3.5 Stars

June Hur has been an auto-read for me - I truly adore the sense of atmosphere and immersion she brings in her fictional worlds. Her third novel <i> A Crane Amongst Wolves</i> is no different; it's only a matter of how much I enjoyed it.

While I applaud her taking on darker themes in a YA setting, the pacing and execution fail this ripper of a plot. Between plotting a royal coup, unraveling a serial assassin mystery, pulling off the rescue of a tyrant king's concubine - not to mention a slow burn romance - there's waaay too much happening in a limited page count. The narrative devices used to tie everything together in one final bundle felt cliched and left the reader all the more confused and underwhelmed.

Like the fact that the prince commandeering prisoners to join in the revolt - why would they risk their lives and not just run for the hills? Like agonizing over the coup hinging on the King leaving the capital - and he doesn't, but yet, nothing changes.


Thank you Netgalley and Feiwel & Friends for a copy of this book for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own

More of a 3.5 but I’m rounding up.

After loving The Red Palace, I was really looking forward to this book. Despite its trigger warnings and the very dark backdrop of the story, the writing was a breeze and simple to follow along. The author is particularly good at bringing the historical setting to life, which feels like a kdrama, and incorporating her story within the real life narrative. The plot felt very straightforward and while there were multiple plotlines of the murder, the coup and of Isuel having to save her sister, things never felt too dire. I was mostly glad that I didn’t feel overly anxious about what was gonna happen next. But I somehow wasn’t convinced by the romance of Isuel and Dayheun, it just felt like it came out of nowhere. But the epilogue was very cute and left me feeling satisfied, despite the minor hitches along the way.

Thank you NetGalley and MAcmillian for the e-arc!
This is my first time reading Hur's work and I am a colossally blown away! I have been meaning to check out their books for a while and I am so glad that I was given a copy of this book. The worlds in the cloud are so complex and wonderfully written. You can feel the history in detail coming off the page and I am honestly so impressed at Hur's ability to weave such an engaging story.
In this book, we follow Iseul as she survives the tyrant King Yeosan's rule and power. When she leaves the safety of her village in an attempt to stave her sister, she finds herself trapped in by the king's power and cruelty. To save her sister, she must team up with Prince Daehyun, who is planning a coup to overthrow the tyrant king. This story is packed full of history, drama, mystery, cruelty, and a bit of romance.

I love it
With gripping plot line combined with atmospheric writing, A Crane Among Wolves is unputdownable.

I love the characters' depth and dynamic. How the main characters have their own motives and backstory. Their flaws, naives, and growth. The romance felt natural. Iseul and Daehyun have my full support 🥺 The sister bonds, THE FOUND FAMILY. OH, HOW I HAVE SOFT SPOT FOR FOUND FAMILY trope. I grow attached to them, and worry for them. Even the side characters (shout out to Madam Yul, and Wonsik).

I don't mind the plot overall. However, I think the revealing of the assassin (Nameless Flower) could be better written.

I adore how well researched this book is. I love authors whose story did the history justice.

If you're into Korean history, colossal drama, murder mystery, light and soft romance with great characters development and found family dynamic, read this!!!!

Thanks to Feiwel & Friends for gifted access via Netgalley. All opinions below are my own.

This is the story of a brutal Korean ruler and the coup to overthrow him as told by two people. One is a girl, Iseul, whose parents have been murdered and sister taken as a concubine to the king. She will do anything to get her sister back. The other is a prince who believe’s the king’s cruel reign must end. Their desires align in more ways than one.

This is not just some YA romance story set in a horrific time, it is a true story of a coup as told to us by two fictional characters who have endured the worst of it. I love stories that are entertaining, but teach you a bit about history, especially if it is a lesser known history. This one centers around a murder mystery, Bodies pile up and bloody messages left behind I meant to taunt the king. Iseul joins the investigator to help solve the crime and ingratiate herself to the king hoping to get her sister freed. Along the way she needs the prince and realizes the flaws in her plan. I loved the plucky young girl who thinks she can conquer whatever she puts her mind against. I also loved her arc though, she learned a lot, experienced love and loss and came through it on the other end without bitterness. This is a beautiful and powerful story.

