When I started reading this book I was very interested in the fact that it is based on a king who actually ruled Joseon and who did the things that the author mentions in the book. Therefore, I went to look for information and the truth is that the author falls short showing how ruthless and evil this person, King Yeonsan, was.

I liked the story a lot, I felt that the author had the need to tell this story and she did it with a lot of respect but also being very harsh with a king of her own country, which I consider good because not all the people who have been in the country that one loves were good, you have to differentiate them and tell things as they are.

I liked the characters but I felt that the moments of romance or the bond that is formed between Iseul and Prince Daehyun were a little rushed or that they were there to entertain a little. Sometimes romance is not so necessary.

It is the first thing I have read by the author and I would love to be able to continue reading it because I really liked the way she tells us the story and the plot itself.

*It would be great to see a kdrama with this story!

Thanks Headline for the ARC I read on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Although it didn't totally capture me like the Red Palace did I still really enjoyed this book! I think the strongest part was the atmosphere - I felt soooo tense planning this coup and the day of was nerve-wracking. The main character grows a lot throughout the story, starting off rather unlikeable (very much teenage petulance). The time period was fascinating, the characters strong, the romance angsty. I think where the book didn't quite pull it off for me was the mystery - wasn't very involved in it and I think you could take it out with minimal changes to the story. It just always felt like an afterthought, making the book seem unfocused. June Hur is a great author though, taking on interesting challenges so I am sure to read any other book she writes!

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC, all thoughts are my own.

Quite the interesting read I have to say! I know next to nothing when it comes to Korean history so it was fascinating to get to learn a little more about this specific period! The historical aspect of this book was well executed, both fun and full of knew knowledge. I thought the characters were quite interesting and I liked how Iseul grew throughout the story even if I always thought she was a little stupid, never figuring out things that seemed quite obvious in my eyes. I also didn't think the romance was necessary in any ways. 3.5 stars

A Crane Among Wolves was absolutely fantastic, as is now my expected standard for June Hur books. I sped through the pages, gripped by the feeling of the oncoming storm as death and despair reigned.

June Hur’s historical mysteries always hit such a sweet spot for me. Her books are underrated gems for me and I’m so glad she’s found a home for them in the UK now. They just have exquisite plotting and a political throughline that is fascinating and exposes the flaws of power. This fits perfectly with that categorisation with excellent characterisation, atmosphere and a seething thread of anger. This is inspired by a true story from Korean history and that makes it all the more devatsting. The scenes of cruelty and violence are sickening, reducing human life to a casual sport and the claiming of women’s bodies as posessions. Violence is everywhere and you get caught up in some murky waters of morality as vengeance and justice come into question. Hur packs the pages with some devastating twists and turns. The writing is sharp and unafraid to delve into the bloody mess of it all. It is dark, omnious and all-consuming.

At its heart, we follow Isuel and Daehyun. Isuel is a fantastic protagonist: loyal, passionate, kind and caring. Driven by wanting to save her sister, she gets caught up in a political web of upheavel and unrest. Daehyun has been forced into complicity and blamed for acts of bloodshed he did not commit. They come together to solve the trail of broken bodies and maybe topple a tyrant. I really enjoyed Hur’s commentary about power structures and how they are unlikely to change without a drastic rebalancing of the odds. In particular, patriarchal power is on full display here with women as objects and commodity. The sexist attitudes diminish them and ignore their suffering in the pursuit of ever more power. It is clear the sexual assault here is all about control and an abuse of power.

A Crane Among Wolves is a dark and intense read, shedding light on a horrific period of history.

Inspired by a true story from Korean history, “A Crane Among Wolves” is a YA historical fiction set in Joseon during 1506. A dramatic and captivating novel steeped in romance, payback, and sorrow.

Tyrant Yeonsan and his violent reign rule over the chaotic country, sowing death and despair among the citizens. Prince Daehyung, the king’s half-brother, will do his best to remain alive while trying to recruit as much help as possibile to overthrow the king.
On the other hand, Iseul is a young girl who has lost her parents at the king’s hand and who’s searching for her older sister, also stolen by Joseon’s ruler as his concubine.
They will combine their force and try to save their people, but most importantly, those they love.

