tolutolu9597's review against another edition
4.0
This book was insane. On the edge of my seat just sick with trepidation and the next sick twist. An effortless mix of mystery and thriller that takes you on an unsettling and disturbing ride.
Highly recommend to any one into psychological thrillers.
Highly recommend to any one into psychological thrillers.
bibliobethreads's review against another edition
4.0
First of all, thank you so much to Grace Vincent and Little, Brown publishers for providing me with a digital copy of this astounding novel from "the Korean Stephen King," in exchange for an honest review. When Grace first emailed me and I read the comparison to King above, well of course I had to have it! As a die-hard Constant Reader (King fan) anything that is compared to my all-time favourite author, I have to check out. Now, I normally hate comparisons to other books or authors but this one I didn't mind so much. I think because it was compared to King and my expectations are astronomically high when it comes to him, I was too curious to see how You-jeong Jeong would measure up. And did she? Well, I would say absolutely yes. However, I feel like her novel stood completely on its own as a twisted, dark tale that wasn't reminiscent of King's work in my opinion, but a great example of a unique author with an individual, quirky style.
I don't want to go too deep into the synopsis as I believe the one above taken from Goodreads describes this novel more than adequately without me giving any more detail. In fact, this is one of those books where you've got to be incredibly careful exactly what you say, because you could be giving away major spoilers. However, never fear, I'm not one to be doing that and I will be as deliberately vague as possible. Set in South Korea, we have our unreliable narrator, Yu-jin who finds his mother's lifeless body at the bottom of the stairs in his house and has no memory of the previous nights events, apart from going running late at night. Our male lead has suffered with seizures and memory loss for as long as he can remember and although he is on tablets that are meant to control/stop his episodes, he goes for periods where he doesn't take them at all as taking the medication gives him debilitating headaches. As the narrative continues, we get glimpses into Yu-jin's childhood and the present day as he attempts to remember what happened to his mother as ever so slowly, the memories start trickling back.
I was very worried about writing this review but I'm relieved to realise that as soon as I sat down, everything I wanted to say (without giving away major spoilers) just managed to flow (PHEW!). I was hugely impressed by this novel and it's one that has continued to stay with me, despite having read it a few weeks ago now. I think this is for a number of reasons - first, the unreliable narrator, secondly, the brutality of the story and thirdly, the multiple surprises that are round every corner. The way in which the information is fed to you by the author is nothing short of spectacular and you become desperate to discover exactly what's going on in Yu-Jin's head and what has occurred in his past to get him to the situation in which he finds himself at the beginning of the story. It's not a story for the faint-hearted, I have to say. There is violence, graphic and shocking details of this violence and characters that crawl under your skin, give you goosebumps and make you shiver.
This novel starts as a slow burner but please don't let that put you off. You-jeong Jeong expertly builds and weaves all the necessary parts of this jigsaw puzzle of a story piece by piece. This is absolutely necessary in my opinion to construct a tense and creepy atmosphere where you'll be glad certain characters in this story exist only in this book, it's that terrifying.
For my full review and many more, please visit my blog at http://www.bibliobeth.com
I don't want to go too deep into the synopsis as I believe the one above taken from Goodreads describes this novel more than adequately without me giving any more detail. In fact, this is one of those books where you've got to be incredibly careful exactly what you say, because you could be giving away major spoilers. However, never fear, I'm not one to be doing that and I will be as deliberately vague as possible. Set in South Korea, we have our unreliable narrator, Yu-jin who finds his mother's lifeless body at the bottom of the stairs in his house and has no memory of the previous nights events, apart from going running late at night. Our male lead has suffered with seizures and memory loss for as long as he can remember and although he is on tablets that are meant to control/stop his episodes, he goes for periods where he doesn't take them at all as taking the medication gives him debilitating headaches. As the narrative continues, we get glimpses into Yu-jin's childhood and the present day as he attempts to remember what happened to his mother as ever so slowly, the memories start trickling back.
I was very worried about writing this review but I'm relieved to realise that as soon as I sat down, everything I wanted to say (without giving away major spoilers) just managed to flow (PHEW!). I was hugely impressed by this novel and it's one that has continued to stay with me, despite having read it a few weeks ago now. I think this is for a number of reasons - first, the unreliable narrator, secondly, the brutality of the story and thirdly, the multiple surprises that are round every corner. The way in which the information is fed to you by the author is nothing short of spectacular and you become desperate to discover exactly what's going on in Yu-Jin's head and what has occurred in his past to get him to the situation in which he finds himself at the beginning of the story. It's not a story for the faint-hearted, I have to say. There is violence, graphic and shocking details of this violence and characters that crawl under your skin, give you goosebumps and make you shiver.
