12 must-read YA book releases to spring into this April
By Lacy Baugher
April 2021 release: The Forest of Stolen Girls – June Hur
The second YA historical mystery from the author of The Silence of Bones, The Forest of Stolen Girls follows the story of a teen who returns to her secretive hometown to search for the father who vanished while investigating the disappearance of 13 young women.
Five years prior to the start of the novel,, Hwani and her younger sister Maewol, were tangentially involved in a dangerous crime, located unconscious near what would become known as the Forest Incident, where a young woman was murdered. But when the siblings realize that their captor had something in common with the suspect in the current disappearances, they try to overcome their estrangement to solve the case.
Set in 1462 Joseon Korea, the story isn’t just a twisty mystery, it’s also an exploration of female agency in the time period, which includes real stories of the horrors women like this would have had to live through.
The official synopsis describes the story as follows.
"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."
The Forest of Stolen Girls is available on April 20.