one of my most anticipated reads in 2024, especially after the news that more june hur books will be published in the uk (!!!!!!)!!!!

i really enjoyed the way this book was written - june hur has a way to really capture the flow of the book in a fast paced and easy to understand way. especially considering the contents and politics that is in this book. although it would have been cool to have a deeper dive into the actual coup itself (since the book primarily focused on the women’s escape, and then we get snippets of the coup, though from reading the historical note, just guess not much bloodshed was actually seen(??????) but i am very likely to be wrong lol) and like how it was planned. i do appreciate that the nameless flower plot was a big drive for the development of FL and ML’s relationship together, plus FL’s personal journey!

i really loved the quiet romance between the FL and the ML, cause the way that the ML fell, was just so beautiful. and the way he fell HARD, especially when he was like, “i am undone” when talking about falling for the FL????? PLEASE🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

all in all a solid read and am looking forward to seeing these on the shelves!🩷🩷🩷🩷🩷

Thank you NetGalley for the E-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a captivating read, June Hur’s writing takes you into this story head first. The story is gripping, I was fully engaged with was happening in both the plot and the mystery. The only thing that I would change would be reveal of the killer - it felt very underwhelming for such a brilliantly woven story.

June Hur’s newest book is a historical young adult novel set in Joseon (Korea) in the 1500s. The king is a tyrant whose people is afraid of, especially women. This king is a power hungry man who loves to “hunt” beautiful women, exercising his power and control over them. Over a thousand young daughters, wives and sisters have been abducted from their homes and separated from their families, they are now marked forever by order of said king.

One of those women is our heroine Iseul’s older sister. Iseul is a spoiled brat who has been pampered by her parents and older sister. Her father was a government official who later was murdered with his wife in front of their daughters. Since then, Older Sister has looked after Iseul, working really hard so the little one wouldn’t want for nothing. Until one day the king’s soldiers abducted her and put her in the palace with the other forced concubines. Iseul then had her waking to real life moment and sets herself on a journey to rescue her sister.

Iseul is an interesting characters. She is barely of age but since the murder of her parents and the abduction of her sister, she has been growing more mature, leaving behind her old life of childish dreams. She is full of regret, for she blames herself for all the situation that led to her sister’s abduction, her inability to cooperate in the household, her selfish tantrums, and her spoiled brat ego. He needs to become stronger to face whatever dangers she might encounter along her way but luckily for her she is not alone. There is a group of people, namely Yun the local innkeeper, Wonsik the investigator and most importantly, the king’s half brother, prince Daehyun. A young handsome man who will help Iseul but who also has plans of his own.

Daehyun has a sad backstory and a plan to overthrown the king, but that goal won’t be an easy thing to achieve. Not only is the whole kingdom terrified of the king, but there are other forces working to make everything more difficult; corruption, treason, injustices, poverty and an assassin killing prominent people who are close to the king.

So the little group gets closer and closer as they deal with their different demons. And in the meantime Iseul inspires the prince’s protective instincts with her recklessness, her impulsiveness and her honest nature. He grows very fond of her and perhaps those feelings will be reciprocated?

This story is quite exciting and compelling. It has mystery, love, treason, friendship and found family in its pages. Iseul’s character growth is quite remarkable right from the start and the romance plot doesn’t overshadow the main storyline. Actually, all of the subplots and the main plot are well balanced in my opinion. The best thing about this book is that it can be read as a Kdrama so if you love Korean productions you will have a lot of fun reading this book, the images are so vivid that the reader can conjure up all of the scenes in the book, costumes and all, in their imagination. This is my second June Hur book and I cannot wait to read more, just like the first one, “A Crane Among Wolves” is a page turner.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC of 'A Crane Among Wolves' by June Hur.

June Hur wrote a book and made it an art. 'A Crane Among Wolves' is filled with an enemies-to-lovers romance combined with a mystery and a heap of politics. It can feel quite heavy and overbearing to read at times but I stuck with it and fell in love with the development and the character building in general combined with Hur's writing style. I've never read a June Hur novel before but she is certainly on my radar after this masterpiece.

