dufremde 's review for:

The Plotters by Un-su Kim

3.75

dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

---

I would just about devour the 12-episode Netflix adaptation of this. the dramatic beats are perfectly written for film, with viscerally descriptive passages throughout, but the action somehow felt a bit dull on page, nestled between long backstory interludes. the society of assassins and plotters was very vividly rendered but we didn't learn much about the plotters by the end, nor was Mito's part of the story as carefully crafted as Renseng's. works better as a rumination on mortality against an imaginative backdrop than a story with a grander statement to make. I just want Bear to be ok.