This novel starts as a slow burner but please don't let that put you off. You-jeong Jeong expertly builds and weaves all the necessary parts of this jigsaw puzzle of a story piece by piece. This is absolutely necessary in my opinion to construct a tense and creepy atmosphere where you'll be glad certain characters in this story exist only in this book, it's that terrifying.
For my full review and many more, please visit my blog at http://www.bibliobeth.com
lydiahephzibah's review against another edition
3.0
3.5. There's not much I can say that hasn't already been said. While I enjoyed the story, the marketing of this as a thriller is not right. It's a slow burn "why done it" without the usual twists one would expect from a thriller. At times I found it a little too claustrophobic, due to it being only 4 loooong chapters, with very little scenery change and flashbacks that weren't always distinguished enough from the main narrative. I also felt that it ended with some unanswered questions, as though a couple of plot points had been forgotten about, which bugs me.
canisdaa's review against another edition
3.0
Awalnya saya agak malas menyelesaikan buku ini karena menurut saya alurnya lambat sekali, berkali-kali ada keinginan untuk berhenti saja. Tetapi setelah sampai di akhir Bab 1 saya akhirnya mulai tertarik untuk terus membaca buku ini.
Setelah 2 hari membaca Bab 1 dan Bab 2 saya melanjutkan membaca Bab 3 keesokan harinya dan tidak bisa menahan diri untuk membaca bukunya hingga selesai di jam 2 pagi hahaha.
Setelah 2 hari membaca Bab 1 dan Bab 2 saya melanjutkan membaca Bab 3 keesokan harinya dan tidak bisa menahan diri untuk membaca bukunya hingga selesai di jam 2 pagi hahaha.
winaglaea's review against another edition
4.0
Ceritanya menggunakan sudut pandang orang pertama, jadi aku merasa sedang menyelami pemikiran seorang psikopat.
Awalnya aku bertanya-tanya kok judulnya Anak Teladan padahal kan kelakuan Yu Jin kayak anak setan. Jawabannya yaa karena yang lagi cerita itu Yu Jin. Dan dia ngerasa kalo dia anak teladan.
Alurnya maju mundur, tapi ga bikin pusing. Di bab awal emang lambat sih, tapi bikin penasaran sampe ga nyadar, baca 400halaman cuma 3 hari.
Selalu deg-degan tiap kali Yu Jin nyari "mangsa", aku ngebayangin dia senyum-senyum creepy gitu pas liat mangsanya ketakutan.
Obat yang diberikan Bibi bisa mematikan "saklar pemangsa" yang ada dalam diri Yu Jin, dia udah ketergantungan obat itu dari kecil, jadi saat dia berhenti minum, efek sampingnya adalah kejang-kejang? dan Yu Jin salah paham, dia pikir dia punya penyakit epilepsi, padahal bukan. Kalo berhenti minum obat, dia bakal jadi dirinya yang sebenarnya, dirinya yang bertahun-tahun terkurung. Dan dengan otomatis saklar pemangsanya di hidupkan.
Endingnya gampang ketebak. Tapi gapapa. Tetep bagus kok. Dan realistis juga, walaupun kesel banget sih. Hae Jin anak baik, tapi kok fitnahnya kejam betul. Dia di cap sebagai pembunuh, padahal sebenarnya dia juga korban. Sedangkan sang predator malah hidup bebas di luar sana.
Awalnya aku bertanya-tanya kok judulnya Anak Teladan padahal kan kelakuan Yu Jin kayak anak setan. Jawabannya yaa karena yang lagi cerita itu Yu Jin. Dan dia ngerasa kalo dia anak teladan.
Alurnya maju mundur, tapi ga bikin pusing. Di bab awal emang lambat sih, tapi bikin penasaran sampe ga nyadar, baca 400halaman cuma 3 hari.
Selalu deg-degan tiap kali Yu Jin nyari "mangsa", aku ngebayangin dia senyum-senyum creepy gitu pas liat mangsanya ketakutan.