A Crane Among Wolves is historical literature inspired by the real-life atrocities carried out by “Tyrant King" Yeonsangun of Korea. This book is centred on two characters within the dynasty – Isuel and Prince Daehyun, as they grapple with the losses of living under tyranny and whose paths cross due to the rampant actions of Yeonsangun. In the case of Isuel, she is a seventeen-year-old whose elder sister was kidnapped by the King to be one of his concubines. She leaves her home to rescue her sister from the king and soon encounters Prince Daehyun. Prince Daehyun, the “favourite” half-brother of King Yeonsang, lives a life of fear and paranoia that his monstrous brother will finally act upon his half-veiled threat to kill him. He becomes entrenched in a plot to revolt against the King while simultaneously on the hunt for the “Nameless Flower,” a serial killer set on taunting the King. In order to achieve their respected motives, Isuel and Daehyun soon find themselves in an uneasy alliance where trust and hope are dangerous ideals to rely on.
If I had to compare this book, the only way I could do it is by comparing the harsh realities of the Mockingjay book with the enchanting environment of ancient historical K-dramas. In actuality, this book cannot be compared to anything I have ever read before. This book draws upon the dark underbelly of revolution and how upper society often profits from the rest of society even when trying to affect change. As a result, it is not a simple action packed book that is simply about killing the king. Throughout the book, as Isuel struggles to figure out how to save her sister and Daehyun navigates the political terrain to keep the political coup afloat, they soon realise their goals are not straightforward to achieve, and the road to healing and a brighter future is even harder to envision. I don’t want to say too much about the plot without giving it away, but it was far from your typical “teenagers” takedown of the political institution with half-baked plans and vibes.
Writing
Even though this book deals with sensitive topics (violence, suicide, rape), it did read YA to me. This is not a bad thing at all, and it reminded me of the Mockingjay book because it is an art to talk about such complex topics understandably. The fact that I was gripped by this book and as a consequence nearly forgot to get off my tube stop several times, shows you how good the writing is. There were also very noteworthy quotes centred both around the romance and the reflections on human nature (again, I say there are whispers of Suzanne Collins in there), which is again a testament to Hur’s skill. Also, I think it is hard to write a plot where the two characters are not the centre of a revolution (because this isn’t the reality of how revolutions go) but at the same time not make the characters too passive. I think Hur is able to create the balance (although at one point a character fainted and missed out on crucial action when they really didn’t need to!).
Characters
Isuel
Isuel, Isuel, Isuel. I want to wrap her in a tight blanket because I know there are going to be readers who will attack her. God forbid, a teenager girl doesn’t act like a self-sacrificing lamb who voices her own opinion. Isuel is a younger sister who is sheltered from the harsher realities of their parents demise by her sister until her sister goes missing. Isuel grapples with understanding how far she is willing to go to save her sister. Isuel is aware of her limitations; she vocalises her frustrations and tries to be better. I will say she isn’t the world’s best detective (this becomes important when the subplot of The Nameless Flower becomes more critical), but she is astute and engaging enough to want to root for, and I think by the end of the book, she is someone worth admiring. I personally love flawed Isuel, and she is a girl after my own heart. Definitely a FMC who leaves a lasting impression on your heart because to even believe that you can save your sister from a life as a King’s sexual plaything, you got to be one badass bitch. I think the bonds she forms with secondary characters also form her as a three-dimensional being.
Prince Daehyun
I love this man. I was in true terror for him anytime he was even in the vicinity of his brother. He is cynical and relentless, kind and brave. Funnily enough, I feel Prince Daehyun has parralled young Coriolanus Snow (if he actually had a bloody heart) because he is struggling to stay alive in this messed-up family dynasty and forced to wear a cruel mask and even a crueller reputation. It was heartbreaking to see him slowly soften for Isuel and start to struggle with the stakes and consequences of both a failed and successful coup. I really enjoyed his chapters, and I think his point of view was absolutely necessary for the narrative this story was trying to create. In short, Prince Daehyun was not your stock-book boyfriend with no personality. He was a lovely character to explore.
The plot twist of the book
I did not see the plot twists coming. There was one plot twist (you will know when you reach it). I was absolutely floored, and then I had to get out of the train, so I just kept reading on the train platform at 9 p.m. at night because I could not believe she went there. JUNE HUR I WILL BE SENDING YOU MY THERAPY BILL BECAUSE YOU HAVE A CRUEL SENSE OF HUMOR. WHAT WAS THE REASON! WHY DID I BELIEVE THERE WAS HOPE. Let me tell you that little line she adds to the blurb on the book “Hope is dangerous. Love is deadly” wasn’t a cute byline… IT WAS A THREAT.
Why is this book a four star not a five.
This book needed a good 50–75 pages more. I don’t mean in an "omg, I love this so much, I need more." I mean, legitimately, this book needed more time to develop the character relationships between the secondary characters and Isuel so that we actually felt emotional weight between the characters. This is especially true because the secondary characters become really important to the book. I also think we needed to see more flashbacks or emotional backstories between Dahyeun and those he has lost to really flesh out his character. I feel like the author created the bare bones of a found family trope but never went there for some reason. Some of the emotional touchpoints in this book could have been better.
My bigger problem was the Nameless Flower subplot. Our King is ALLEGEDLY our main villain of this story. HE IS TERRIFYING. He is the reason the stakes are so terrifying. So tell me why we never directly see or hear from him in the second half. BAFFLING. We should have seen more scenes between Isuel and the King, and definitely some kind of confrontation scene where the King realises that Dahyeun did in fact betray him. For the life of me, I could not understand why we should care about the Nameless Flower more? I get that the book was trying to show that there are many villains in this story, but I really felt that the King and Dahyeun relationship needed more space to evolve and that it would have been relevant to the story. EVEN KATNISS AND PRESIDENT SNOW HAD A FACEOFF SCENE ON HIS ROOFTOP. I honestly did not care for the Nameless Flower . Some of the last parts of the book felt extremely disjointed as a result. Also, I physically do not understand how these characters found each other so easily. Dora, the explorer, could take some lessons from Isuel and Dahyeun because they could easily hunt each other out like they had air tags on each other.
Conclusion

