A review by wisteriariaa
The Lost Girls of Willowbrook by Ellen Marie Wiseman

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

Not quite sure how to feel about this one. I thought the first 2/3 were really good and I was gripped by the story. However, I have some issues with the choices made with the ending that left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth.

The decision to make the ultimate villain of the story a Willowbrook resident and not one of the employees seems misguided to me. It feels weird to create a story focused on Sage’s helplessness in her situation due to the apathy and ignorance of the people who worked there and then make the big bad a generic “I have to save these people by killing them” guy.

I’m a bit disappointed with that but it doesn’t kill the rest of the book for me. I really wish that the author didn’t insist on using the r-slur all the time though, kinda put me off.