The Red Palace

3.5 stars rounding up. This was a serviceable period Kdrama mystery with some YA tropey elements but not obnoxiously so. I'd also give extra points to it for at least attempting to stay somewhat true to a historical setting, even if not 100%. While there were parts of it that read a bit 21st century, they were things that I wouldn't have thought twice about in a regular Kdrama so I was also inclined to give it a pass here.

As our protagonist, Baek-hyeon is all right. She's not annoying, she's not passive, but she's also not a protagonist I might remember after a while. While I thought her romance with police inspector Eojin was unnecessary and sometimes a little contrived, I didn't mind it. The chemistry was better than a lot of YA novels I've read and I could get behind it.

The mystery and pacing was fairly well done. It kept me guessing throughout, even though I've read up on the historical figures that the story is based on and have a basic idea of what's happening. The solution to the mystery was just a little surprising but it wasn't a mind-blowing twist or anything. I was a little miffed that part of the surprise is that the murderer turned out to be a woman, for all the novel's preoccupation with vindicating the rampant sexism in this society. I was also very bewildered that Nurse Jeongsu seemed to go to extreme lengths to protect some random person and that was meant to be a red herring or a dead end. That bit could've been tied in a bit better imo.

If you're looking for a story taking place in ancient Korea or if you already love period Kdramas, this is definitely one to check out - bonus points if you're into murder mysteries as well. Definitely going to look forward to reading more from June Hur.