Book Review: Behind Five Willows by June Hur

It has been an esteemed part of British literature for quite some time, that novel called Pride and Prejudice. Students have studied it for ages, me myself included. I remember having to read it my senior year of high school, the first of several reads for classes over the years, and I have to admit that I most sincerely, ardently dislike Jane Austen's book, Pride and Prejudice. I'll pause a moment here to collect myself because honestly, I've always felt kind of guilty for my general feeling of distaste for this book. Which is funny because I have enjoyed adaptations of the work over the years, be they film, television or literature in their presentation. Which brings me to Behind Five Willows. I own ALL of June Hur's works. I have loved every one of them for their story, their characters and the rich history woven into each of them. So when I caught wind of the fact that June Hur was releasing a book that claimed Pride and Prejudice as an inspiration, I told myself that if ANYONE would be able to get me to love a book with that in its background it would have to be June Hur. 

So it is with great confidence that I can declare YES, I did LOVE this book. Let's be plain about the facts, this book was sweetness and longing and it made me smile and even rejoice when the leads were together or even apart because then their thoughts were filled with each other and that is the exact kind of love story I was hoping to find in this book. I wanted something that would inspire me to read again and I finished this one in two nights, reading until my eyes were drooping because I didn't want to put the book down. If that's the kind of book that appeals to you, add this one to your shelves immediately.

Behind Five Willows follows two leads, Haewon and Lord Yu Seojun. Haewon has taken it upon herself to try her best to take care of her two sisters while at the same time working as an illegal book transcriber to make some extra money. Her job is dangerous because of government censoring and book banning which has led to many people having to read and trade books in secret. Haewon loves her work, especially when she has the chance to transcribe the works of Black Lotus, who Haewon has traded letters with for some time. When her older sister has the chance to fall in love with a wealthy young gentleman, Haewon is determined to be the support and encouragement her sister needs while the two begin courting. The problem is that the suitor's best friend, an uptight young man who seems to look down on Haewon, is the other chaperoning individual. Seojun has worked hard to keep his father happy and to care for his elder sister. He also enjoys reading and helps to get books for his sister in private. But Seojun also loves to write and he has to keep that a secret from his father, a government official, and his friends. With the continuing actions of the government in censoring books, Seojun is finding it difficult to find the peace he used to with his writing. He looks to the letters from his transcriber, Magpie, for encouragement in this time of strife. When he is tasked with chaperoning his best friend's new courtship, Seojun finds himself forced to spend time with a young woman that he finds frustrating, Haewon. But as time passes and the two are forced again and again to spend time together, Haewon and Seojun start to understand that their first impressions of each other were misleading and that there is more to know about each other than they first realized.

There is a lot to love about this book. One thing that I greatly admire is the fact that the book is told from both Haewon's and Seojun's perspectives. I know that the point of the story is that the two were two quick to judge the other but it helped to see it from both sides, to see how what one said affected the other and vice versa. I loved the chance to see into the home lives of each lead, to see how they were focused on family and how their love of books led them to the actions they take over the course of the novel. As the two of them were drawn together, I found myself smiling constantly at the awkward actions of Seojun or admiring the strength Haewon showed when she was with her family. The dual narrative was the perfect way to show the complete story and I loved the chance to see what shaped these characters and their present circumstances.

The setting was interesting and Hur shows the times with an expert hand. I had no idea about the edicts and policies that were enacted in this time period. Readers are not given a lot information in one go, just enough to understand what had been declared, and then we are given the chance to see how these things played out for the people they affected. We see how people had to go about finding books, how books were transcribed from the originals because they weren't allowed to be reprinted and then how government officials would search for sources they claimed were an attack on their way of life. It made every action that Haewon and Seojun took feel more important for the fact that they both tried so hard to find joy in books while leading respectable lives. I learned a lot from this book and now I am interested in reading more about both the time period and the writers that Hur mentioned specifically in her resources.

This is not an exact retelling but there is enough for me to recognize pieces of Pride and Prejudice while at the same time being able to appreciate how Hur turned things around for the sake of this story. Everything that I vaguely recall that irked me about Austen's work has been given a different take, enough that I can say YES, that is so much better, that works for me. Seojun had a tendency to be a little too focused on status but he was given a chance to recognize mistakes he made and to change for the better. Haewon was given the chance to learn that anyone could hide multiple truths behind a respectable facade and the opportunity to learn more about someone she dismissed once would prove to be the best decision she could ever make. I enjoyed how both leads were meant to learn not only about each other but were also able to come to better understandings with their family, how they fit together and change. In the end, this book made me find my complete collection of Jane Austen's works to try to read her book again. Maybe this time around it'll become a favorite.

Read this book if you like a sweet, slow burn love story and if you're already a June Hur fan, this book does not disappoint. This is officially one of my best of 2026 reads and I plan to go back and read some of my other June Hur books again, starting with A Crane Among Wolves. If you have not had the chance to read a book by June Hur, this is the PERFECT book to start that journey.

Rating on my scale: 10 swoony stars. I look at this book and just smile and sigh because it was sweet but it is over and all I can do is either read this story again or just read all of June Hur's books again, which let's be honest, I'm going to do both of these things in the very near future.

My thanks to Netgalley, Macmillan Children's Publishing Group and June Hur for the eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.