The characters are the focal point of this novel. Iseul isn’t an easily lovable character: she’s a spoiled and stubborn girl who won’t trust anyone but her own mind, even if it means certain failure. I enjoyed reading about her personal growth throughout the book, but it only became apparent during the last part of the novel. I couldn’t quite appreciate her, her character clashed against mine and I preferred Daehyung’s povs a lot more.
Daehyung is a young prince whose past still haunts him. His grumpy attitude won’t keep him away from Iseul and their relationship will grow and turn from mere friendship to something deeper. He’s such a sweet and caring person, he deserved a lot more and I’m happy to have finally encountered a good and supportive YA male protagonist.

The romance was what disappointed me the most. I expected to find a slow burn with a lot of angst, instead I read about a relationship that quickly evolved into something more romantic. Their story skipped the bickering and the drama I hoped to find and I didn’t feel invested in their love story. Their relationship felt too fast and unnatural to seem realistic, even though the author’s writing let me appreciate those moments, especially toward the end.

The historical context seems well-researched and it’s obvious how the author cared for this subject in particular. The author’s note explained what was true and where her inspiration came from. I wasn’t aware of this part of history regarding Korea and learning about all the atrocities and crimes committed by this rulers shocked me deeply.

Fast-paced and easy to read, the writing style made me devour this novel. Unfortunately, some chapters and events felt a bit too rushed, forcing me to reread some lines. Other relationships seemed too forced: the bond between Iseul and Wonsik wasn’t as deepened as it should have been and I couldn’t quite justify Iseul’s emotions.

“A Crane Among Wolves” by June Hur is a well-written historical novel with a compelling mystery and a lot of political intrigues that will keep you hooked until the very last page.

I’ve always enjoyed June Hur’s books, so I knew I would also like A Crane Among Wolves. The question was just how much. And obviously I did still enjoy it! I wouldn’t be opening this review in this way without having enjoyed it. But it would be fair to say it’s my least favourite of Hur’s four books.

I have three competing theories for why this is. The first is simply that I was just in the wrong mood for a YA mystery novel, even by an author I knew I’d like. As such, you can take this rating with a pinch of salt. The second, which has a similar outcome, is that it’s an effect of my liking YA less. That has, in the past, impacted even on authors I know I’m going to like, so this wouldn’t be unheard of.

The third, and the one that’s going to require a bit of discussion, is that the mystery was less prevalent in this book than the previous three, and that’s why I didn’t find myself as engaged. Which is pretty evident from the blurb actually. The main plotlines involved in this one are Iseul’s attempts to retrieve her sister from captivity by the king, and Daehyun’s plot against the king. This isn’t a mystery book in the same way her previous ones were.

But it does have a mystery in it and I think that, perhaps, this entire thing was just trying to juggle too many storylines. It did okay — you had to suspend your disbelief a fair bit as to why Iseul would be invited to help discover the murderer, sure, but I had to do that for all her others too. Heck, you have to do it almost every time you pick up a YA mystery. But the mystery was definitely given less weight than the coup and Iseul’s rescue attempt storylines.

I mean, the mystery is almost always the part I’m going to be most interested in so that probably contributed to the less enjoyment and, for the most part, that was only a minor problem — it was just the end where things became overly contrived on that front. Namely, the coup plot requires that the king leaves the palace and capital at a certain point so they can take over, except then another murder happens and he decides to stay. And this has no bearing whatsoever on the plot. Nothing changes, there’s no impact, despite them stressing that they need the king to be out of the way. It suddenly appears not to matter! The mystery throughout is always something that might derail the coup plans, but in the end it doesn’t in the slightest, even when it seems like it should directly impact what’s going on. I kept waiting for their plan to fail and some tension to be introduced but it never did.

I haven’t really said yet why this book still deserved a 3 star rating from me but it’s basically that it was still a fun enough read. You can tell, in every book, how much research June Hur has done, even if it’s not all on the page. She has some of the best worldbuilding in YA lit, for me. And I also really liked how much of a brat Iseul could be a lot of the time. She’s not perfect, she sort of hated her sister before the events of the book happened, and she’s headstrong. Yes, she was a little irritating at times, but in a good way. She was just stubbornly trying to right a wrong and she didn’t care whose toes she had to step on to do it.

