Review: The Forest of Stolen Girls by June Hur

The Forest of Stolen Girls by June Hur

YA Historical Mystery

Standalone

384 pages

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Publication Date: 20 April 2021

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Content Warnings: Suicide, kidnapping, trafficking, assault, poisoning, mutilation (mentioned), violence, death of a loved one, disappearance of a loved one

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Synopsis

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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My Thoughts

I loved June Hur’s The Silence of Bones, but I think I loved The Forest of Stolen Girls even more. Which I didn’t think was possible. It ticked boxes I didn’t even know I wanted.

Both books are so completely different, and yet they are so quintessentially June. She manages to infuse her stories with such life, and colour, and emotion. It makes her stories compulsively addictive.

What is consistent between the two books is her beautiful writing. It’s so evocative and atmospheric. The overall vibe is quietly eerie, and it keeps you feeling sort of off-kilter for most of the book.

On a related note one of the other things I love about The Forest of Stolen Girls is that it really feels like you are actually there with the characters experiencing life on Jeju in 1426. Part of this is the research that has gone into the setting – the history, the customs, the physical spaces – that orients the story in time and place. The other aspect is the way it is written. There are enough small details to imagine the immediate surroundings, including the clothing and architecture. This balance of micro- and macro- descriptions are what made Hwani and Maewol’s world come alive.

I’m not going to go into much detail about the plot, because it truly is something you need to experience for yourself. But there are two main threads: solving the disappearance of Detective Min and the thirteen girls, and the relationship between estranged sisters, Hwani and Maewol.

I loved that there are so many twists, and it was so satisfying trying to put all the clues together. There are quite a few potential culprits, and possible motivations, that it kept me guessing right until the end. While some of my theories panned out, there were plenty of red herrings and misdirects.

The main character, Hwani, is a wonderful protagonist. She’s independent, intelligent, and resourceful. But she’s also stubborn, and selfish. She is flawed, and I think that is what makes her such a fascinating, compelling character to follow. It means there is so much room for personal growth in her character arc, and it is a delight to watch Hwani mature and become less judgemental over the course of the novel.

I also really enjoyed the development of Hwani and Maewol’s relationship. They are complete opposites and it causes a lot of misunderstandings and friction. But these differences also make them the perfect complement of each other in many ways. I loved that Maewol’s characterisation is nuanced and has so much depth, because it made her such a good foil to Hwani. This really is their shared story, and I was more invested than I expected to be.

The Forest of Stolen Girls is many things. Yes, it’s a mystery set in Joseon in the early 15th century. But more than that, it’s an exploration of grief, of women, and of family. It’s about the ways that patriarchy, and imperialism, disproportionately affect women. It’s about families, both biological and found, who love each other, even if the ways they show it aren’t always the ways we expect.

I think The Forest of Stolen Girls is a masterpiece, and I look forward to revisiting this world, and these characters, again in the future. I recommend this to fans of historical fiction, especially historical mysteries. I think fans of sageuk K-Dramas will also really enjoy this novel.

A last quick note: The audiobook is absolutely amazing. I haven’t listened to it all yet, but the narrator, Sue Jean Kim, is phenomenal. I highly recommend it.