this book the characters are its biggest issue. I really didn't connect with any of them and the narrator's voice felt odd to me throughout my entire reading experience.
Generally, The Silence of Bones isn't a bad book, but I just didn't have the drive to bother with the story as it was so predictable that I did't think I would miss anything.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Torture, Murder
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-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:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a densely plotted mystery, the kind where secrets keep unfurling and unfurling in entertaining, if not always plausible, ways. Hur has given us a richely drawn historic stage for this to play out in, and a complicated heroine. The overall tone is darker than this genre often delivers, but it is not bleak. While I think the novel could have used a little streamlining to make it slightly faster paced, it was a nice new discovery of a historical fiction writer.
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes