A review by adelphiereads
The Red Palace by June Hur 허주은

adventurous emotional mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

It's an emotional mystery novel that focuses on the plot and the characters as well. I love the writing. It's not that difficult to get lost in it and I love the parallelisms in the book. Especially the parallelism between the main character and the killer. I also love how there's only a perfect dash of romance in it since it is a mystery novel set in a palace. It didn't focus on the romance aspect, it focused on the murder, the society at that time and how minorities were treated poorly by those in power. The character development of the main character was strong and the same goes with those around her. This is a really good book. I highly recommend this for people who love mystery novels, especially those who enjoy historical mystery novels. Also, it's kind of a breath of fresh air that this is a historical mystery novel set in an Asian country. I think we've had enough of Western historical mystery novels.