So, while I can’t say I enjoyed this one quite as much as June Hur’s previous books, it was still a fun read and I will certainly still be coming to her for more in the future.

A Crane Among Wolves is a book I enjoyed quite a lot and yet I find myself at a loss on what to say in review of it.

My favourite part of this book was definitely the murder-mystery aspect and watching Iseul become a budding detective to solve the mystery in order to earn the King's favour to ultimately be able to save her sister from his abuse. I loved the mentor aspect with Wonsik and without spoiling too much, I wish we got to have more of them! I loved how he became both a mentor and father figure to her.

Iseul was definitely my favourite character out of a cast of great characters. I thought her character arc was great, and I really like how we got to see her confront her privilege and come to terms with her past behaviour. She was a brilliant character who was well written, and I loved her.

I think the plot was well done, however I did find myself getting confused towards the ending with who was who and who was related to who and who did what. I got the basic gist of it, but the whole stuff that happened in the past and the woman in the garden and the neighbour and the mother in law completely lost me. It didn't impact my enjoyment of the story too much, but I did find it frustrating having to re-read parts to make sure I caught it all and in the end I just gave up (note: I have been in a bit of a weird reading slump where words on a page just seem to stare at me, so this probably didn't help. If I read it at another point I might have found it easier to get on with. So I think this could be a me thing not a book thing).

I liked the worldbuilding and the setting, and I appreciate all the research and thought Hur put in to bringing this period of history and giving it life in this novel. I enjoyed reading her authors notes on her intentions and why this was important to her, and I think she very successfully achieved what she set out to do.

I have mixed feelings about this being a standalone - on the one hand I wish this was a duology so we got to see more of certain relationships before they ended, got to explore backstories in more depth, and got to have the plot thickened out a bit more. However, I do think this worked very well as a standalone and I can see why Hur made that decision.

Finally, I liked the romance between Iseul and Daehyun. I won't spoil it but the angst and the tension between them both was brilliant and it had me on the edge of my seat several times.

This is based on the true story of King Yeonsan and all the horrific crimes he committed against women, his family, his people and his land so it’s certainly not a happy read but as we follow Iseul on her mission to free her sister, there are some warm moments along the way. Alone and facing a huge and dangerous challenge, Iseul finds friends in a small village where the people aren’t all as they seem. There’s a murderer on the loose and a tyrant king preying on his people, and nowhere’s safe. Especially for the bold and protective Iseul. It’s difficult to know who to trust, which means Iseul must sneak about to try and unravel the mystery that could win her a favour from the king. Along the way, secrets from her past are revealed and Iseul crosses the wrong people but her bravery knows no bounds and she’s determined on her mission, even if it means risking her own life.

Throw in some impossible romance between two previous enemies, an honourable teacher figure, and a charming inn keeper and you’ve got all you need for a fascinating recreation of Korean history.

I received a free copy of this book. All views are my own.

A Crane Among Wolves is a gritty historical thriller based on true events.

Iseul was devastated to see her sister taken as a king’s courtesan, one among hundreds of women taken like that.
The king’s temper is well known to all. Those trying to save the women were brutally punished, but Iseul was determined to get her sister back; she believed it was her fault for her sister's abduction, so she went to the capital to retrieve her.

We get a glimpse through Iseul's monologues of how they were orphaned when their parents were killed by the king during the purge. They were from a well-respected family, but with their parents' death, they had to hide themselves. Iseul was the spoiled younger sister. Her older sister doted on her and did all her chores, but Iseul never joined or helped her. Only after her sister’s abduction did Iseul feel bad for behaving rudely to her sister.

Saving her sister wasn’t easy, though. Anyone who escapes from the king will be chased and persecuted. So Iseul was scheming to keep her sister alive. Simultaneously to these events was the illegitimate Prince Daehyun planning to overthrow the king. Collecting loyal elites and rebels to this cause was tricky and dangerous. But he and the public were tired of seeing innocent people punished and killed by the king. The plot thickens when a nameless killer hunts the monarch's loyalists one by one, disrupting Daehyun’s plans.
He and Iseul cross paths at the inn where she stayed/worked. Even though their goals were aligned differently, they worked as a team to move the heavens together and catch the killer.

