Thanks to Dini @ Dini Panda Reads, I’m adding Goodreads Monday to my weekly meme schedule, and I’m excited to do this one. This weekly meme was started by @Lauren’s Page Turners and it invites you to pick a book from your TBR and explain why you want to read it.

June Hur, bestselling author of The Red Palace, crafts a devastating and pulse-pounding tale that will feel all-too-relevant in today’s world, based on a true story from Korean history.

Hope is dangerous. Love is deadly.

1506, Joseon. The people suffer under the cruel reign of the tyrant King Yeonsan, powerless to stop him from commandeering their land for his recreational use, banning and burning books, and kidnapping and horrifically abusing women and girls as his personal playthings.

Seventeen-year-old Iseul has lived a sheltered, privileged life despite the kingdom’s turmoil. When her older sister, Suyeon, becomes the king’s latest prey, Iseul leaves the relative safety of her village, traveling through forbidden territory to reach the capital in hopes of stealing her sister back. But she soon discovers the king’s power is absolute, and to challenge his rule is to court certain death.

Prince Daehyun has lived his whole life in the terrifying shadow of his despicable half-brother, the king. Forced to watch King Yeonsan flaunt his predation through executions and rampant abuse of the common folk, Daehyun aches to find a way to dethrone his half-brother once and for all. When staging a coup, failure is fatal, and he’ll need help to pull it off—but there’s no way to know who he can trust.

When Iseul’s and Daehyun’s fates collide, their contempt for each other is transcended only by their mutual hate for the king. Armed with Iseul’s family connections and Daehyun’s royal access, they reluctantly join forces to launch the riskiest gamble the kingdom has ever

Save her sister. Free the people. Destroy a tyrant.

June Hur is one of my all-time favorite authors ever, and I’ve been seeing her posts about this book all on the ‘gram. It’s so exciting to see and hear about, that I just want to have it in my hands already. I also feel like this would get me out of my semi-reading slump, going back to reading her novels because I have been missing her terribly. You know what? This is a brilliant idea, if I do say so myself. I’m going to do a June Hur marathon between now and the end of January. Or until I finish all of her books.

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Also check out all of June’s posts because they are freaking perfect. She’s also just an amazing person. You know how you’re just so excited to read something that you can’t really articulate why in words? This is one of those moments. I feel like I get that way a lot, and it’s hard for me to truly explain why I want to read something other than because I want to. Do I need to justify why I want to read something? Not always. But maybe one day I’ll have a better explanation.

It’s good to get back into a groove of things. I had a pretty great day today, despite it being a long one. I’m going to have a really long day tomorrow also, and hopefully I’ll be able to last. I have a doctor’s appointment in the morning before a long day and then another Yelp event that night. I’m hoping that one goes well, and that the food is amazing. I’m kind of hungry tonight unfortunately, but it’s okay. I just didn’t eat as much. But I am in LOVE with my hair! It’s amazing, I just have to feel myself right now with my hair because it’s really amazing.

Not only my hair, but I thought that my whole look today was pretty awesome. Yay, me!

I still need to get over looking at my stomach and thinking that it’s terrible, but I’ll eventually get there. It’s just a stomach. It’s not a terrible thing. It’s just a part of me.

What other books are on your radar? What about this one? Have you read any of June Hur’s other books? Let me know in the comments!