Thank you NetGalley and Fiewel & Friends for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I haven’t read Hur before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I loved Hur’s writing style (and honestly I’m so surprised that the alternating first and third person worked so well!) and thought A Crane Among Wolves was really engaging. The political intrigue and Iseul and Daehyun’s relationship were strong in equal measure and I loved the setting. I did think that at times the novel felt a bit longer than it really is, though I wouldn’t be surprised if this was just my particular mood while I was reading. Still, I overall really enjoyed this and am curious to read Hur’s backlog and future endeavors.

June Hur is back again with a phenomenal historical Korean story! I loved everything about this book, and the writing just flows so beautifully. Highly recommend!

DNF at 22%

I did not realize this book was going to be so graphic. I wish the content warnings were mentioned in the blurb and not something you discover after you read the author's note. I thought I could manage it anyway, so I kept reading. This book added to the nightmares I already have about what's going on in the world.

Even if it hadn't been so upsetting, I may have DNFed because it felt boring and I couldn't connect with the characters. But I definitely knew I would never connect with one of the POV characters when they had the tiniest, briefest reaction to animal cruelty. I do not want to spend time in the head of someone like that.

Thank you to NetGalley and Feiwel & Friends for the ARC.

A Crane Among Wolves was darker than I expected it to be, but so good. I was a bit surprised by how much of a mystery/investigation element was present in the story. I did enjoy it though. Iseul was an engaging main character. Though she made mistakes, she was easy to root for. She tried so desperately and did whatever she could to get her sister back. Her relationship with Wonsik was so precious. He was an adorable mentor figure and I adored their relationship. Daehyun was also an engaging character. His care for those around him and his struggle to maintain his humanity was heartbreaking. You could see why he made the choices he did, but he really struggled with them, knowing the consequences.
The political plotline of the story was depressingly accurate. I appreciated that it was honest and didn't attempt a dream ending, because it so rarely happens. It made the small wins all the more precious. This book is so hard to talk about without spoiling things, but overall, it was great! Definitely recommend to fans of Asian fantasy who are looking to branch into historical fiction
.
Thank you Netgalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

I’m sorry but for me this was just okay…. Probably because i didn’t really like FMC thus I found it hard to feel anything—both the story and the romance. Its an insightful fiction about a part of Korean history, because I certainly never heard about this king but now I know thanks to this book.

Thanks to the publisher for a copy to review via Netgalley; yes, this is atrociously late. A Crane Among Wolves is available now.

It saddens me to admit that this was a mixed bag.

On the one hand, there were some excellent tropes I loved: wound tending! Only one horse! Longing looks! And on the other, the story, marketed as a book reading like a Sageuk kdrama, began to read a little too much like one, almost formulaic, as if checking off a list of tropes and moments very specific to kdramas.

This wouldn’t really have been an issue, either, if the romance hadn’t felt largely ... Not there for me. The book’s plot is incredibly tight, and so to go from enemies to rebel confidants to lovers in that tight space, especially with so much page time necessarily devoted to historical context and detail - the romance fell really flat for me. There were moments that would have been achingly romantic, if the relationship between Iseul and Daehyun didn’t feel so half-baked and accelerated. Iseul herself was incredibly unlikable, spoiled, and made wildly stupid decisions throughout the story, though she did display a bit of growth by the end.

Added to the feeling of a kdrama checklist was the fact I predicted the mystery’s final revelations, and even very specific details of a climactic scene near the end, word for word. Granted, maybe not every reader of this has watched quite as many dramas as I have, but it was disappointing.

That said, there were some swoony, sighy moments, several endearing side characters, and an admirable balance of restraint <i>and</i> gutsiness on Hur’s part plotwise, to allude to the horrific acts perpetrated by the tyrant king but not go into too vivid of detail in a YA historical romance.

Overall I give the book three and a half stars, rounded up because I love June’s work and hope to see more from her.

An enraging story based on real events. Two unlikely people thrown together with the same cause - overthrow the king.
Iseul's desperation to free her sister sends her far from home, frantically searching for a glimpse. On her own.
Prince Daehyun knows his brother is poisoning their family and country.
Together they must defeat their enemy to begin their lives.

