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louisereadsandreads 's review for:
The Red Palace
by June Hur
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillion for an advanced copy!
I have not really gotten into YA Mysteries, but the setting of this novel (18th Century Korea) was really intriguing. All of the characters were fascinating. I loved learning more about palace life and the nurses, as well as the social hierarchy of the time. The setting made this story both unique but also relatable in that most of us have a good concept of how nurses and the police work together and move through society.
Overall, the heroine's attempt to solve the mystery with the help of a plucky policeman felt like a story that could be transcribed in most times and places, but I loved how the author wrote about Korea, providing a level of detail that helped provide context to this ignorant reader, but not so much that it felt like I was reading a treatise on palace customs and the social hierarchy of 18th Century Korea (which I would absolutely read, but that wasn't the point of this book!). Using the social norms to create tension between the nurse and the policeman was great and I appreciated how it drove the romance storyline without feeling false.
The mystery at times felt a little unbelievable (would a prince really be a mass murderer?) but the author's note at the end was helpful and regardless, I found the mystery compelling and almost wish we had gotten to see more of how the different players at the palace fit into everything. At times it felt like some aspects of the plot were picked up and forgotten when convenient, but it wrapped up nicely and in a way, I didn't completely see coming. I appreciated how the author wove Korean culture into the mystery's resolution and explained it (since it was not obvious to people not familiar with the language).
An interesting book, I would definitely read more from this author.
I have not really gotten into YA Mysteries, but the setting of this novel (18th Century Korea) was really intriguing. All of the characters were fascinating. I loved learning more about palace life and the nurses, as well as the social hierarchy of the time. The setting made this story both unique but also relatable in that most of us have a good concept of how nurses and the police work together and move through society.
Overall, the heroine's attempt to solve the mystery with the help of a plucky policeman felt like a story that could be transcribed in most times and places, but I loved how the author wrote about Korea, providing a level of detail that helped provide context to this ignorant reader, but not so much that it felt like I was reading a treatise on palace customs and the social hierarchy of 18th Century Korea (which I would absolutely read, but that wasn't the point of this book!). Using the social norms to create tension between the nurse and the policeman was great and I appreciated how it drove the romance storyline without feeling false.
The mystery at times felt a little unbelievable (would a prince really be a mass murderer?) but the author's note at the end was helpful and regardless, I found the mystery compelling and almost wish we had gotten to see more of how the different players at the palace fit into everything. At times it felt like some aspects of the plot were picked up and forgotten when convenient, but it wrapped up nicely and in a way, I didn't completely see coming. I appreciated how the author wove Korean culture into the mystery's resolution and explained it (since it was not obvious to people not familiar with the language).
An interesting book, I would definitely read more from this author.