This took on way more than I was expecting. I knew we would get (and we did get it) a murder mystery set in Korea but what I did not expect was the persecution of Catholics and other Western ideologies to be such a main issue. I knew that the conflict between East and West cultures has always been a battle but I have never seen it highlighted in a YA book before so that was incredibly unique and memorable.

The characters' lives are so messy and entangled to an extent many of them don't even know. There was no way for me to easily guess who the murderer was when I was simultaneously trying to figure out who the orphaned son is, is the orphaned son the popo guy, is the popo guy the mc brother?

It wasn't particularly fun to read about women being told by their families and cultures that they should kill themselves if they do not follow the path society has set for them. I honestly really appreciated the honesty of a lot of elements in this whole book.

Rep: Canadian-Korean author with a book set in Korea with Korean characters