| Siblings -- Fiction. |
| Conspiracies -- Fiction. |
| Princes -- Fiction. |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
June Hur, bestselling author of The Red Palace , crafts a devastating and pulse-pounding tale that will feel all-too-relevant in today's world, based on a true story from Korean history.
Hope is dangerous. Love is deadly.
1506, Joseon. The people suffer under the cruel reign of the tyrant King Yeonsan, powerless to stop him from commandeering their land for his recreational use, banning and burning books, and kidnapping and horrifically abusing women and girls as his personal playthings.
Seventeen-year-old Iseul has lived a sheltered, privileged life despite the kingdom's turmoil. When her older sister, Suyeon, becomes the king's latest prey, Iseul leaves the relative safety of her village, traveling through forbidden territory to reach the capital in hopes of stealing her sister back. But she soon discovers the king's power is absolute, and to challenge his rule is to court certain death.
Prince Daehyun has lived his whole life in the terrifying shadow of his despicable half-brother, the king. Forced to watch King Yeonsan flaunt his predation through executions and rampant abuse of the common folk, Daehyun aches to find a way to dethrone his half-brother once and for all. When staging a coup, failure is fatal, and he'll need help to pull it off--but there's no way to know who he can trust.
When Iseul's and Daehyun's fates collide, their contempt for each other is transcended only by their mutual hate for the king. Armed with Iseul's family connections and Daehyun's royal access, they reluctantly join forces to launch the riskiest gamble the kingdom has ever seen:
Save her sister. Free the people. Destroy a tyrant.
Also by June Hur:
The Silence of Bones
The Forest of Stolen Girls
The Red Palace
Reviews: (3)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 8 Up--In 1506 Joseon, 17-year-old Hwang Iseul walks three days to the capital with one goal: save her older sister Suyeon, who was kidnapped by the tyrant King Yeonsan and added to his harem. After their parents were executed for treason, Suyeon and Iseul grew estranged as Iseul refused to give up on the aristocratic life their parents promised her--leaving Suyeon to shoulder the burden. Upon arriving, she learns a serial killer called Nameless Flower has been taunting the king, and any information leading to his capture will gain a royal favor. If Iseul can help find Nameless Flower, she can ask for her sister back. Prince Daehyun is hunting for the Nameless Flower, too. As the king's favorite brother, he lives on a knife's edge as the king's paranoia forces Daehyun into senseless acts of violence to prove his loyalty. He knows the chance to overthrow his brother is approaching, but not if the Nameless Flower kills him first. The final pieces of the coup elude him--until he meets Iseul. Alternating perspectives between Iseul and Daehyun ramp up the tension as readers wait for Yeonsan's end with bated breath. The romance and found family elements offer moments of hope to balance the darkness. Yeonsan was a real king, known as Korea's worst tyrant, leaving his people to suffer and starve while he imprisoned hundreds of women as concubines. Hur does not shy away from the horrors of his reign, nor does she exploit them. Characters are Korean, and a content warning precedes the story. VERDICT An intense mystery and slow-burn romance that highlight a historical moment. Recommended for all YA collections.--Emmy Neal
Publisher's Weekly Review
It's 1506 and 17-year-old Hwang Iseul's older sister Suyeon is kidnapped by tyrannical, murderous King Yeonsan, who wears a "black patch tied over his right eye." Despite the sisters' contentious relationship, strained by their parents' death by royal soldiers, formally sheltered Iseul travels to Hanyang near the capital to save her. Meanwhile in Gyeongbok Palace, Prince Daehyun, the king's younger half brother, grapples with survivor's guilt and must contend with the king's paranoia of betrayal. An already fraught rule is made tenser by an assassin at large called the Nameless Flower. When the king offers a "grand reward" for the Nameless Flower's capture, Iseul hopes that apprehending and turning in the killer will win her favor with the king and free her sister. During her investigation, Iseul crosses paths with Daehyun, who has been biding time for the opportunity to overthrow his brother. In this searing historical fantasy, Hur (The Red Palace) skillfully alternates between Iseul's first-person and Daehyun's close third-person perspective to develop the duo's growing attraction and presents the king's abuse of power as well as numerous violent action sequences in a way that is gruesome but never gratuitous. A historical note concludes. Ages 13--up. Agent: Amy Bishop-Wycisk, Trellis Literary. (May)
Kirkus Review
An immersive tale of unlikely allies coming together for a common enemy. In Joseon dynasty Korea in 1506, 17-year-old Iseul has one goal: to find her older sister, Suyeon, and bring her home. Although they didn't have the best relationship after the trauma of their parents' execution by royal soldiers, Iseul bravely travels through forbidden territory. Her enemy is King Yeonsan, a vile man who abducts women, but after hearing of a serial killer--and the king's obsession with finding him--Iseul decides that capturing the murderer could be the way to get her sister back. She's not alone in her hatred for the king; his half brother, Prince Daehyun, is secretly plotting treason to stop Yeonsan's reign of terror. Calling Daehyun his favorite brother, the king demands he carry out increasingly extreme acts of cruelty in order to prove his loyalty, but the prince is determined to not become a monster himself. After a fateful encounter with Daehyun, Iseul is left with even more disgust for the crown, but she doesn't yet know the full story behind Daehyun's intentions. With such a powerful shared enemy, the pair might find that becoming allies is the smartest way to achieve their objectives. Award-winner Hur's latest historical intrigue is well researched and doesn't shy away from depicting elements of this real king's brutal history, and the resulting tale is immersive, intense, and engaging. A page-turner. (author's note with content warning, historical note) (Historical thriller. 14-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.