This book was mildly dark. We are warned by the author about it in her note. Everyone but the king and his loyalists were plotting to kill him, but killing the monarch would have harsher consequences. They had to come out of this unscathed, which was not likely in that timeframe. Reading about a tyrant who kills, assaults, and r@pes his subjects was jarring. So, the book captured the tension growing between the king’s court and the public sensibly throughout the novel.

Anyone looking for a historical thriller with mild romance can go for A Crane Among Wolves.

Thanks to Headline and NetGalley for the free review copy of the book!

Absolutely incredible!

I was utterly gripped from the start.

This story was an emotional read with accurate details from Korean history but the romance was also beautiful and absorbing.

I rarely read lots of historical fiction because it can be heavy on factual information (which I struggle to process/remember) but this story delved into people and the horrific experiences they went through in a very human-like way. I felt connected to their stories and was deeply moved by them.

A must read.

2.25 stars ✩
➳ a spoiler free arc review

"Hope is dangerous. Love is deadly."


this was my first book by june hur and to say it was underwhelming would be a huge understatement. i found myself bored and skimming through pages, because it did not catch my attention well enough.


💌 𝔀𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓽𝓸 𝓮𝔁𝓹𝓮𝓬𝓽:
⤿ dual pov
⤿ both 1st and 3rd person povs
⤿ enemies to lovers
⤿ slow burn
⤿ forced proximity
⤿ one bed
⤿ love triangle
⤿ found family


‎ ‎౨ৎ • 𝓹𝓵𝓸𝓽: in joseon 1506, the people suffer under the rule of tyrant king yeonsan, who commits violent atrocities. his half-brother daehyun has lived his whole life in his shadow, waiting for the moment to dethrone his half-brother. staging a coup and failing is fatal. and yet he has no way of knowing who to trust. iseul, 17, had lived a privileged life as a yangban aristocrat. but when her older sister suyeon is taken as the king's, she leaves the safety of her own village to try and steal her sister back. after learning about the serial killer 'nameless flower', iseul decides to catch the killer to win back her sister's freedom.
despite the very alluring plot, it wasn't executed as well as it could have been. the story felt very convenient and contrived. and the inclusion of the mystery plot took me out of the story the most - it didn't leave me guessing and it was very obvious from the beginning who 'nameless flower' was. lots of the story felt almost too fast, as though there wasn't enough build up and only this huge explosion that left me wanting more. it also felt like many of the plot points were delayed so for most of the story i was just waiting for something to happen. i also found myself already knowing major plot points/'twists' before they even occurred, which reduced my enjoyment whilst reading this greatly.


‎ ‎౨ৎ • 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓻𝓸𝓶𝓪𝓷𝓬𝓮: this was.. definitely something. it was very fast-paced, which i usually hate, but here i was very indifferent towards it. i felt no emotion because their relationship was just not convincing in the slightest. i honestly wish there was no romance and a heavier focus on the actual plot.

‎ ‎౨ৎ • 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝔀𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰: the majority of the problems that i have with this book stem from the writing. for starters, it's written in 1st person pov for iseul and 3rd for daehyun and their chapters alternate, which really took me out of the story. also, there is a lot of telling and not enough showing. for example, we are constantly told about wosnik fatherly relationship with iseul, but i saw none of it, and i remember them speaking three to four times maximum. the prose was lovely at times, but not the best. i never really felt connected with the characters and plot. it felt like this was the first draft, as there was so much potential that was not utilised correctly.

‎ ‎౨ৎ • 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓪𝓬𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓼: the character development of iseul was much needed, although it came rather late in the story, she went from a spoilt, petulant and immature teenager to someone who i could tolerate (barely). however, we get very little insight into her which really didn't help. daehyun didn't really do much for me - i feel like this is an issue i have with many mmcs, as i often feel like they are always praised for just existing, but hawlty✨

‎ ‎౨ৎ • 𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓻𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓽𝓱𝓸𝓾𝓰𝓱𝓽𝓼: i came for the cover tbh. it was also incredibly misleading to label this a sci-fi/fantasy when it is a historical fiction. however, if you are able to suspend your disbelief or even better; completely turn your brain off.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for my honest thoughts!