Obat yang diberikan Bibi bisa mematikan "saklar pemangsa" yang ada dalam diri Yu Jin, dia udah ketergantungan obat itu dari kecil, jadi saat dia berhenti minum, efek sampingnya adalah kejang-kejang? dan Yu Jin salah paham, dia pikir dia punya penyakit epilepsi, padahal bukan. Kalo berhenti minum obat, dia bakal jadi dirinya yang sebenarnya, dirinya yang bertahun-tahun terkurung. Dan dengan otomatis saklar pemangsanya di hidupkan.
Endingnya gampang ketebak. Tapi gapapa. Tetep bagus kok. Dan realistis juga, walaupun kesel banget sih. Hae Jin anak baik, tapi kok fitnahnya kejam betul. Dia di cap sebagai pembunuh, padahal sebenarnya dia juga korban. Sedangkan sang predator malah hidup bebas di luar sana.
baeyuhtrice's review against another edition
2.0
I think I expected more than what I got from this book.
They did it with decency, though. Maybe it's just not my cup of tea. The author focused too much on establishing the situation more than revolving it towards the narrators way of thinking. It also trudged on the WHY road most of the time, trying to make sense of what was happening all the while. Please don't read this if you don't have a stable moral anchor.
They did it with decency, though. Maybe it's just not my cup of tea. The author focused too much on establishing the situation more than revolving it towards the narrators way of thinking. It also trudged on the WHY road most of the time, trying to make sense of what was happening all the while. Please don't read this if you don't have a stable moral anchor.
alifswahyudi's review against another edition
3.0
3.5★
Selesai baca buku ini dan rasanya mixed feeling. Antara suka dan terasa kurang eksekusi penulisnya menutup bukunya. Tapi jujur agak sulit melewati setengah bagian pertama karena rasanya ceritanya tidak bergerak sama sekali, minim konflik ya mungkin karen character driven jadi fokusnya ke mengikuti sisi psikologis si tokoh. Sukanya adalah adalah ternyata penulis menuliskan sesuatu di akhir buku ini yang menjelaskan mengapa ceritanya dikembangan seperti ini. Penulis yang sepertinye Freudian sangat dpaat dilihat dari caranya mengembangkan karakter di dalamnya.
POV ceritanya sebagian besar diceritakan dari sisi si anak, tapi ada beberapa bagian yang diceritkan berdasarkan diari si ibunya. Bagian-bagian diarinya ini agak bikin bosan tapi sebenarnya penting karena menceritakan latar belakang cerita si tokoh. Pelakunya? sangat bisa ditebak, ya karena memang fokusnya bukan whodunit.
Selesai baca buku ini dan rasanya mixed feeling. Antara suka dan terasa kurang eksekusi penulisnya menutup bukunya. Tapi jujur agak sulit melewati setengah bagian pertama karena rasanya ceritanya tidak bergerak sama sekali, minim konflik ya mungkin karen character driven jadi fokusnya ke mengikuti sisi psikologis si tokoh. Sukanya adalah adalah ternyata penulis menuliskan sesuatu di akhir buku ini yang menjelaskan mengapa ceritanya dikembangan seperti ini. Penulis yang sepertinye Freudian sangat dpaat dilihat dari caranya mengembangkan karakter di dalamnya.
POV ceritanya sebagian besar diceritakan dari sisi si anak, tapi ada beberapa bagian yang diceritkan berdasarkan diari si ibunya. Bagian-bagian diarinya ini agak bikin bosan tapi sebenarnya penting karena menceritakan latar belakang cerita si tokoh. Pelakunya? sangat bisa ditebak, ya karena memang fokusnya bukan whodunit.
mataharipagipagi's review against another edition
3.0
Judul : Good Son anak teladan
penulis : You-Jeong
Penerbit : Gramedia
My Rating : 3.8⭐
God Son adalah novel karya You-Jeong, penulis asal Korea Selatan yang bercerita tentang kehidupan Yu-jin. Yu-jin menderita epilepsi, dan karenanya ia jadi sulit mengingat beberapa kejadian apalagi saat epilepsi nya kambuh.
Suatu hari Yu-jin terbangun dari ranjangnya yang bau dan berlumuran darah. Tapi itu bukan darahnya, lalu darah siapa ? Lalu Yu-Jin menemukan ibunya tergeletak tak bernyawa dengan leher tergorok.
Novel Good Son ini mengajak kita untuk bersama sama dengan Yu-Jin mencari tau apa yang terjadi, sebab epilepsi yang di idapnya sejak kecil membuatnya melupakan apa yang terjadi semalam hingga ibunya tewas di apartemen mereka.
