Reviews with content warning for Rape - The Roanoke Girls

This book was just not for me. It was an easy enough read so I stuck with it, but there was nothing compelling me to finish - I wasn’t interested in finding out what happened, so much of it felt unnecessary and redundant, and moreover, I was uncomfortable with the portrayal of the young women.

It really disturbed me how much Engel portrayed the girls as willing participants in affairs with Yates as opposed to what they really were: victims. Sophia committing suicide because she was jealous that he loved someone else more and Penelope dressing to seduce him: both depictions give these children too much agency and will when in reality they had none and would likely have been devastated and full of hatred due to Yates’ abuse. Even Sharon paints the girls as the masterminds, rendering herself and Lillian as the victims of their affairs. Not to mention the constant harping on Allegra as an irrefutably broken person - a pretty harsh friction of someone struggling to overcome a lifetime of incest.

It infuriated me how dense Lane was, too, refusing to consider that Allegra might have left Roanoke knowing that she might have a baby - aka Yates’ next victim - on the way. Why wouldn’t she tell Tommy? Why is she protecting her grandparents? Why didn’t Tommy or the grandparents think to check the swimming hole before Lane stumbled upon it? Unfortunately, some of this is realistic, and some Engel remedied for me through Lane’s monologue towards the end. But it just wasn’t enough to change my opinion.

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delaynakh's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad slow-paced

4.0

Book Dynamics✨
Non linear timeline
One POV (mostly)
Dark AF
Slow Paced

JFC this was exactly what I thought it would be and I still wasn’t prepared.

A great portrayal of grooming and how someone can get so easily trapped in the unthinkable.

I liked how it wove together past and present for Lane but also the story of each Roanoke Girl. The family tree at the beginning of the book was very helpful in remembering who belonged to who once things started to unfold.

Overall: grab if you want a slow burn make your stomach churn family drama - I don’t even know if family drama is the right term here though 🫠

Favorite Character: Cooper

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madeleinebay's review against another edition

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3.75

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nut_megg's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.75

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cateyeschloe's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I was warned going in that this book is dark and twisted, and that definitely rings true!

I read the book in a day and enjoyed (if I can use that word for this subject?) every minute of it.

The story had me engaged from the Prologue and I stayed engrossed throughout every chapter. The characters are all interesting and multi-faceted, each shining a light on varying shades of grey in their moral compasses. The majority of characters have an effective character development and arch one way or another and where that growth may be lacking in some areas intentionally serves the story quite well.

The book presents many characters who are extremely flawed and deeply affected by the ripple effects of situations and traumas in their lives. The interesting aspect, though, is that the author makes a point not to vilify most of these characters regardless of the choices they make and the actions they take (save for perhaps one character, who in my opinion cannot be anything other than a villain, so that could just be my lens coloring that perspective).

The author also does an excellent job of highlighting how often both society, individuals, and sometimes even our own minds will shift blame onto victims (specifically women) and twist the situation away from the actions and motivations of the perpetrator or abuser.

This book tackles trauma, depression, suicidal ideation, internalized misogyny, assault, and abuse head on in many different forms and makes a concerted effort to showcase each of these from an outlook of empathy and patience.

The topics covered in this book are grizzly, uncomfortable, and often very unsettling. However, I will definitely say it’s not an overly graphic book, in my opinion. The author explains what is going on without getting so visceral in the details that you reach a point where you feel like you need to shower.

It lost a few points from me simply because I wished the ending had resolved things a little more completely or thoroughly, but the choices the author makes do still make sense.

I would absolutely recommend this book to anyone with the stomach for darker, troubling subjects!

As a suggestion however, I would definitely recommend checking out the trigger warnings before reading if you have any concerns.

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