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pagesbywrigley 's review for:
The Red Palace
by June Hur
I wanted to like this book so much more than I ended up liking it. I was looking forward to reading this and the first chapter got my attention as soon as I read the first page. Hyeon was a great protagonist and I loved being inside her head, but the plot and characters surrounding her underdelivered compared to her.
Before I get into that, I just wanted to say that I loved the idea of the setting. The world could have used a little more description, but it wasn't difficult for me to fill in the blanks. The atmosphere matched the book perfectly.
Now the plot. It was too linear and none of the plot twists or revelations took me by surprise. I'm not a mystery reader, so I think I of all people should be surprised by the outcome.
A random fact that I found interesting is that this book is somewhat inspired by a true story. The author goes a little more in-depth about the real case in her Author's Note, but after reading this book, I want to look more into the original story and the era that which it took place.
For characters, other than our lead Hyeon, there was nothing memorable about any of them. This lack of characterization of the characters left the romance feeling forced and uninteresting, even if it is a fan favorite slow burn. Even if the romance felt off to me, I did love the scenes between the two characters.
I'm not sure if there is much else to say about this book. It was kind of short and read fast, so it's not like there is a wide variety of things to discuss.
Even if this book wasn't exactly my cup of tea, I would be very interested in reading books with similar settings and periods!
Before I get into that, I just wanted to say that I loved the idea of the setting. The world could have used a little more description, but it wasn't difficult for me to fill in the blanks. The atmosphere matched the book perfectly.
Now the plot. It was too linear and none of the plot twists or revelations took me by surprise. I'm not a mystery reader, so I think I of all people should be surprised by the outcome.
A random fact that I found interesting is that this book is somewhat inspired by a true story. The author goes a little more in-depth about the real case in her Author's Note, but after reading this book, I want to look more into the original story and the era that which it took place.
For characters, other than our lead Hyeon, there was nothing memorable about any of them. This lack of characterization of the characters left the romance feeling forced and uninteresting, even if it is a fan favorite slow burn. Even if the romance felt off to me, I did love the scenes between the two characters.
I'm not sure if there is much else to say about this book. It was kind of short and read fast, so it's not like there is a wide variety of things to discuss.
Even if this book wasn't exactly my cup of tea, I would be very interested in reading books with similar settings and periods!