Having said all that, I loved this book – I want publishers to know we desperately need more books like this and I WANT MORE OF JUNE HUR’S WORK! This was one of those books that hits your soul.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read a review this book.

Let me start by saying this book was seemingly made for me. Korean history was a special interest of mine a few years ago, so I was really looking forward to diving into this book.

The setting was beautiful, and I loved the rich and detailed historical aspects that were throughout the book. Hur did not shy away from describing the atrocities from this period in Korean history, and it was very educational. Clearly this was well researched, which was cool to read.

However, I did not really enjoy this novel. The main gripe I have is that the story was incredibly disjointed. Every scene is abruptly in a different place without any transition to get to that point. This is true for places, and for people in the scenes. All of sudden Iseul would be talking to someone and you would have no clue who it is until 5 lines into the dialogue. I wonder if the intention for this work is that it will be produced as a drama? At times it really felt like a historical kdrama rather than a novel.

As I read in the historical note at the end of the book, Hur was researching as she was writing, which led to her changing the storyline, so I’m certain that it impacted the overall end result. I have interest in reading her other works to learn more about Korean history, so maybe I will check out her other novels.

I really adored this story. The characters were all interesting and the plot was very gripping. The pacing and writing style were great too.

Title:A Crane Among Wolves By June Hur

Release date: May, 14th, 2024

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Stars

In the oppressive kingdom of Joseon, ruled by the tyrant King Yeonsan, hope is a dangerous luxury and love is a deadly gamble. Seventeen-year-old Iseul embarks on a perilous journey to rescue her sister from the king's clutches, only to confront the harsh reality of his absolute power. Meanwhile, Prince Daehyun, burdened by his brother's atrocities, seeks to overthrow the tyrant. When their paths converge, Iseul and Daehyun form an unlikely alliance to challenge the king and bring liberation to their people, risking everything in a daring bid for freedom and justice.

In her captivating novel "A Crane Among Wolves," June Hur introduces readers to a richly crafted historical world filled with intrigue and danger.