A Crane Among Wolves
By June Hur
A Review by Jamilla (@ LandsAwayBooks, a wordpress blog)

For if I was not running, if I was not charging forward, I feared that self-loathing would corner me.

A Crane Among Wolves is June Hur’s fourth published work, and shares similar themes and motifs with her previous releases.

This is a story of Iseul, second daughter of a noble house that has fallen into ruin due to the whims of a despotic leader, leaving her an orphan, with only her sister, Suyeon, and a grandmother to turn to. Instead of leaning into the family she has remaining, Iseul clung to ideas of returning to her life of privilege and excess, shunning her new life and new circumstances, even as her sister toiled to put food on the table and clean clothes on their backs.

The sisters share different ideas about the path before them and do not get along. It is an argument between the two, that leads to her sister being kidnapped by the king and forced to become his plaything along with 1000 other unwilling girls.

“Do you think a king who steals girls will listen to one, let alone honor a bargain with her?”

Iseul, bitterly regretful, pledges her life to see his sister free, travels across the king’s hunting grounds where commoners are banned from traversing, to the capital, eventually embroiling herself in a murder investigation and a high treason.

We are promised a tale about sisters doing anything for each other, along the way causing the fall of horrible tyrannical king and solving a murder. We are also promised a swoon inducing romance with the head of the rebellion forces, Prince Daehyun, who is held in contempt by the people for his perceived role in the death of his foster mother and brothers. This well researched story rotates between these two POVs.

There were moments where the prose and Iseul shone so brightly,
I usually love the way June Hur writes about sisters and family, about how they love and hurt each other, the complexities within the bonds they share. But unfortunately, this story had to tackle a lot of moving parts and some things, for me, were left behind.

Iseul is an unlikeable character, spoiled and brash and opposed to following all good advice; which I was fine with, she’s just a teen, in an impossible situation, so I was ready to see her growth progress over the book. But I was to be left wanting on that front. Instead of growth, Iseul experiences a romance. (I exaggerate, she does grow some around 70% in)

This story is set in historical Korea, the same place where high born women were basically shuttled from the home of their birth to the home of their husband and nowhere in between, where at this point in time, the King and his men would round up any and all pretty young faces (wedded, single, pregnant or not) to be forced to become his concubine, this was also a time of strict patriarchal oppression.

Now with all of this in mind, I had a very hard time believing that Iseul would not be cognizant of her position and far more circumspect and wary in her dealings with others, especially men. Not that she should have to be, but it is always jarring to see, in historical fiction based on real events, one person moving through the book as if she were in another, more modern time entirely. I would have preferred to see Iseul work within these constraints not necessarily have the whole way of life upturned just for this one female protagonist.

I also couldn’t get behind the romance. I am of the opinion that romance elevates genre fiction but romance is a fickle and wild beast to tame. Especially, since this is the romance between a 19 year old traumatized from the loss of his entire family and best friend in the world, who has been bidding his time planing a coup while swallowing this grief and begging for his life every other day and a 17 year old traumatized by the loss of her parents, her status and her sister forced to try to solve a murder to gain back said sister and instead got caught up in planning a rebellion. Where would they even find the time? The energy? The desire?

Death crept up his spine, over his shoulder, whispering in his ear: You can never save those you love.

Another thing that disappointed me was that, in the rebellion planning, everyone was falsely claiming to be doing it for the good of ‘the common people’ but where was the voice of the common people in this story?

So, like I said. Amazing prose, flat, predictable murder mystery, scant events I’d rank as political intrigue, a surprisingly successful off page rebellion and an unbelievable (in the literal sense, for me anyway) romance.

Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for the opportunity to read an eARC in exchange for a honest review.

A Crane Among Wolves is a Korean Historical Fiction Young Adult Novel set in the Joseon Era. It is based on Prince Yeonsan the 10th monarch of the Joseon dynasty, and one of the worst tyrants in Korean history.

