Reviews

The Owl Cries by Pyun Hye-young

Only show reviews with written explanations

erinlcrane's review against another edition

3.0

Made it to 60% on this one, so I’m considering it read.

This is about a forest ranger who goes missing. His brother comes looking for him, but no one wants to admit to having seen him. Things spiral from there…

This one reminded me of The Whispers by Audrey Audrain which I DNFed just recently. I thought I was getting a thriller, but I got drama instead. Same here - there’s so much more backstory and drama going on than mystery/thriller, which was disappointing.

My intrigue varied a lot which helped me get to 60% instead of DNFing earlier. Whenever something sinister and mysterious happened I’d perk up, but then there would be lots of repetition and domestic drama again.

I enjoyed The Hole, but I see this is actually an older book by the author. It’s only newly translated. So I think I’d try whatever she writes next but maybe not any other backlist.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

literaryjunarin's review against another edition

Go to review page

Boring

krista_lm's review against another edition

Go to review page

slow-paced

Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

meeshreads's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious slow-paced

3.0

This is an atmospheric and uneasy book. It has a few different sections told from different viewpoints. I liked the first part best, which was a mystery of a missing forest ranger. The largest section focused on the current ranger who is struggling with alcoholism and family struggles. I just found this character and story so depressing, and I felt towards the end he was being gaslit, but it's a bit of an unreliable narrator situation so I'm not really sure. There is also a section that delves into the time before the missing ranger, some long held secrets in the town. Throughout the whole thing, the forest is a looming and dark presence. It's a slow book, and I didn't really feel it paid off.

sisa_moyo's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

A young lawyer arrives in a small town in search of his dead beat brother who has been missing for months - an eerie, dark small town in the shadow of a large and looking forest, shrouded in secrecy, alcoholism, failed lives and families and the loud, thundering cries of an owl.
This plays out very much like a thriller, and the whole time the questions is not a whodunnit but a what-was-done. Through this we get an exploration of the lives of the people who one way or another are forever trapped in this town with no way out, gripped by the forest, debt, alcholism and deadly secrets.
Highly enjoyed this one, it kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time.