Reviews - The Silence of Bones

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The Silence of Bones is a YA historical mystery set in Korea during the Joseon period (roughly 1800's) and follows a young servant girl, Seol, who has been indentured to the police bureau. She is a damo, a servant who handles the female criminals and corpses that the male officers are forbidden to touch. When her natural (and dangerous) curiosity brings her to the attention of a renowned police inspector, Seol is entangled in an investigation rife with political intrigue and tension between factions and religious groups in the palace. It's up to Seol to navigate the treacherous path to the answers that she very much wants to find.

As a history nerd and a lover of detective stories, this was right in my wheelhouse and I ended up having a very difficult time putting this book down. It does have a little bit of debut clunkiness in terms of the writing and some of the relationships are less satisfying than readers might wish, although that did end up lending it some realism for me.

What really won me over about the story is the character of Seol, whose curiosity I definitely shared and I very much wanted to protect her from a world that clearly didn't value her. She was certainly a bit more curious than sensible but it was endearing to me. And I really loved the atmosphere and how well June Hur integrated historical details and brought the religious and political tension to life.

If you're a fan of historical mysteries, I definitely think Silence of Bones is worth picking up and I'm looking forward to trying the rest of June Hur's books, I'm excited to see more.

CAWPILE Rating
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Characters: 8/10
Atmosphere: 10/10
Writing: 7/10
Plot: 7/10
Intrigue: 10/10
Logic: 9/10
Enjoyment: 10/10
Overall: 8.7/10 = 4.5 stars (rounded down for writing/plot)

samanthakayla's review

5.0

Really enjoyed this book and can't wait to read more from this author.

tammys_take's review

2.0

2.5-3 stars.

What I loved: a historical fiction mystery novel placed in Korea in the 1600s, the descriptions of life and hierarchy, the politics and everyday life in Korea in that time, the folklore and customs brought to life.

What I disliked: the characters were all underdeveloped, including the main character so that they all seemed one dimensional. Because of this, I didn’t really care about any of the characters, though I wanted to. The mystery didn’t capture my interest, because the pacing of the book was too slow and there wasn’t really any build up for the reveals. Instead, you were just told, and so there wasn’t much of a suspense when there very much could have been given the setting and atmosphere of the book.

daniella84's review

3.0

An interesting look at a time period I didn't know anything about, but unfortunately this just didn't grab me. I found the mystery at times hard to follow, and didn't really care about any of the characters. It was also a bit frustrating that a lot of the main character's backstory was only coming back to her in memories, so you felt you didn't really get to know her either outside of her work with the police.

Overall though a unique historical mystery; just not one I think will particularly stick with me.