A Crane Among Wolves
June Hur, a New York Times bestseller and Edgar Award-winning writer has made another hit with A Crane Among Wolves, a Korean-based historical drama with action, murder, mystery, and a little romance.
The year is 1506, in Joseon Era, Korea, seventeen-year-old Isuel, a pampered politician’s daughter, has had her life upended during the reign of the tyrant King Yeonsan when her older sister, Suyeon, is stolen for the king’s horrific appetites. Isuel is driven to get her back. Upon leaving home and traveling through forbidden places she makes a plan: capture the killer who is on the loose, then barter with the king for her sister’s freedom! While on this mission, Isuel is befriended by an innkeeper, an ex-investigator, and a prince.
When Isuel and Prince Daehyun find themselves on the same side of a rebellion they must figure out how to work together to survive. Their personalities clash like most enemies to lovers tropes, only to find that they must work together to finally realize they are a good pair. This is a slow-burn romance, that takes a backseat to the main storyline. Isuel and Prince Daehyun are put into peril several times against different adversaries helping to develop the characters into confident and capable protagonists that can defeat the tyrant king and stop a serial killer.
This book is great for the historical events that are smoothly blended into the plot, the well-developed characters, and the pace that keeps you interested throughout. The slow romance is a bonus that sits atop like a cherry! The book is narrated from Isuel and Prince Deahyun’s perspective really lending to the inner workings of each character’s mindset.
A Crane Among Wolves is sometimes heavy with some eye-popping moments of brutality that can turn you around, and several twists and turns that leave you wondering who you can trust, but the friendships built and lost comfort you into the final pages where heartbreak can be mended into wholeness once again.
Alexis V. is the Branch Manager at North Park Library.