Reviews

The Forest of Stolen Girls by June Hur 허주은

libraryofdreaming's review

4.0

It’s official, I love June Hur and I would die for her.

This is a rich and impeccably constructed historical mystery with an intense sense of place and time. The theme of sisterhood was perfection. Although it is dark and eerie at times, it does not feel exploitive or truly horror-esque.

TW: Human trafficking, suicide, violent murders, suspense.

moniquenguyen's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

marisaka42's review

adventurous informative mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I have loved Hur’s other mysteries but this one fell flat a bit. It was a bit frustrating that the story progressed faster than the protagonist could keep up with; i.e., the twists and turns were good and surprising but the main character only put the pieces together several chapters after the crucial information was revealed. So she didn’t come off as clever/good at solving mysteries at all and it had me rolling my eyes quite a bit. 

calliegraphy's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

melodia's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

congressbaby143's review

3.0

In a way, I understand that the fantasy side this was teasing about at the start could be interpreted as just mysterious things being more supernatural in the period it was set in. Arsenic! Damned arsenic poisoning!

katnortonwriter's review

adventurous dark informative tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

I knew very little about this book going in, and was pleasantly surprised not only by the pace and the action, but by how thoroughly the historical setting was explored. It's very much a murder mystery within a LARGER mystery, and the historical aspect of the solution was something I knew nothing about. I sometimes wished that the main character would be SLIGHTLY smarter about things ("Is the poison? Let's eat it and find out...") but she's quite young, and she was dealing with a lot, so I rolled with it.

Very much recommend this one if you like historical mysteries. Some of the elements are distinctly YA but the creepy parts are SO creepy, and writing is so lovely, that I think pretty much anyone could enjoy this.

burgundy_merlot's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

maryygracee's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

4.5

katiecentabar's review

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.0