Saat membaca Good Son ini, terasa kental sekali nuansa korea nya. Saya menyukai drama Korea bergenre thriller, misteri, dan saat membaca ini rasanya seperti sedang menonton serial drama wahahaha.
Alurnya cukup lambat, karena kita di ajak pelan-pelan mencari tau ingatan Yu-Jin yang hilang, karena itu juga alurnya menjadi maju-mundur. Namun minim sekali keterangan waktu dan tempatnya, jadi saya sebagai pembaca agak kebingungan saat membaca satu paragraf ke paragraf lain, yang ternyata sedang flashback.
Cukup jauh untuk mendapati seluruh ingatan Yu-Jin, perlu kira-kira 300 halaman. Tidak hanya mendapati ingatannya, kita juga menemukan rahasia yang di sembunyikan oleh ibu nya dari Yu-Jin selama 10 tahun lebih.
Tapi perjalanan panjang dan menegangkan selama 400an halaman ini , sangat disayangkan di tutup kurang memuaskan oleh sang penulis.
Ada kutipan percakapan Yu-Jin dan Kakak angkatnya Hae-jin
Hae-jin : " ... Bahwa ada 3 cara yang bisa kita lakukan untuk menyingkirkan rasa takut kita tentang kematian.... Tapi apakah kau tau apa kesamaan dari ketiga cara ini ? "
Yu-jin menggeleng
Hae-jin : " semua itu bohong. Semua itu adalah bentuk lain dari rasa takut"
Yu-jin : " kalau begitu apa yang benar ? "
Hae-jin : " rasa takut. Karena adalah perasaan yang paling jujur " (halaman 352)
penulis : You-Jeong
Penerbit : Gramedia
My Rating : 3.8⭐
God Son adalah novel karya You-Jeong, penulis asal Korea Selatan yang bercerita tentang kehidupan Yu-jin. Yu-jin menderita epilepsi, dan karenanya ia jadi sulit mengingat beberapa kejadian apalagi saat epilepsi nya kambuh.
Suatu hari Yu-jin terbangun dari ranjangnya yang bau dan berlumuran darah. Tapi itu bukan darahnya, lalu darah siapa ? Lalu Yu-Jin menemukan ibunya tergeletak tak bernyawa dengan leher tergorok.
Novel Good Son ini mengajak kita untuk bersama sama dengan Yu-Jin mencari tau apa yang terjadi, sebab epilepsi yang di idapnya sejak kecil membuatnya melupakan apa yang terjadi semalam hingga ibunya tewas di apartemen mereka.
Saat membaca Good Son ini, terasa kental sekali nuansa korea nya. Saya menyukai drama Korea bergenre thriller, misteri, dan saat membaca ini rasanya seperti sedang menonton serial drama wahahaha.
Alurnya cukup lambat, karena kita di ajak pelan-pelan mencari tau ingatan Yu-Jin yang hilang, karena itu juga alurnya menjadi maju-mundur. Namun minim sekali keterangan waktu dan tempatnya, jadi saya sebagai pembaca agak kebingungan saat membaca satu paragraf ke paragraf lain, yang ternyata sedang flashback.
Cukup jauh untuk mendapati seluruh ingatan Yu-Jin, perlu kira-kira 300 halaman. Tidak hanya mendapati ingatannya, kita juga menemukan rahasia yang di sembunyikan oleh ibu nya dari Yu-Jin selama 10 tahun lebih.
Tapi perjalanan panjang dan menegangkan selama 400an halaman ini , sangat disayangkan di tutup kurang memuaskan oleh sang penulis.
Ada kutipan percakapan Yu-Jin dan Kakak angkatnya Hae-jin
Hae-jin : " ... Bahwa ada 3 cara yang bisa kita lakukan untuk menyingkirkan rasa takut kita tentang kematian.... Tapi apakah kau tau apa kesamaan dari ketiga cara ini ? "
Yu-jin menggeleng
Hae-jin : " semua itu bohong. Semua itu adalah bentuk lain dari rasa takut"
Yu-jin : " kalau begitu apa yang benar ? "
Hae-jin : " rasa takut. Karena adalah perasaan yang paling jujur " (halaman 352)
mothgoth's review against another edition
3.5
I need to stop trusting protagonists of books LMAO. This had some ups and downs but was ultimately a pretty satisfying thriller.