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ealfving's review against another edition
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Stalking, Death of parent, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Child death
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
rafacolog's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Child death, Blood, Stalking, and Murder
solitary's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
post-session:
initially rating it a solid three, i bumped it with an extra point five because of the new insights and perspective i got from my fellow readers. also, i realized just during the session how character-centric the book is, despite it being a psychological mystery/thriller. it’s such a unique approach to the usual whodunnit narrative popular in books and films.
pre-session:
jeong yu-jeong threads together memory and murder in this book examining the inner workings of a deranged mind. like what everyone else is saying, this is a whydunnit rather than a whodunnit story. yu-jin takes us to different points of place and time as he tries to make sense of what he knows, what he doesn't, and what he's about to.
i felt like a prosecutor listening to yu-jin's story as he attempts to trick the audience and even himself with what really transpired the night before. despite not having any big twists or reveal, the slow unveiling of yu-jin's life from his point of view and from the people around him was enough to keep me seated.
without revealing much, the good son is a study of whether the tendency of our darkest and most vile desires and actions are inherent or brought upon by a series of circumstances that started from childhood to adulthood.
family plays a major part in this narrative, which is an important concept in almost all asian households. yu-jin being twenty-five and still living with his mom is nothing uncommon, yet it dawned on me how confining this must be for him. this, as well as many other factors that resulted in the premise, asks how far can a mother go for his child. and when confronted by a deadly truth, how does she stop?
︴ read for korean cultural center ph's book club
initially rating it a solid three, i bumped it with an extra point five because of the new insights and perspective i got from my fellow readers. also, i realized just during the session how character-centric the book is, despite it being a psychological mystery/thriller. it’s such a unique approach to the usual whodunnit narrative popular in books and films.
pre-session:
jeong yu-jeong threads together memory and murder in this book examining the inner workings of a deranged mind. like what everyone else is saying, this is a whydunnit rather than a whodunnit story. yu-jin takes us to different points of place and time as he tries to make sense of what he knows, what he doesn't, and what he's about to.
i felt like a prosecutor listening to yu-jin's story as he attempts to trick the audience and even himself with what really transpired the night before. despite not having any big twists or reveal, the slow unveiling of yu-jin's life from his point of view and from the people around him was enough to keep me seated.
without revealing much, the good son is a study of whether the tendency of our darkest and most vile desires and actions are inherent or brought upon by a series of circumstances that started from childhood to adulthood.
family plays a major part in this narrative, which is an important concept in almost all asian households. yu-jin being twenty-five and still living with his mom is nothing uncommon, yet it dawned on me how confining this must be for him. this, as well as many other factors that resulted in the premise, asks how far can a mother go for his child. and when confronted by a deadly truth, how does she stop?
︴ read for korean cultural center ph's book club
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Stalking and Panic attacks/disorders
rafaquatro's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
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
Its a thriller, a good one who does a lot of reflection about abuse and mother to son relationship, very predictable tho.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Blood, Violence, and Stalking
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Sexual assault
kristina_ligaya's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Mental illness, Death, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, and Violence
my_bibliotheca's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
4.5
Keterbalikan dari judulnya, isi buku ini benar-benar durhaka. Dari sudut pandang Yu-jin, pembaca bisa tahu semua peranan di kehidupannya memiliki kesalahan yang mengakibatkan keadaan semakin runyam dan serba salah.
Pada bab pertama, pembaca langsung disuguhkan kasus pembunuhan dan teka-teki yang sebetulnya tidak sulit untuk ditebak siapa pelakunya, namun narasinya dibangun dengan sangat lihai dan tricky. Pembaca perlu menggali lebih dalam untuk mengaitkan dan membuka fakta demi fakta di balik kejanggalan kasus-kasus pembunuhan.
Dari buku ini, aku bisa mengerti kengerian akibat dari kesalahpahaman dan ketertidakbukaan antar keluarga. Semuanya disulut karena dua hal tersebut, dari yang lama terabaikan dan akhirnya dipendam tanpa sadar sudah mengendap dan menuntun ke kemurkaan Yu-jin.
Buku ini lumayan page turner karena di tiap halaman membuat aku semakin bertanya-tanya dan ingin cepat-cepat mengetahui segalanya. Plot twist di bab akhir yang disuguhkan tidak begitu mengagetkan, tapi penjelasan semua kejadian dari sudut pandang Yu-jin vs Ibunya menjadi nilai tambah buku ini, karena kita mengetahui bentuk kejadian secara utuh. Dan sebagai pembaca, jujur aku sedikit kesulitan akan memihak ke siapa. Keduanya sama-sama memiliki alasan dan kelemahan. Jika mencoba menempatkan diri ke mereka, pasti sama-sama bimbangnya.
The Good Son merupakan buku kedua dari Jeong You-Jeong yang sudah aku baca! Semoga di lain kesempatan bisa baca karyanya yang lain 🙌🏻
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Stalking
mim72's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
3.0
A strong start and a real page-turner, but the ending was a let-down.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Blood
Moderate: Stalking
catandherbooks's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Death of parent, Blood, Murder, Child death, and Violence
Moderate: Stalking
Minor: Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, and Car accident
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