This was a fascinating look at a historical moment in Korea. I enjoyed being immersed in the culture and customs of the people at that time. It took a while for me to become invested in the book, however, due to Iseul’s lack of love for her sister in the first few chapters. The story starts out with Iseul already on a quest to save her sister, but then mentions multiple times that she doesn’t love her sister and that they aren’t close. Instead, she’s motivated by guilt and duty, which is a lot more challenging to connect with.

When Iseul’s older sister goes missing, she’s determined to save her. The sisters have their differences, but when push comes to shove, they always have each other’s back. It’s why Iseul is ready to risk her life when she learns that Suyeon has been taken by King Yeonsan. Things aren’t looking good, but when she finds an unlikely ally in Prince Daehyun, all bets are off.

We follow Iseul and Prince Daehyun through their rotating perspectives. For some reason, Iseul’s chapters are written in the first person while Prince Daehyun’s chapters are written in the third person. It’s such a strange decision to make, but I guess it does stick out as different. Unfortunately, it’s a decision that kept taking me straight out of the story for about half the book. Otherwise, it’s pretty well written and I think I would’ve been sucked into the story a lot sooner if they were both written either from the first or third perspective rather than one of each.

That said, it was a pretty good read. We follow 17-year-old Iseul shortly after her sister is taken by King Yeonsan. We also follow Prince Daehyun as he gets closer to dethroning his brother. It’s part political coup and part sisterly bond. Iseul is a bit hard to follow at first because she’s a spoiled brat who is quick to act before thinking about the consequences. However, the longer we follow her, the more she grows as a person and eventually changes for the better in how she thinks and acts. Meanwhile, Prince Daehyun is busy planning to dethrone his brother, but he has to be very careful about it.

It is a bit odd that Isuel is brought in on the political coup, especially because she’s a potential huge liability to the cause. Everyone hardly knows her and she didn’t do anything to indicate that she’d be trustworthy. It does work out, but it was really strange that she was brought in at the point she was. It would’ve made sense later on when she shows that she’s trustworthy, but that’s not the case at the time it actually happens.

I really enjoyed following Isuel and the prince through their rotating chapters, though. They’re interesting characters who eventually fall in love with one another. Other than the two protagonists, the story has some excellent characters that I really enjoyed getting to know. I liked seeing how some of the characters bonded with one another, like how Wonsik formed a fatherly bond with Isuel. Some of the other characters didn’t make a whole lot of sense with the plot they were given, like the murder mystery that eats up some time in the book. I’m still confused about how the killer did both things and I’m not sure that the murder mystery actually adds anything to the story.

All in all, this was a pretty good read. I’m still baffled by the decision to have rotating narrators told from the first and third person perspective, but it still turned out well in the end. The setting and various characters are based on real people and events, and the author includes a very clear list of trigger warnings so that readers can decide on whether or not this will be a pass for them. If you’re looking for a slower paced story with mostly good writing, this may be a good book for you.

I’ve definitely had June Hur’s books on my radar for a few years now but this was the first one that I’ve actually read, and now I’m just excited to go and read her backlist! A CRANE AMONG WOLVES feels like a historical thriller with a romance and a coup all wrapped up in one, and it was so interesting even in the brutal parts of the history being told. Honestly a lot of my favourite historical fiction is learning a little bit about a fictionalized version of history I didn’t know very well before reading, and this definitely checks that box. And while I can’t verify the accuracy, I feel like the reader can tell that Hur took the time to really delve into the history of the period of Korea’s history that she’s taking on, while still crafting a story that comes alive with intriguing characters, plot twists, and a little romance. While there weren’t any specific moments that stood out to me, I enjoyed reading and found it easy to frequently come back to you, and really enjoyed the depth of emotion that drove the story and the main character, Iseul, throughout the book, and the overall complexity of the main characters.

"“You look like a vengeful ghost,” he murmured, adjusting the seat. “And you are the sort I would furiously haunt for all eternity,” Iseul retorted."

"“History moves its course, -- but it is the youth who point the current in its direction.”"

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you Netgalley and Feiwel & Friends for a copy of this book for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I requested this book after already reading The Red Palace by this author! I gave that one 3.5 stars, and liked it fairly well, so was excited to try another book. I'm excited to say I liked this one even more!

