It is hard to find the words to express how I felt about Rust & Stardust. The subject matter was difficult, because I knew it was a true story and reading what Sally possibly went through was emotional and upsetting. T. Greenwood is definitely up to the task of writing abut Sally's experience in a way that is not exploitative but highly empathetic and puts the reader right into the hearts and minds of Sally and those who love her. Although I knew how the story ended, it was still devastating. Warning--the last few pages will tear your heart right out. I have not been this moved by historical fiction since Mary Beth Keane's The Fever, which is high praise. Highly recommended.

This book recounts the true crime abduction that was the inspiration for Nabokov’s Lolita. This time, the story is told from the point of view of Sally, the victim. It is unflinching and beautifully written.

Excellent story! Sad, tragic, memorable! Absolutely engrossing read. Looking forward to reading more by this author!

Heartbreaking. That's the only thing I can say about this one. Even more so because it's based on true events.
It's 1948. Young Sally, still reeling from the death of her father, is desperate to fit it. So, on a dare, she steals a notebook from the local Woolworth's. This one childish mistake sets in motion a chain of events that will have lasting repercussions. When a man posing as an FBI agent approaches her outside the store, Sally's innocence and gullible nature guarantee that she'll believe him. But what excuse for her mother, who allows this man to take Sally off on a supposed trip to the seashore? The only excuse I can think of is that it was a different time, simpler and more trusting.
For almost two years, Sally is victimized by Frank. They travel across the country, Sally being held against her will. Along the way, there are people who see something in Sally. And these people even make attempts to help her without truly knowing the extent of her abuse. Still, Sally must reach within herself and have the courage to speak up before she can be rescued.
While some liberties have been taken in the telling of Sally's story, the fact remains that she was a real person and a real kidnapping victim. An interesting side note: Sally's story was the inspiration for Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita.

This story is so full of sorrow yet it is so beautifully written. I cried multiple times while reading this book and the characters have stuck with me in the last two days since finishing.
My review is 5 Star for one main reason. I want to give credit to the author for picking such a hard story to write and it was done in a way that left me speechless. Great job! This will be one that I recommend to my friends and family for sure.

Release Date: Aug. 7th 2018
Camden, NJ, 1948. When 11 year-old Sally Horner steals a notebook from the local Woolworth's, she has no way of knowing that 52 year-old Frank LaSalle, fresh out of prison, is watching her, preparing to make his move. Accosting her outside the store, Frank convinces Sally that he’s an FBI agent who can have her arrested in a minute―unless she does as he says.

This chilling novel traces the next two harrowing years as Frank mentally and physically assaults Sally while the two of them travel westward from Camden to San Jose, forever altering not only her life, but the lives of her family, friends, and those she meets along the way.

Based on the experiences of real-life kidnapping victim Sally Horner and her captor, whose story shocked the nation and inspired Vladimir Nabokov to write his controversial and iconic Lolita, this heart-pounding story by award-winning author T. Greenwood at last gives a voice to Sally herself.


Before even starting this book I had very mixed feelings about. I wanted to read it because it's compared to Lolita (the real story of Sally is the inspiration for Lolita), with the title itself being a quote from the book. I was also super hesitant though because it's based on a true story. For me book that depict real events of pedophilia, rape, mass shootings, either turn out really wonderful and leave me in tears, cursing humanity, or the author romanticizes the crime to the point where I want to throw the book at their face, repeatedly.
This book was the former. I hate hate hate this book, and I mean that in the best possible way. After reading this my heart has been torn apart, for the fiction Sally Horner, and the real one whose life paralleled these events. This book will want you to hold your children close if you have them, it will make you curse and hate everybody that had ever hurt a child. This is an absolutely heartbreaking tale of a girl whose life was destroyed before she had a chance to really live.
I loved the different view points in this book. Although the majority of the chapters were Sally, we got to hear from her family back home, and the family she tried to piece together during those awful years. I loved these chapters. The hope, the agonizing, the glimpses of these other lives happening around Sally.
The secrets her skin kept now, the horror that flowed in her veins.
The most terrifying part of this book is when Sally blames herself. It's a story you hear over and over again. She constantly blames herself for the situation she's in, she's scared she'll go to jail if she tells anyone. These thoughts made the story so much more real, and really made you believe you were in the head of this poor 11 year old girl.
I started crying before it ended because I knew what happened in real life. Even though this is a work of fiction, I knew that T. Greenwood would not insult the real Sally by giving her fictionalized version a happy ending. The ending is absolutely awful, and will break you're heart if you don't know what happened.
certain she had hit the bottom, the ocean floor, the weight suddenly lifted from her chest, and she was light, ascending, dizzy and disoriented. The sky of water becoming a sky of stars. She was suspended, floating.
This was beautifully written, and each character definitely had a distinct voice, helping the story flow better than I ever could have imagined. I'm so in love with this book and I still have tears in my eyes.
5//5 Owls 🦉🦉🦉🦉🦉

The ARC was given to me by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.