As a newcomer to the author's work, I found myself thoroughly immersed and engaged to the story, captivated by the vividly drawn characters and the intricacies of the plot. Hur's skillful storytelling kept me eagerly turning the pages, eager to read each page.

I look forward to delving into more of her work in the future.

Highly recommended for fans of historical fiction and mystery.


I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This is the first book I've read written by June Hur. I've followed her on social media for a while and does she really know how to market her own book. The K-drama comparison is spot on.

Her prose is phenomenal. At first, I was wary of the switch in first POV to third POV, but it worked so well. I loved Isuel and Daehyun. The books brought tears to my eyes on many occasions.

"A Crane Among Wolves" is a ya historical romance, with mystery overtones, written by June Hur.

This is the first book I have read by the author and I was definitely captivated! Set in a tumultuous period of Korean history, the tale deals with strong themes such as abuse, rape, and death, but it also speaks of hope, courage, friendship, and love. In addition, there is a beautiful found family and a slooow burn that made me sweat a lot! I enjoyed the search for Iseul's sister, the organization of the coup, while the mystery part is the one that convinced me the least.

Iseul and Daehyun, protagonists with their respective first and third person povs, convinced me. I found them to be well portrayed and with excellent development. Iseul is a rather spoiled and conceited 17-year-old girl who lived a privileged and sheltered life before tragedy struck her family, leaving her alone with her beloved and at the same time detested older sister. When her sister is captured and taken to the capital to serve as the king's concubine, Iseul sets out to try to rescue her, maturing a lot. On the other hand, Daehyun is a prince raised in the shadow of his half-brother, the king, forced to observe his atrocities against the people. Cunning, lying, and manipulative, in order to survive he has learned to wear a cold, uncaring mask, under which he hides pain, doubts, fears, and plans for a coup. The romance made me swoon so much! The two detest each other, do not trust each other, but their common hatred for the king leads them to join forces. Amidst arguments and wry banter, Iseul and Daehyun slowly begin to grow closer, developing a sweet, painful, and thwarted relationship. Seriously, sloooow burn and angst rule supreme here!

All in all, "A Crane Among Wolves" is a dark, bewitching, and intense novel that completely won me over!

Thank you to the Publisher and NetGalley for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The description of this book sounds amazing: 16th century Korea, an evil tyrant, a serial killer on the loose, a girl risking everything for her sister and a prince planning a coup - who wouldn't be intrigued? I haven't read Hur's previous novel and I was excited to read a new author and fall for her work. And while I learned quite a bit and was really interested in the historic period this novel takes place in, I was also, in the end, let down. The execution of this perfect premise was rather lacking.

I quite liked Hur's writing, there are some beautiful descriptions in here. But it also felt a little detached, the narrative voice resembling a rather neutral observer who doesn't allow for any emotional attachment. I felt nothing. I didn't care at all about the characters or their fate. While there were glimpses of complexity, both Iseult and her love interest, prince Daehyun, feel like cardboard cutouts most of the time. They're just boring and their romance is lacklustre. The side characters are one-note and forgettable, which is a shame because the big emotional beats of this story didn't work at all for me because of it. The dialogues feel stilted (which I think is partly to be blamed on the way the author tried to emulate The Olden Language), the action scenes too slow. I just couldn't get into the story at all and noone is more crushed about it than I am, because all the pieces for something great are there, they're just not used effectively. I quite liked the ending though, both of the romance (though that is admittedly quite predictable) and the coup story. I really enjoyed how Hur didn't shy away at all from showing the horrors on both sides of this conflict.

I'm still hoping this novel will find a lot of fans, because it's an important and intriguing story to tell. Maybe it's just me. I'd give this around 2 stars.

I was looking forward to this book, because I had a great time reading June Hur's previous one, Red Palace. It would be true to say that I came in wanting more of the same, to get that compressed historical k-drama experience in a book format, and while I can see how it might work for others, it didn't have the same magic for me.

