I’m in the minority, clearly, in not wholeheartedly loving everything about The Silence of Bones. And I certainly didn’t dislike it, I just found it a little weak in places, like the pacing of the mystery and gradual revelation of information. Perhaps my expectations were just too high - I wanted to love this book as completely as everyone else who’s read it seems to do. But despite some rough patches, I think it’s a worthwhile book and one I’m glad I had the chance to read. This is a setting and a space that definitely hasn’t had enough (any?? Maybe that’s just my ignorance speaking) attention in YA, in English-language lit, in the mystery genre... and I do applaud Hur for finding a difficult but well-crafted balance between fully investing the book and the reader in the world of an 1800 Korean police bureau, and allowing for the fact that that’s a world with which probably most of her readers are unfamiliar - all without ever dumbing down or feeling too heavy-handedly educational. It has promise, and though I was a little let down, I’d look forward to more books from June Hur and/or in this setting.