ACAW is a must read, a histrocial political drama, with murder mystery and romance. I would liken it to ATLA in it's ability to discuss darker themes within a young adult genre, Hur makes the history behind the novel accessible it's clear how much work has gone into ACAW.

The story begins with Iseul searching for her older sister who has been taken by Prince Yeonsan, Iseul intends to bring her home. At the beginning and through I suppose a majority of the novel Iseul is a spoiled younger sister who has never undertaken any physical labour after being cared for by her older sister, she's finds manual labour below her. However, once her sister is taken Iseul leaves her home to find her and bring her back. Soon after Iseul is embroiled in a murder mystery: if she can find and capture the serial killer Namless Flower maybe she can bargain for her sister. Iseul is a complex character, I admit to being annoyed with her but that's just how well she was written, her entitlement and ignorance make it so easy for her to be slightly hated at the start. But then she starts to grow and you see her learn how to be a detective from Wonsik; brave the City for a glimpse of her sister; she becomes politically aware and tactical finally coming into her own.

“I swear,” he whispered in a low voice, as though to himself, “the next person to harm you will die by my own hands.”

Daehyun, is the Prince and is trying to conduct a coup to overthrow the King, there's just one problem: he needs support. We see Daehyun work with Wonsik and Yul to gather support. Daehyun is a well rounded character and his backstory is heart breaking. Hur does an amazing job showing his silent strength and love for Iseul. Whilst the romance is secondary, Daehyun falls first and harder and it's wonderful to see him grow to care for Iseul. He is thoughtful and calculating, and builds a plan around keeping Iseul safe.

A Crane Among Wolves broke my heart and put it back together again. I loved seeing the plan come together and both Daehyun and Iseul working together but also Iseul growing and solving mysteries. The ending was just heart clutching and I'm so glad to have read this.

A Crane Among Woves releases on the 14th of May 2024.

Thank you to Netgalley, June Hur and Headline for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I love it when historical fiction teaches me about something I previously had no clue about and until recently the Joseon Dynasty very much came under that category. A Crane Among Wolves tells the story of a bloody chapter in the history of Korea in which the tyrannical King Yeonsan had a nasty penchant for commandeering huge tracts of land as his personal hunting grounds, burning books and banning literacy and stealing thousands of women from their families to become his personal courtesans. Iseul is the sister of one such unfortunate woman and she is determined to rescue her sister at all costs. Although she has lived a sheltered and privileged life, Iseul has nothing left to lose and is ready to stand on her own to feet to fight for what remains of her family. Along the way she receives help from a series of unusual characters including a gregarious innkeeper, a mysterious private investigator and the seemingly cruel and callous Prince Daehyun, half-brother to King Yeonsan. But there is more to Daehyun than meets the eye and when Iseul learns that he has been secretly plotting to overthrow his tyrannical brother, she throws her lot in with his and leverages what's left of her family connections to move the heavens and bring the king down. But with so much at stake and with so much mutual trauma, can Daehyun and Iseul come together over more than just their mutual desire for revenge? And is it even possible to build a better world than the one they're living in? A propulsive novel that will have your heart-pounding and your hands flipping pages while still teaching you about a lesser known part of history along the way. If you're a historical romance fan, this one is for you!

First of all, can we all scream in unison for this GORGEOUS cover?! PUH-LEASE.

Ok, now that this is out of the way, I have to admit I've never been a fan of Korean historical dramas, but now that I've read this novel, I can totally see the appeal.

Before I forget, we must applaud the author for the obvious research she has put herself through before writing "A Crane Among Wolves," and although I do know some of this is fiction, I can't help but admire the inspiration plot points and feel like I learned so much about Korean history via the book.

I was less of a fan of the alternating POV with first and third person, but I understand how it served the story.

While everything felt quite intense for most of the novel, the last part fell a little flat IMO... I feel like I expected a little more after the whole climax, especially with such interesting characters.

It was my first novel of hers, and although not entirely won over, I will still eagerly read other books from June Hur in the future.

Disclaimer: Thank you to Netgalley and Headline books for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

June Hur never fails to evoke magic into the pages of her books, breathing back into life certain historical events in Korea's past, that are but a small snapshot in what is a country with a turbulent but fascinating history.

