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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
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Creators
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Publisher
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Awards
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Release date
May 14, 2024 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9780593946121
- File size: 289938 KB
- Duration: 10:04:02
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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February 26, 2024
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. -
Greg Chun and Michelle Lee portray the alliance and the attraction between the two main characters whose alternating chapters tell this 1506 Korean mystery. Lee's narration is suffused with 17-year-old Isuel's desire to free her older sister from cruel King Yeonsan. Lee projects Isuel's willingness to learn sleuthing from Prince Daehyun to achieve her ends. Isuel's hatred of the king, along with her determination and daring, are clear in Lee's narration. Chun's portrayal of Daehyun, the king's wise half brother, has many levels. Chun shows Daehyun yielding regretfully to the increasing demands of the king while slyly plotting treason. Chun's portrayals of the king are potent with vitriol and menace, reinforcing the author's trigger warnings for YA listeners. S.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine
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