A Crane Among Wolves is a dual POV that follows Iseul, an ousted noble whose parents were killed for allegedly betraying the king and whose sister was stolen to be a bride of the king, and Daehyun, a prince who plots to betray his brother the king. When their paths cross multiple times, Iseul and Daehyun must decide if their goals align enough to work together or if they are obstacles in each other's paths that must be swiftly removed.

I enjoyed this book the entire time! My main gripe with The Red Palace was that I felt the atmosphere was a little weak, but Hur's writing has clearly improved as I gave Atmosphere 8/10 this time around. I enjoyed reading both POVs equally, a rare feat! I also enjoyed learning about the side characters and their involvement with the MCs and the mystery. This felt very much like a murder mystery of an active murderer wrapped up with court intrigue and a coup with a side plot of romance. I loved it!

What didn't make this book 5 stars: the ending felt rushed and weak. The author had to wrap up discovering who the murderer is, how the details tied together, the results of the attempted coup, what happened to Iseul's sister and the other brides, and what happened to the main characters, and it seemed like she waited until 85% to do ALL of that to the point that I felt a tad overwhelmed. There was also a year time gap on top of that that I didn't love.

I plan to go back and read the author's debut novel The Silence of Bones and The Forest of Stolen Girls if I can get to both before her next novel Adoration c0mes out in 2026! June Hur is definitely turning into an auto-buy author for me!

I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy YA slow burn romance, court intrigue, and murder mysteries!

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review.

A fascinating historical fiction novel set during what I imagine to be one of the most horrific times in Korean history.

King Yeonsan is a brutal tyrant, killing, assaulting, kidnapping, torturing, and stealing from his own people as he pleases. Having read a lot of historical fiction set in Tudor England, he makes Henry VIII seem like a puppy.

Iseul, a 17 year old desperate to get her older sister back after she is taken by the king, and Prince Daehyun, the king's half brother, cross paths and immediately dislike each other. Quickly, though, they realize they share friends and a common hatred of the king. With the help of their friends, a rebellion is formed to overthrow the king and rescue Iseul's sister. It is a dangerous game they are playing, made more dangerous by a killer on the loose.

Honestly, the Nameless Flower portion was a distraction. It was almost as though there were two seperate stories going at once and I don't think it added to the overall flow of the novel.

This was UNREAL.

I read this in less than a day. It was the first thing I did when I woke up. No kidding. I couldn't stop reading. I had to ignore all the other responsibilities I had for the day. And I have no regrets.

A Crane Among Wolves is a YA historical mystery set during the reign of the worst tyrant King in Korea's history. The author didn't shy away from telling the dark history of the atrocities and horrible crimes committed by King Yeonsan. I felt every struggle and pain. It was unimaginably horrific. There was so much senseless slaughter and immoral acts. I can't even imagine surviving, let alone living, through all of that. It's going to take a lot of heart, and strength and love, and endless hope. And I love how the character of Iseul and Suyeon embodied all of that.

June Hur said that this is her most romantic book yet. And she was not kidding. It was the sweetest, purest, most adorable, most genuine, and the most swoon-inducing romance to ever exist. Iseul and Daehyun have stolen my heart. And I would gladly let them have it.

This is June Hur's world. And we're all just living in it.

Gripping and devastating, June Hur's lush writing brings history to life in this intricately plotted tale of love, betrayal, and political intrigue, where hope ultimately shines through the darkness. A Crane Among Wolves drew me in from the very first page, and will no doubt become a favorite for readers as it did for me.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Feiwel & Friends for providing me with an eARC of A Crane Among Wolves in exchange for my honest review!

As my first June Hur read, I do wish I could have come out of A Crane Among Wolves with a more positive reaction, but I still find it to be a compelling and tragic lens on Korean history. Even if I don't link with the characters as powerfully as I want to, even if the narrative comes across as cliched, I still generally vibe with the tension that rises out of the political intrigue, the action, and the romance. Morally gray decisions and dilemmas that people have to wade through in the middle of a coup—yes, I always do appreciate the nuance of such epic stories.

Overall, I'm officially rating A Crane Among Wolves 3.25 out of 5 stars, which I'm rounding down to a flat 3 stars. Even though this wasn't the most enthralling read for me, it still succeeds in getting me to click with Hur's writing style, and I'd be up for checking out more of her work down the line. The Silence of Bones, for one, is something that I've seen floating around my book sphere for a while, so I'd like to give that a try.