Unfortunately, I suspect in large the reason why A Crane Among Wolves didn't click with me the way Red Palace did is because Iseul is a very different protagonist to Hyeon; due to her family background of privilege, there is a lot of rashness and impulsiveness (vs Hyeon's caution and present-but-overlooked role the nurse profession gave her) in Iseul that puts her closer to a stereotypical YA female lead, and by extension, makes her story a more stereotypical YA fare with nobility and rebellions. And I simply don't find that as enjoyable as the conflict and story structure in Red Palace (a grimmer but tighter story of a palace murder investigation, with main leads being people of professional background).

Thank you to Netgalley for an advance copy of the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Headline for the eARC.

To illustrate how excited I was to read this book, I added it to my GoodReads TBR almost a year ago and started reading it the same evening I got approved for the eARC.

This ended up being a delightful read, which feels strange to say with the horrible historical events featured in this novel.

Positive:

First off, I think a really good choice was made regarding the timing of the start of the novel. It felt like a really good entry point to Iseul’s story.

One of the strongest points of this story is the setting. It is very clear that the author did a lot of research on this time period in Korean history. Everything was so well described that I felt like I was walking next to Iseul. The used Korean words or suffixes really added to the setting as well without disrupting the flow of the reading for me (non-native English speaker with barely any knowledge of the Korean language).

I liked Iseul and her stubbornness. I also appreciated following a main character who was aware of the privilege she’d had and how sheltered her life had been before tragedy struck. The mystery of Nameless Flower was also really intriguing and I liked Iseul’s mentorship under Wonsik.

I found the relationship between Iseul and Daehyun really cute and I loved their bickering. They were overall very sweet and their relationship developed at a pace that suited the novel very well.

Negative (contains SPOILERS):

My only negative feedback is related to Iseul and the rebellion. I felt that it was not portrayed in a very believable way and that she was a bit too much of a key player. If she had joined when the rebels had been a bit more established (as opposed to her being the fourth member), I would have bought her connection to her uncle being key to connecting the rebels to the government officials and the rebellion happening very quickly thereafter.

Writing:

As a person who vastly prefers third perspective, if someone had told me I’d read a book with alternating first and third person chapters, I’d hesitate to pick it up thinking the change would be too jarring. However, the alternation was done very well and was so smooth that I didn’t even realize it was happening until halfway through the book.

The writing style is very atmospheric while also being very straight to the point and simple, which might not be for everyone but worked well for me.

In this novel we are transported to Joseon's tumultuous era, drawing from Korean history for its backdrop. However, the book struggles to find its narrative footing, blending various genres without a clear direction.

While the story attempts to interweave historical fiction, detective elements, romance, and royal intrigue, I felt it didn't really succeed at any of them. I guessed who the murderer was as soon as they appeared in the story because there wasn't really any other point to their character which reduced the suspense for me. While the premise holds promise, the execution leaves room for improvement, resulting in a somewhat disjointed reading experience.

Review not posted anywhere else.

I love June Hur's works and A Crane Among Wolves was no exception.
Once again, I was absolutely in awe of June Hur's writing. It truly manages to convey all the emotions needed for each scene and it set the atmosphere of the world Iseul & Daehyun have to live through every day of this story so incredibly well. The clear research that went into crafting a story around a real historical time period made the novel even more captivating. I felt for every character and I could feel my heart break for them throughout the novel.

Iseul was such a compelling character to read about. I adored reading her character growth journey. Her point of view being written in first person really served the story and her character so well as it enabled the reader to truly understand her, for all her qualities and flaws. Daehyun's point of view being in third person was also a great choice in my opinion. It conveyed the coldness and distance Daehyun tries to create around himself as a way to protect himself. His character was engaging to read about and I looked forward to his chapters as much as I did Iseul's.

While the pacing of the plot did feel a bit hectic and off at times, as it juggled quite a few storylines, I was still invested and so curious to find out the reveals. And I was truly surprised when all the pieces of the story came together. However, I would have appreciated a bit more of a focus on the mystery as it fell to the background a few times.

Overall, A Crane Among Wolves was an amazing novel full of emotion, depth from the characters to the plot and its historical setting and incredible heartbreak.

I really enjoyed this historical book set during the reign of King Yeonsan in Korea. It was beautifully written and had strong elements of mystery, romance and political intrigue, and includes the very real horrors of this tyrant’s reign.

