A Crane Among Wolves

Book Title: A Crane Among Wolves

Author: June Hur

Date Started: March 1st  2024

Date Completed: March 3rd 2024

Genres: Historical, Mystery, Romance

Quality Rating: Four Stars

Enjoyment Rating: Four Star

Final Rating: Four Stars

Review:

◆ Thank you to NetGalley for this ebook for review ◆

I’ve wanted to read a June Hur book for a long time, and I absolutely devoured this one as soon as I laid hands on it. It took me three days to read this whole novel, and the hype seems to be real because I can’t wait to pick up another one.

A Crane Among Wolves feels like a historical K-Drama in novel form; keeping the best bits of the genre, pacing and politics, and taking full advantage of the literary medium to spin out the mysteries, motivations and historical detail. If you read the Author’s Note at the end you’ll also find that a lot of the history is completely true - and Hur strikes a good balance between fact and fiction to tell her story as well as represent the true events.

I also adored the places Hur chose to use Hangul (the Korean language’s alphabet) and gently elaborate on some traditional elements that perhaps readers unfamiliar with Korean culture might not be familiar with. It’s so subtle that it doesn’t turn the book into a history lesson, but even as a intermediate Korean learner I appreciated.

This book also had the perfect balance of romance versus plot for me. I often moan about the distraction of love arcs in derailing many a Young Adult novel, but Hur has a lovely satisfying sub plot that exists alongside the core narrative. I had a lot of fun with this book and I look forward to the next.