Thanks to Netgalley & Farrar, Strauss, and Giroux for this advanced reader copy. The story Roxanna writes tells about the tragedy that transpired, but it also shows how it unfolded. Many warning signs were ignored. The best part of the book was hearing the other side of adoptions and how quickly decisions are made within the systems that are in place. Praise goes out to this author for telling the story, and prayers and sympathy to all of the families that lost someone that day.

This is an excellent book! Told with compassion and truth. The author tells all sides of a horrible murder/suicide. It is an indictment of the foster care system and those who make decisions about who is and who is not fit to keep their children. My overwhelming feeling after reading this is deep and profound sadness. I do not know any answers but I know that it's the children that suffer and continue to suffer. Well written and important.

A terrific book and one that was screaming to be told! It's not just a story of the horrific tragedy of two married women, who adopted six African American children and then committed murder/suicide. It's about the state of our dreadful CPS system. The author put her heart and soul into this book and her passion for the injustices are clearly evident. Her writing is impressive as well as the research she did. A great read. Thanks to the author, publishers and Netgalley for an e-arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

A gripping story of one family struggle through hardship. This one was difficult to read at times, but I felt that it wast necessary to get through.

This is 5 star journalism! I’m in awe honestly. I was interested in this story because I’ve had a few friends online tell horrific adoption stories lately and I only knew what we’ve all been told, that adoptive parents are angels and that the terrible, awful, no-good parents just didn’t want their kids. I didn’t realize at the time that I’d heard this story! The Hart family, two moms, and six adopted kids went off a cliff and apparently it was on purpose. It fell out of the news, at least the news I watch, pretty quickly and I hadn’t really thought about it. Just evil, open and shut case. Wow, was I wrong. There is SO much going on here.

The Harts, Jennifer and Sarah(white women; a couple), adopted six kids(all black or mixed race). The kids are two sets of siblings, both sets begin 3 from each family. On the outside it looks kind. Siblings being able to stick together and Jennifer took every opportunity to toot her own horn on Facebook.

Let’s just be frank, these children were stolen from families that wanted them because they were poor(being poor is often mistaken for neglect) and given to abusers who looked better on paper. I had no idea how hard they fought to keep them. It’s absolutely heartbreaking and if it doesn’t show you there is a systemic issue, I don’t know what will. The generational trauma revealed in this book is absolutely harrowing.

This author, a journalist, took the time to get the whole story and to know all of the people involved, warts and all. She is not playing armchair psychologist and this isn’t a cutesy true crime book where she’s trying to get in the mind of these disgusting murderers. Her goal is to shed light on the children, share the stories of their families, and indict the system that failed them all.

These kids were living an absolute nightmare and they were failed by every person meant to protect them. The bio families were punished at every turn and the adoptive moms(faux white saviors) were given every benefit of the doubt and opportunity. It’s unfair and quite frankly, it’s racist. At best, it’s classist. I’m not saying the families are blameless but the systems put in place to help should actually help and not cause more harm because that’s their job.

This is especially important to hear right now because with the overturning of Roe, I’m going to take a wild guess and say these systems will be under even more pressure than they already are.

I don’t know how many times I need to say this, not everyone deserves a child. Keeping the child with family should always be the first priority. It seems counterproductive to pay someone to foster or adopt when you could use those funds, and probably less honestly, to help the mom keep their child.

After the book, I watched a documentary and an ID show about it. I just wanted to put faces to names because this really touched me. This story is going to stick with me and I appreciate the journalist for what she put into this. At a time when the media isn’t portrayed in the best light, it’s refreshing to see a good journalist out there doing the real work.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review.