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nadyasnook 's review for:
The Red Palace
by June Hur
My obsession with Korean dramas, music (BTS!), and the culture now involves books too. I discovered this book while browsing Instagram, and I was immediately sold when I saw captions like “read as a K-drama” “Joseon Era” “Mystery” and “Romance”. Cue to me, overhyped and excited I picked the book and I couldn’t stop reading it.
This is a Historical Mystery Drama with a tinge of romance, if you’ve watched some Korean dramas, that’s to be expected, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that the romance it does have sucks, it doesn’t! Although this book is YA it didn’t feel like I was reading YA, right now I kind of overlook that genre because I’m not a young adult anymore I guess, but I’ll make an exception for June Hur, by now I will read anything she writes.
Set in the Joseon Era, The Red Palace follows Baek- Hyeon a nurse palace that gets involved in an investigation of a massacre in the King’s palace. Baek-Hyeon’s mentor has been wrongly accused of the murder and she is willing to go to any length to prove her mentor’s innocence, which means finding an ally in police inspector Seo Eojin. Together they will unravel the mystery surrounding the murders, risking their own lives in the process, when all fingers point to the Crown Prince as the perpetrator.
I like that the book focuses on resolving the murders and every hurdle Baek-Hyeon and Seo Eojin encounter in the process, I also loved how the author managed, and succeeded, to fill the story with Korean customs from the Joseon Era and how closely she tried to keep the historical facts as accurate as she could. I like that I learned a little (or a lot) by reading historical details such as the medical practices and how women were treated back then. I loved the romance between the main characters, the yearning, and longing, the second-guessing, “will-they-or-won’t-they” trope. It was cute and heartwarming at the same time. I kept thinking of Park Bo-gum and Kim Yoo-jung in “Love in the Moonlight” as I read The Red Palace.
It’s been my absolute favorite read this year and I can’t wait to read June Hur’s next work.
Rating: 5.00/5.00
This is a Historical Mystery Drama with a tinge of romance, if you’ve watched some Korean dramas, that’s to be expected, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that the romance it does have sucks, it doesn’t! Although this book is YA it didn’t feel like I was reading YA, right now I kind of overlook that genre because I’m not a young adult anymore I guess, but I’ll make an exception for June Hur, by now I will read anything she writes.
Set in the Joseon Era, The Red Palace follows Baek- Hyeon a nurse palace that gets involved in an investigation of a massacre in the King’s palace. Baek-Hyeon’s mentor has been wrongly accused of the murder and she is willing to go to any length to prove her mentor’s innocence, which means finding an ally in police inspector Seo Eojin. Together they will unravel the mystery surrounding the murders, risking their own lives in the process, when all fingers point to the Crown Prince as the perpetrator.
I like that the book focuses on resolving the murders and every hurdle Baek-Hyeon and Seo Eojin encounter in the process, I also loved how the author managed, and succeeded, to fill the story with Korean customs from the Joseon Era and how closely she tried to keep the historical facts as accurate as she could. I like that I learned a little (or a lot) by reading historical details such as the medical practices and how women were treated back then. I loved the romance between the main characters, the yearning, and longing, the second-guessing, “will-they-or-won’t-they” trope. It was cute and heartwarming at the same time. I kept thinking of Park Bo-gum and Kim Yoo-jung in “Love in the Moonlight” as I read The Red Palace.
It’s been my absolute favorite read this year and I can’t wait to read June Hur’s next work.
Rating: 5.00/5.00