Day: July 12, 2021

Audiobook Review: The Forest of Stolen Girls by June Hur

The Forest of Stolen Girls
Author: June Hur
Published:  April 20, 2021

Audiobook

Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Read: June 25- July 3, 2021
Jessica’s Rating: 3 stars     

Book Description:

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.

Jessica’s Review:

I can’t say too much about this one other than these two things:
-It sounded intriguing with the mystery involved during the 1400s in Korea. 
-This book appears to be another ‘victim’ for me due to the audiobook. 

Normally, a novel like The Forest of Stolen Girls would and should be right up in my alley of interests, but something in the delivery failed for me.  It could have been the narrator, though I think listening to the audiobook helped with the pronunciations of words I would have misspoken had I actually read the novel itself.  It could be the actual accent of the narrator. It could be my ignorance of the history of Korea during this time.   Regardless, I know I missed a lot with this book.

Unfortunately, this book was not for me, but since I cannot narrow down exactly what was missing for me, I give this novel three stars. I think that is book would definitely work for other readers, including those interested in this particular time of Korean history.  There is also an author’s note about the time period that should be read that gives some insight.

Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK