Afbeelding auteur

Amy Engel

Auteur van The Roanoke Girls

8 Werken 1,543 Leden 289 Besprekingen

Over de Auteur

Bevat de naam: Amy Engel

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Werken van Amy Engel

The Roanoke Girls (2017) 890 exemplaren
The Book of Ivy (2014) 282 exemplaren
The Familiar Dark (2020) 198 exemplaren
The Revolution of Ivy (2015) 129 exemplaren
I Did It For You: A Novel (2023) 35 exemplaren
I Did It For You (2023) 6 exemplaren
Une ombre familière (2021) 2 exemplaren
La consuetudine del buio (2021) 1 exemplaar

Tagged

Algemene kennis

Geslacht
female
Nationaliteit
USA
Geboorteplaats
Lawrence, Kansas, USA

Leden

Besprekingen

Great mystery, good ending
 
Gemarkeerd
freshmenarerats | 238 andere besprekingen | Jan 22, 2024 |
[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.
… (meer)
 
Gemarkeerd
b00kdarling87 | 238 andere besprekingen | Jan 7, 2024 |
The Comforts of Darkness


This is my second novel by Amy Engel I read The Roanoke Girls last summer and loved the dark feel of that so when I found she had put out a second book I had to pick it up. This story is do not waste a word to craft a story to keep you moving from page one to the very last page. It explores the dark sides of living in a small town. It also explores the strong will of a mother. A mother who will do anything and everything to find out what happen to her little girl and bringing that person to justice.

Eve and her brother, Cal, were raised in squalor by an abusive, drug-addicted mother with a succession of unsavory boyfriends. She physically punished her children for infractions such as crying because they were hungry, telling them, "You had it coming," a phrase that came to be thought of by her children as her manta expressing her philosophy about life. Eve and Cal lean on each other to try and get through their childhood.
Evie ends up pregnant and vows that her daughter Junie will live a different life. Cal does everything she can to help her stay on an even path.


In response to motherhood, Eve changed. She quit drinking, smoking, and getting in trouble. She gave up men. Well, except for Jimmy Ray. And ultimately, she did what was required to extricate herself from that abusive relationship. She continued working as a waitress at the diner, and Junie's needs have always been her priority. Motherhood is not easy, of course, but unlike her own mother, Eve has been an affectionate, supportive, and caring mother, despite lacking the financial means to give Junie everything she wants and deserves. Junie's presence made Eve's life bearable. Eve even went as far as to cut ties with her mother from the day Junie is born.

Cal has always been a doting uncle. And to Eve's surprise, Junie developed a strong bond and tight friendship with a girl her age, Izzy Logan, the daughter of Jenny and Zach. Jenny went away to college, but opted to return with her husband, Zach, who is in line to take over her father's boat dealership, to raise their daughter in Barron Springs. The Logans' affluence was never a barrier to the girls' relationship.

Despite all her efforts, Eve has carried a sense of dread and foreboding, worry that something horrible would happen to Junie. As the story opens, Junie is expected home after spending the night at Izzy's house. Instead, Cal arrives at the diner to inform Eve that the girls' bodies have been discovered in the local park, their throats slit. That was never the horror story Eve envisioned.

After the death of Junie and Izzy we the readers watch a woman who is determined to find out what happened to the girls in a small town where no one will even look at her because of her past and her mother. The police bombard her with questions about Junie’s father and making her feel like a criminal rather then the grieving mother that she was. This was a quick and dark read that makes you angry at everyone who is suppose to be helping solve a crime.
The Familiar Dark is an absorbing look at small-town America -- it is ugliness and beauty. It is an intricate and remarkable tale about how secrets and betrayals can harm innocents. The story is peppered with details of Eve’s past and circumstances that lead to the sad deaths of the little girls. This story explores the concept of what a mother is willing to do to get justice for her daughter and the circumstances that make Eve more “comfortable in the dark.” This tale is perfect for anyone who likes a gut-wrenching dark tale that stays constantly in the dark and keeps you engrossed from page one all the way to the end.
… (meer)
 
Gemarkeerd
b00kdarling87 | 12 andere besprekingen | Jan 7, 2024 |
I didn’t love this like the first but it was still good.

Tropes: arranged marriage, found family

Content: fighting, deaths, mention of a parent suicide, gunshot wound (somewhat descriptive description), one fade-to-black between married couple, kissing

3 Stars
 
Gemarkeerd
libraryofemma | 9 andere besprekingen | Oct 20, 2023 |

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Statistieken

Werken
8
Leden
1,543
Populariteit
#16,694
Waardering
½ 3.6
Besprekingen
289
ISBNs
70
Talen
8

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