THE RED PALACE

Author: June Hur
Date released: 2022
Category: Historical Mystery

Synopsis: Joseon (Korea), 1758. There are few options available to illegitimate daughters in the capital city, but through hard work and study, eighteen-year-old Hyeon has earned a position as a palace nurse. All she wants is to keep her head down, do a good job, and perhaps finally win her estranged father's approval.

But Hyeon is suddenly thrust into the dark and dangerous world of court politics when someone murders four women in a single night, and the prime suspect is Hyeon's closest friend and mentor. Determined to prove her beloved teacher's innocence, Hyeon launches her own secret investigation.

In her hunt for the truth, she encounters Eojin, a young police inspector also searching for the killer. When evidence begins to point to the Crown Prince himself as the murderer, Hyeon and Eojin must work together to search the darkest corners of the palace to uncover the deadly secrets behind the bloodshed.

The UnReel Take:

Story: 8.0
Writing: 8.0
Characters: 9.0
Setting: 9.0

UnReel AR: 8.5

Bottom Line: I typically don't read historical fiction or mysteries, but I'd heard great things about June Hur so I decided to check this out and I totally get it now though because man, THIS BISH CAN WRITE!!

One of the things I loved most about The Red Palace is the strong sense of place; I always felt anchored in the world. Hur did a fantastic job weaving a foreboding, oppressive, atmosphere while fleshing out a time and place unfamiliar to most Westerners.

In terms of plot, I wasn't blown away by the mystery, but I did enjoy it. The fun was more in reaching the destination then actually arriving. The best part of The Red Palace are the characters. They all felt real and multifaceted: the horrible people weren't comic-book-villain-level-evil, no one was stupid just so the author could have a chance to verbalize a plot point (a pet peeve of mine), and the relationships were moving and well developed.

Some other things that really worked for me:

·       The Red Palace is a Young Adult novel. However, it does something very few YA books do, in that our main character, Hyeon, acknowledges how odd it is that such young people are investigating a massacre.

·       I loved the friendship between Hyeon and Jieun. They respected each other's decisions and helped each other out when possible. I really liked Jieun's character in general, being smart and competent and romantic and dealing with trauma but still hopeful. She was definitely not your classic trope-y side character.

·       While I don't work in healthcare myself, I come from a medical family and really connected to a nurse as a main character. It was also cool seeing forensic medicine in a historical context.

·       The relationship development between Hyeon and her mother was an absolute chef's kiss.

·       The romantic subplot was sweet and believable and well balanced among the other plotlines.

Now don't get me wrong, I do have some little nitpicky quibbles - like people having whole-ass conversations by mouthing words - but overall this was solid and I recommend it for anyone wanting a quick, atmospheric read.

Last but not least, I strongly encourage reading the Author's Note at the end. The Red Palace is partially based on the true story of Prince Sado, who I'd never heard of before, being largely uneducated on Korean history before the 20th century.

Ideal Reading Location: I mean, Seoul if you can swing it. If not, this is a definitely an “in bed with the lights down low” type of read.

Drink Pairing: The fermented white rice goodness that is soju.

Maybe your experience will be different!