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slaywithsteph's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
There are some people you just can’t love. Even when they smile, they make you want to pull on either side of that smile and rip their mouth off.
Yu-Jin, a troubled young adult dreaming of being independent and making his family proud, wakes up next to the dead body of his mother with no memory of what happened. You’ll follow along with Yu-Jin as he pieces together what happened.
The narrator is rather talkative as he reflects on his life and the death of his mom, but otherwise, it was fun albeit fairly predictable.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Gore, Mental illness, Stalking, Blood, Death, Dysphoria, Physical abuse, Murder, Gaslighting, and Violence
clavishorti's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
3.0
Drenched in an eerie metallic scent, twenty-six-year-old Yu-Jin awakens to a cryptic phone call from his brother, unraveling a harrowing mystery. A stylish Seoul duplex becomes the haunting backdrop as Yu-Jin discovers his mother’s lifeless body, triggering a desperate three-day quest to uncover the chilling truth about that fateful night. In The Good Son by Jeong You-Jeong, where memories blur and seizures cast shadows, the urgent question echoes: Who can you trust when even yourself is a mystery?
Exploring the pages of Jeong You-Jeong’s The Good Son, I found a captivating blend of psychological thriller and mysterious elements. Despite initially sensing the direction of the narrative, suspicions about certain characters and uncertainties create layers of inner intelligence, inviting deep engagement.
Delving into the English translation by Kim Chi-Young, I felt connected to the clarity of sentences and expressions that flowed seamlessly. The ease of capturing the core of the story allowed me to fully immerse myself without grappling with language barriers. While the narrative at the outset induces a touch of boredom and occasionally falls into wordiness, over time, I found myself captivated and absorbed in the increasingly profound journey of the story.
With this initial gradual pace, I began to wonder if it was intentional to provide a stage for the development of the main character, Yu-Jin. The author’s decision to build the narrative slowly becomes a kind of clever tactic, paving the way for a more in-depth exploration of Yu-Jin’s psychological complexity.
As the plot unfolds, my interest reaches its zenith, creating emotional tension and an irresistible curiosity. One aspect that makes The Good Son shine is how the author successfully presents Yu-Jin’s internal debate with himself. This exposition reveals psychological intricacies in a brilliant manner, drawing the reader into a biting psychological struggle, creating unexpected dimensions of darkness. Thus, as I delve into layer after layer of the story, it’s not just about reading; it’s about feeling the emotional vibrations and inner intelligence permeating through every page.
Despite not encountering truly special elements, the reading journey in The Good Son by Jeong You-Jeong remains satisfying, akin to navigating through corridors of psychological brilliance. Perhaps, with bolder execution, particularly in the context of the psychological thriller genre, this story has the potential to create a more profound impact. An enticing invitation beckoning readers to explore deeper and more challenging psychological layers suggests that the true mystery may not have fully unfolded yet.
Exploring the pages of Jeong You-Jeong’s The Good Son, I found a captivating blend of psychological thriller and mysterious elements. Despite initially sensing the direction of the narrative, suspicions about certain characters and uncertainties create layers of inner intelligence, inviting deep engagement.
Delving into the English translation by Kim Chi-Young, I felt connected to the clarity of sentences and expressions that flowed seamlessly. The ease of capturing the core of the story allowed me to fully immerse myself without grappling with language barriers. While the narrative at the outset induces a touch of boredom and occasionally falls into wordiness, over time, I found myself captivated and absorbed in the increasingly profound journey of the story.
With this initial gradual pace, I began to wonder if it was intentional to provide a stage for the development of the main character, Yu-Jin. The author’s decision to build the narrative slowly becomes a kind of clever tactic, paving the way for a more in-depth exploration of Yu-Jin’s psychological complexity.
As the plot unfolds, my interest reaches its zenith, creating emotional tension and an irresistible curiosity. One aspect that makes The Good Son shine is how the author successfully presents Yu-Jin’s internal debate with himself. This exposition reveals psychological intricacies in a brilliant manner, drawing the reader into a biting psychological struggle, creating unexpected dimensions of darkness. Thus, as I delve into layer after layer of the story, it’s not just about reading; it’s about feeling the emotional vibrations and inner intelligence permeating through every page.
Despite not encountering truly special elements, the reading journey in The Good Son by Jeong You-Jeong remains satisfying, akin to navigating through corridors of psychological brilliance. Perhaps, with bolder execution, particularly in the context of the psychological thriller genre, this story has the potential to create a more profound impact. An enticing invitation beckoning readers to explore deeper and more challenging psychological layers suggests that the true mystery may not have fully unfolded yet.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Gore, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Car accident
vonni's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Emotional abuse, Murder, Body horror, Death, Gore, Physical abuse, Animal death, Car accident, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, and Mental illness
Moderate: Medical content
mymercurialnature's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
slow-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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Blood, Mental illness, Misogyny, Gore, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Death
nodogsonthemoon's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Car accident, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Blood
Moderate: Mental illness, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt
greta595's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Cursing, Death, Gore, and Murder
Moderate: Car accident
deadlamp's review against another edition
challenging
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? Yes
3.75
This book was good! The imagery was <33 and I really couldn’t put it down for the last 150 pages.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Death of parent, Stalking, and Gore
Moderate: Grief
iamondrea's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Gore
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: Violence, Gore, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Animal cruelty
lindsloveslit's review
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: Gore, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Stalking, and Violence