The Silence of Bones was by far one of the most unique books I’ve read this year. Centered around a 16-year-old girl indentured to a police bureau named Seol, this book’s setting is Korea, during the Joseon Dynasty era (1392-1897), which already makes the book unique. But that’s not all. This book is centered around an entire mystery as to who the culprit of several mysterious murders throughout the dynasty could be, and Seol is soon catapulted into the center of this mystery. But frankly, this synopsis does a disservice to all of the other exciting elements of the book, especially given all of its twists and turns that make it seem like a full-on Netflix series.
One of the most appealing aspects of this book was all of the various twists it had — which comes naturally in a mystery book such as this. However, it was executed extremely effectively and didn’t just happen in relation to the main mystery/case but also with some of the characters in the story, such as Inspector Han, one of the chief detectives of the murder case. The twists kept me thoroughly engaged throughout and always kept me guessing about something, giving me a reason to keep turning the page.
But this wasn’t the only major positive of the book; I also enjoyed how the mystery connected with real historical events — namely, the eras in Korean and Japanese history when Christians were persecuted, mainly due to the foreign origins of Christianity. So this too contributed to the unique aspect of the book, as in my experience at least, I haven’t come across too many books that deal with or are centered around this part of history.
I felt that the last major positive of the book, as in any good book, was how the author effectively made me feel for and connect with the characters, and not even just Seol, the main character of the story. The character development and how the attitudes of others toward certain characters in the book develop as well was also great to see, especially when it comes to Seol. Seol is really sort of a heroine throughout this novel, and by the end the message that you can achieve great things regardless of the circumstances you’re in really comes across, which I also felt was nice.
If I could say one thing though, I felt that it was slightly ineffective how the author sometimes inserted Korean words into characters’ dialogue (spelled out in English, of course) without providing much context. I understood the author’s intent behind doing it; however, I felt that the incorporation of Korean words was inconsistent and would have been difficult for non-Korean readers to understand. In short, although I appreciated how the author tried to make the dialogue between the characters seem “more Korean” and therefore more realistic, I felt that it ended up detracting from the novel instead.
In conclusion, this was both a thrilling and delightful read that I thoroughly enjoyed, and I’m sure that if you choose to read it, this book will give you this same experience as well. While I wouldn’t recommend the book for below-young-adult-age readers (due to some violent parts in the book), I would most certainly for those who are young adults or older. Enjoy.
Review By ~ Andrew
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