Here we are introduced to Iseul, a young woman who has lived quite a sheltered life up to this point, staying out of trouble until her sister becomes the latest target of the King, a tyrannical leader who is well known for his abuse and mistreatment of women among other things. Iseul refuses to allow her sister to fall into his hands and seeks to free her from the confines of the palace. Soon after she encounters Prince Daehyun, the half brother to the King, who she discovers is very much against his actions and behaviour and seeks to overthrow him. Alongside a handful of other important characters with similar goals, Iseul decides to follow Daehyun's lead as he plans, alongside other key figures, the coup that will lead to the deposition of King Yeonsangun. The chemistry between the two was probably initially the thing that kept me glued as I felt the first half of the book to be quite slow-paced, but maybe that is understandable considering how the gradual build-up of events begin to unfold.

A captivating mystery with an intriguing depiction of a time of political unrest and a dashing of romance, I do very much love reading about the various events throughout the Joseon era. This book in particular evidently shows how much research June Hur invests in her stories.

I was *mostly* satisfied with the book's conclusion but there was a minor aspect of it that I didn't care for so much, technically more the 'method' utilized to reach that point. I just found it a bit of a weak plot execution, more so because it made it slightly more predictable. But for the most part, that didn't really detract from the book overall, which was solidly written, gripping and overly intriguing.
The other reason I slightly marked it down was due to the weird typing errors scattered throughout with some words actually missing letters which meant I was left to depict what was the intended word, but perhaps that was just the digital copy I received, and I understand this is an ARC so hopefully these things would be addressed beforehand.

I do hope June Hur continues to write more of these beautifully concocoted 'retellings' as I do enjoy learning more about the real past events of a country I really like. Honestly though I'd be happy to read whatever she decides to write about as I know she'll surely never fail to deliver.

"This investigation will be a battle against yourself. A battle against the voice that tells you to surrender to the darkness."

A hauntingly beautiful tale bringing readers into Joseon Korea and its political turmoil. Bringing the readers in with the intrigue of murder investigations, the fight for Korea's taken women and the angst between the dedication to duty and love.

The story immediately immerses you into the story, bringing the readers quickly into the actions and motivations of the characters. I believe that one of the strongest pulls of this story, and what makes it shine, is the characterisation. It was refreshing to see the duality of the simplicity of character's and their motivations, whilst still being able to highlight the layers and complexity. I really enjoyed that not everything about the characters and the story fit into the neat boxes of right and wrong.

I liked the writing style of the story and liked the choice of multiple points of view - I think it helped with the flow and the movement of the story by having those two character insights. I think all the elements worked well together and I enjoyed the plot of the murders and the investigation - sometimes I did feel a bit disconnected from certain events and steps happening but that could completely be by design of the author to further amplify what is happening with the characters.

Overall, a historical fiction with a small romantic subplot story that I enjoyed.

Thank you to Headline and Netgalley for this eARC, I am voluntarily leaving a review.

The amount of research gone into this book is amazing and it really payed off! This book was like watching a historical k drama, absolutely amazing. The suspension,tension, romance, mystery throughout was phenomenal. I loved the characters and how they were written and the relationships built throughout the story. I was hooked from the very start. I will definitely be buying this book when it is released. And I will be reading other works by June.

There were so many quotes in this book that I loved so much.

I loved the premise of A Crane Among Wolves but sadly it didn't work for me. I wasn't at all invested in the characters or the story. It was too slow and sluggish, nothing much seemed to happen. I kept forcing myself to continue reading even though I wasn't enjoying it. The missing letters from words and formatting didn't help matters either. I had to reread sentences to figure out what certain words were. It is for those reasons that I'm dnfing at 31%.

Thank you to Headline and NetGalley for providing me an eARC to review!

Unfortunately I just wasn't meshing with this one which has made me put down books by this author before, so I think her writing style just isn't for me.

I like that in her books Hur looks to shed light on cruelties forgotten by history, but I just feel her writing always keeps me at a distance from the characters and plot.

I hope that others enjoy this though!