Title: The Forest of Stolen Girls
Author: June Hur
Type: Fiction
Genre: Young Adult, Historical
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
(Macmillan Publishers)
Date published: April 20, 2021
A complimentary physical copy of this book was kindly provided by the publishers in exchange for an honest review.
Hwani’s family has never been the same since she and her younger sister went missing and were later found unconscious in the forest, near a gruesome crime scene. The only thing they remember: Their captor wore a painted-white mask.
To escape the haunting memories of this incident, the family flees their hometown. Years later, Detective Min—Hwani’s father—learns that thirteen girls have recently disappeared under similar circumstances, and so he returns to their hometown to investigate… only to vanish as well.
Determined to find her father and solve the case that tore their family apart, Hwani returns home to pick up the trail. As she digs into the secrets of the small village—and reconnects with her now estranged sister—Hwani comes to realize that the answer lies within her own buried memories of what happened in the forest all those years ago.
⤖ My Review ⬻
For those of you newer to following this blog, I used to be very very very into kdramas (Korean dramas). I still feel the urge to watch them now, but I just prioritize reading in my free time now. A few months ago, I started really craving a historical Korean drama…and it’s almost like the universe heard me because The Forest of Stolen Girls was sent to me as an e-galley and also really caught my attention around my birthday, leading to me purchasing a finished, hardcover copy.
The way June Hur wrote The Forest of Stolen Girls made all of the events play out in my mind as if I were watching a kdrama without a TV or any other screen present. I will note that I’ve watched quite a few kdramas, which likely helped with the visualization, but for anyone with less or no experience with Korean history (clothes, food, culture, etc.) could do a few Google search to fill any visual gaps.
Hur transported me to the island of Jeju with its rolling hills, crashing waves, and something I had never been aware the island possessed (unless of course this is a nod at the island’s history rather than reflecting its current state)–thick forests. This book definitely gave me some creeped out feelings, which brought me to reading it primarily in the day time. The mystery was also quite good (I wasn’t able to guess what would happen or who was responsible for what)!
I also really appreciated the storyline around the two sisters, Hwani and Maewol. I have a younger sister, so that aspect of The Forest of Stolen Girls really resonated with me and made me feel more invested. I can also say from my experience of being a sister, that the relationship between the sisters in this book were also written very realistically. All in all, I did enjoy The Forest of Stolen Girls and am looking forward to Hur’s next historical YA release, The Red Palace, coming out in January!
⤖ About the Author ⬻
June Hur was born in South Korea and raised in Canada, except for the time when she moved back to Korea and attended high school there. Most of her work is inspired by her journey through life as an individual, a dreamer, and a Christian, with all its confusions, doubts, absurdities and magnificence. She studied History and Literature at
the University of Toronto. When she’s not writing, she can be found journaling at a coffee shop. She lives in Toronto with her husband and daughter. Her debut novel THE SILENCE OF BONES (Feiwel & Friends/Macmillan, April 2020) is a murder mystery set in Joseon Dynasty Korea (early 1800s), and also a coming-of-age tale about a girl searching for home. It was recently selected by the American Booksellers Association as one of the top debuts of Winter/Spring 2020 (Indies Introduce). She is represented by Amy Bishop of Dystel, Goderich & Bourret LLC.
⤖ Places to Purchase the Book ⬻
⤖ Let's Chat ⬻
Thank you for reading my review! Have you read this book? What did you think? And if you haven’t read it yet, do you plan to? Let me know in the comments!
I haven’t read this one, but I do agree with how the writer’s writing really feels like transporting you into a kdrama! I read The Silence of Girls and it immediately felt like transported to a saeguk.
Oh that’s so good to know! I’ll have to pick that one up at some point