Blog Tour: The Forest of Stolen Girls by June Hur

Thank you so much to Hear Our Voices Book Tours, as well as the author and publisher for giving me a copy of ‘The Forest of Stolen Girls’ in exchange for an unbiased, and honest review!! This is my stop for the tour, and you can click the banner below to view the full schedule, and explore other posts!!

Title: The Forest of Stolen Girls
Author: June Hur
Publisher: Macmillan
Genre: Historical Fiction, Young Adult Fiction, Thriller, Mystery
Series: None
Publication Date: April 20, 2021
Final Rating: 4 stars

Synopsis (via Goodreads):

After her father vanishes while investigating the disappearance of 13 young women, a teen returns to her secretive hometown to pick up the trail in this second YA historical mystery from the author of The Silence of Bones.

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.

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What I liked

The rich, atmospheric, historical setting of Joseon-era Korea. June Hur’s lilting prose brought Joseon-era Korea to life. With the elements of mystery and suspense incorporated into the story, as well as the immersive surrounding, I was transported straight into the story. The vivid storytelling really helped me visualize everything going on, and honestly, I would recommend this book for it’s setting, and strong historical context alone.

All the mystery and suspense. This whole aspect of the story just plays out so well. We get to see little glimpses of who may be responsible behind everything, without being given enough of a chance to actually guess, or predict it completely, which is something I found so interesting. I also loved being able to see all of this from Hwani’s perspective, because even though her father is a detective, we get to see her struggling. In a lot of YA books, we see the protagonists just solving the mystery based on co-incidences, but over here, the clues actually make sense, and everything doesn’t wrap-up quite so easily, making it all the more believable.

The sibling relationships. I think by now, it’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of sibling relationships, and I love seeing all those bonds. However, sometimes for me, the relationships in books feel a bit too perfect, and I loved that through her writing, Hur was able to convey the complexity of these sibling relationships, and how although you may endlessly complain about them, and not agree with them most of the time, at the end of the day, you’ll also love them the most, and they’re your family.

What wasn’t my cup of tea

The pacing. Although I don’t usually mind slow-paced books, at times, I found my mind wandering, and unable to focus completely on the story. I’m not saying the story wasn’t thrilling, or that I wasn’t hooked, but at some points, it just got too slow for me to actually pay attention, and I just got tired after a while.

Overall!

June Hur’s lilting prose brought Joseon-era Korea to life. With the elements of mystery and suspense incorporated into the story, as well as the immersive surrounding, I was transported straight into the story. The vivid storytelling really helped me visualize everything going on, and honestly, I would recommend this book for it’s setting, and strong historical context alone. However, the whole aspect of mystery and suspense in the story also just plays out so well. We get to see little glimpses of who may be responsible behind everything, without being given enough of a chance to actually guess, or predict it completely, which is something I found so interesting. Hur was also able to convey the complexity of sibling relationships, and how no matter what comes, at the end of the day, you’ll also love them the most, and they’re your family.

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).

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Have you read The Forest of Stolen Girls yet? What are some of your favourite #OwnVoices Asian Historical Fiction novels? Do you like reading Mysteries and Thrillers?