Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

The Old Woman with the Knife by Gu Byeong-mo

1 review

austen_to_zafon's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Three stars = I liked it. This is not the kind of book I usually read, but I was intrigued by the idea of an older female assassin, and that it takes place in South Korea. I liked that the story is more about aging and what killing people for a living does to a person than it is about the actual killing. Going back and forth in time, you come to know how and why 65-year-old Hornclaw became an assassin, and what her life is like now, as she's realizing that her body is failing and she is going to have to retire soon. To complicate matters, a young male assassin she barely knows, Bullfight, is harassing her and she doesn't know why. We learn the reason early on and then watch her try to figure out what is going on as he begins to stalk and frighten her.

I read this in a few days, wanting to know what was going to happen, but I didn't care very much about any of the characters. Maybe that's just the nature of the characters being dispassionate killers; maybe I'm not meant to connect with them. I did find Hornclaw more human toward the end of the book. I might pick up another of the author's books, to see if other characters she creates are more engaging, because she definitely knows how to drive a plot forward.
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