OH ICK! What a messed up family!

All of THE ROANOKE GIRLS are dark haired and exceptionally beautiful. Generation after generation, nothing but knockout mesmerizing beauty, but they have a big problem. They all hail from a "sick" dysfunctional family and end up having short, troubled lives.

The story begins when sixteen year old Lane is sent off to live with her rich grandparents and vivacious cousin after her disturbed ROANOKE mother commits suicide. (no spoiler here) So from New York City to a desolate farm in Osage Flats, Kansas Lane goes to discover a shocking past (and present) existence within the residence.

Although the big secret is obvious early on, and the subject matter distasteful, the author does a great job of handling the ugliness in a subtle way making this reader want to keep turning the pages to find out why no one sounded the alarm, what really happened to cousin Allegra and how Lane's relationship with the hunky Cooper turned out.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Crown Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

I am going to review this in three pieces, story, mystery and writing. Stay with me here. It will make sense. So writing first. The author does a beautiful job throughout of outting you in a time and place, of puttung her hooks in you and dragginf you along with the characters. I would definitely read more by her. The mystery is fair. I figured the ending out pretty early and pretty easily, but there was arr least oner thing I hadnt seen coming. Now the story. Just not my thing. I didn't realize the main theme from the notes and would have passed if I had known. That said, I feel like if you are going to go there, the topiuc should have been treated more deeply. It felt like it was no big deal to some degree, which was weird though maybe was part of the point. That in this family, it wasn't seen the same as I would see it. Overall, fast read that I feel odd recommending. But definitely keep an eye out for others by this author.

This was an odd book with an unexpected spin at the end. I really enjoyed it,

I loved the way this slowly unfolded bringing surprise after surprise/

The Roanoke Girls by Amy Engel has a similar feel to The Good Daughter in that it also involves past and present POVs and a woman returning to her rural hometown to confront twisted family secrets. It follows teenager Lane Roanoke, who following the suicide of her mother, goes to live with her mysterious grandparents on their sprawling estate in rural Kansas alongside her beautiful, unhinged cousin named Allegra. This storyline is interspersed with Lane’s present day narrative, as she returns to Kansas following a long absence, after hearing about Allegra’s disappearance. The icky truth of the Roanoke family and the mystery of what happened to Allegra is slowly revealed. The Roanoke Girls is definitely not for the faint of heart, but it is quite “unputdownable” if you can overlook the dark, uncomfortable subject matter throughout. It will be released in March. (Published in the Napanee Guide, December 29th 2016, pg.4)

I mostly enjoyed reading this book lol, there were parts that were uncomfortable to read. But, that's part of the book! The book mostly kept me curious as to what was coming next. The characters for the most part came alive for me. There were parts, that left me wanting more and some that I found myself losing interest. That was why I gave it 3 stars. Thank you for allowing me to read.

This book infuriated me. This book made me bawl like a baby. This book made me laugh and laugh/cry at the same time. This book made me stay awake until I read the very last page.

These characters were so intriguing and captivating that even though I knew what was coming that didn't stop me from reading. I was still blown away by that ending that I'm still thinking about it a month later.

I don't want to say much more because like everyone else you really need to go in blind.

I was able to read this book before its release in March through NetGalley and I am SO GLAD I got access to it. This book is such a page-turner and while I want to say the book is awesome (which is it) it’s got some gross subject matter that makes me not want to put the word awesome in the same sentence as it. But I LOVED it. The author has a great way about how she reveals plot twists that just slips them in there, making you read the sentence two or three times before you realize what you just read. Great book. Effed up, but great book.