This book was very hard to read but not because it was a bad but because it is pretty heart wrenching and graphic. I could not put it down. ( )

Great mystery, good ending ( )

[b:The Roanoke Girls|30689335|The Roanoke Girls|Amy Engel|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1489050287l/30689335._SY75_.jpg|51235136]

Dark and Gritty
So, I would love to be like the many people online reviewers that this book is slightly taboo and not worth the time or energy. I can’t however seeing as I blew through this in two days. It feels dark yet pulls you in and a few chapters in you feel like it is Flowers in the Attic for a new generation.
The novel's protagonist is Lane, a young woman who has returned to the family estate, Roanoke, she fled from as a teen in the middle of nowhere Kansas to help search for her missing "cousin" Allegra. Lane's grandparents still reign supreme at Roanoke and through chapters that jump around in time and from different viewpoints we quickly learn that this home is not a good place for young girls to grow up. Multiple generations of girls have suffered the effects of living at the estate and the damage is not just the physical but more important the psychological aspect of the family and home dynamic. While the mystery of what happened to Allegra is compelling, what keeps the pages turning are the revelations of the scope of the abuse. For readers who are easily triggered by sexual abuse rest easy that this book does not have that. The author’s focus is more focused on the abuse and the pain that it caused.
( )

Roanoke girls never last long around here. In the end, we either run or we die

Well, where do you begin with this book?? I flew through the story in 1 sitting so it definitely grabs your attention and keeps it right up until the end of the book.

I wasn’t expecting it to be incest that was the fatal flaw to the Roanoke girls but it was made fairly obvious early on which i think was a smart move by the author as then it gives the reader the option to keep reading or to walk away from the book. It is a fairly taboo subject and can be uncomfortable reading for some.
It made me think of Flowers in the Attic slightly but I’ve not read that for years!

This book makes my family feel like the Waltons from Little House on the Prairie in comparison to this family!

For such a hard topic this has been written in such a brilliant way that makes it a gripping read without being to stomach churning or shocking.

The story revolves around Roanoke, a large mansion in Kansas where the Roanoke girls have lived and died or from where they have fled. The story moves between ‘Then’ when Lane, just 16, is sent there to live with her grandparents after her mother’s suicide; and ‘Now’ when Lane who ran away after one summer there, returns after 10 years following the disappearance of her cousin Allegra.
It also has chapters written in the voices of the previous Roanoke girls which adds extra layers to the darker side of what takes place within the family.

The writing is so compelling that it draws you deeper into the heart of this family and the mystery of missing girl Allegra.
With Allegra gone, Lane is now the only Roanoke girl left, Is she doomed to the same fate as the girls that came before her?

Beautifully written about such a controversial topic, you know what has been happening in the family but without the gruesome ugly details, extreme in parts, though never graphic and it is definitely going to be a book that you remember for a long time.
Not a book for everyone but i would recommend this book highly, Amy Engel is definitely an author to keep an eye on as her style of writing is superb.

Congratulations Amy on such a good book. ( )

I really enjoyed this book, though I feel weird saying that considering the subject matter.
It was very, very well written and I found something I liked and disliked about every one of the younger generations, as (I think) you were supposed to. I didn’t understand the draw to the grandfather, hence the 4 stars rather than 5, but other than that the whole book was a page turning, realistic and unsettling story. ( )