It is a dual perspective novel, which I really appreciated because we got to see both in and out of the palace. And we also got to see the romance from both characters. Iseul’s development was especially nice to read about, especially the complicated relationship with her sister.

I liked the buildup towards the climax of the coup, but I felt like I wanted more y the end. More scenes with Iseul and Daehyun, or Wonsik, and more after the fallout of everything, to really settle with the emotional impact. Overall, this was very good and I can’t wait to read June Hur’s other books.

Iseul’s older sister had been kidnapped by King Yeonsan and she was desperate to get her back.
There’s a killer plaguing the land called the Nameless Flower who is killing the King’s officials and a reward has been offered for his capture. Iseul sees this as her chance to win her sister’s freedom.
Prince Daehyun was the bastard prince swore he would not die at the hands of his half brother, the king.

The Prince and Iseul don’t actually start their reluctant alliance until over 30% in, so we get to see their individual development first. Not to mention, the story shifts between their perspectives!

“You look like a vengeful ghost," he murmured, adjusting the seat. "And you are the sort I would furiously haunt for all eternity," Iseul retorted.

For a YA book, this is dark, but it covers a period of history that normally doesn’t tell the atrocities committed and those silenced.
I always appreciate that about Hur’s books.

“Because rape is about power; it is never about desire or love.”

I struggled to follow along with the main mystery, but I think this is because of the amount of withheld names and the confusing attempt to link mysteries together.
I also felt the reveal was lack-lustre and I felt slightly disappointed by how it played out.

Thank you to Headline for providing an arc in exchange for a review.

this was one of my most anticipated reads of 2024 and i had high hopes for it but i didn’t even like it, let alone love it! 😭
i’ve read other books by this author. all 3 of them were straight 5 stars so getting disappointed by this one hurts 🫠

and the reason is the female lead. she is the reason why i didn’t like this book. why i didn’t want to finish it. she was getting on my nerves so bad. throughout the novel, she was either getting impatient or irritated — there was no in-between! she could see that her circumstances were not the same anymore so she should changed her behaviour accordingly but no! she wanted everyone to fulfil her all demands like she was a princess or something. and she was like this from start to end. no character development. ugh. and i don’t understand WHY THE HELL THESE FEMALE CHARACTERS RUN STRAIGHT INTO SITUATIONS THEY KNOW WILL LEAD TO TROUBLE. THEY TRY TO ACT SMART BUT END UP BEING A DAMSEL IN DISTRESS.
because of her, the only character i liked was killed. i seriously couldn’t care less about her or the book anymore.

thanks ro netgalley and publisher for copy.

If you're looking for a K-drama in book form, this is precisely that. Now let me elaborate.

The premise is quite simple: the protagonist leaves her village to reach the capital, where her sister was forcibly taken to. She'll try anything to bring her back, even if it means killing a tyrant. Of course, the main antagonist also has a half-brother who will elevate your standards in men and leave you disappointed with what we're dealing with in reality.
Romance ensues, offering us the chance to enjoy a love story, but there's so much more to this book: an intriguing plot, complex characters, heavy topics, and a realistic ending. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for each of these elements and is curious about this kind of setting.

June Hur created the perfect atmosphere and—I suspect—did a lot of research to accurately set the story in the Joseon era. At the same time, I appreciated that she didn't go for a sweet, perfect ending, but instead chose to break our hearts a little and include a bit of thought-provoking bitterness.

All of this comes in an exceptionally pretty package (seriously, shout out to whoever chose and created the book cover—it's beautiful!), which I'll never stop raving about. There's something incredibly precious when a story is not only good but also a perfect candidate to fill our shelves.

This book made me cry multiple times😭. It’s actually very rare nowadays for books to make me sob and this book did a great job at breaking my heart but also piecing it back together again🫶🏻.

This book is about a girl and a prince who reluctantly works together to rescue her sister from a tyrant king and also try to solve a series of murders.

I truly felt like I was watching a historical k-drama! It’s also inspired by a real tyrant king who ruled in Korean history.

I enjoyed the swoon-worthy romance that blossomed between Iseul and Daehyun!! It was such a good slow burn and I loved their dynamic!