It's been so long since I first read this book, and I had every intention of giving this a re-read at some point to refresh the finer points in my mind. But this was an excellent true crime, to my recollection, evocative of a certain time and place. With apologies, I submit this somewhat sparse review--my only excuse being I really loved the book but have no time to re-read it.

Thank you Hachette and NetGalley for the gifted arc to read and review.

The Third Rainbow Girl is a mix of true crime and memoir. Don't go into this expecting traditional true crime. Instead, Eisenberg investigates the murder of two women in West Virginia's Pocahontas County, while exploring the region's complex history and Eisenberg's personal connection to it. Including her own experiences adds honesty and it also reveals her biases. I did find the book to be generally slow paced . The different storylines may seem unrelated, but they come together in the end.

I struggled a bit with this. I was expecting a true crime book, and it was that to some degree, but it also felt like it was trying to tell 3 different stories, all of which could have probably stood on their own. This is part true crime, part memoir, part an ode to West Virginia and its people...all of which is a bit much to hold at one time. I found myself lost and having to page back often to follow the storyline. I think each of the plotlines could be quite interesting on their own, but together, it is hard to manage. Thank you NetGalley and publishers for providing a digital ARC for review.

This is a book sort of about these murders that happened back in the 1980s in Appalachia, and then also sort of about the author of the book, who ended up living in that area when she was in her late teens and early twenties, and actually met the guy who found those bodies, and from there kind of went into a spiral of trying to figure out what happened to them and just looking into the case and that type of thing. This is the type of true crime that isn't really my favourite type of true crime writing, because I don't really like it when you have, like, a case and then a person looking into it and a lot of the book has to do with the person looking into it and their experiences of that as opposed to like actually talking about the case. Don't get me wrong, she does talk about the case and the person that was ultimately convicted and the person who might also have done it and all that type of thing. But I'm not the biggest fan of books like this because it feels like it's two completely different books just kind of shoved into one book, because you couldn't actually just write them separately. Like, it looks like she just wanted to write her memoirs and she also wanted to write about this case, and for whatever reason, it feels like that needs to be together for her. But for an audience, I don't feel like it does. The title of this one also makes me feel a little bit uncomfortable because there were two “rainbow girls” who were murdered in this case, and I'm not going to get too deep into the crime of what happened and what was talked about in this book. But essentially there were two girls who were on the way to a Rainbow Gathering and they were murdered, and they were called the Rainbow Girls, even though they never ended up making it to any Rainbow Gathering. So that in itself is a little bit problematic. But they had up until about a day previous, been traveling with a third girl who was completely fine. So you would think that she would be the third Rainbow Girl. So maybe you're looking at this through her perspective. But I think the title is more so reflecting the author looking at things. And that again, just feels kind of weird to me. Obviously, with a big case like this, if you are really looking into it, you are going to start feeling some connection to it. So I don't have a problem with writers talking about their self when they are talking about the process of doing true crime and that type of thing. But I do have a problem when it takes up like half the book, if it's just something at the beginning or the end that just kind of explains these fascination with this particular case and what it's meant to your life. I completely understand that. But when a book that I believe is going to be True Crime becomes half memoir about the person writing the true crime, it's just not my favourite format.

I was so disappointed in this book. It was part murder, part history lesson, and mostly personal experience. I struggled to like anything about this book. There was nothing in this book that made me understand that murders, there was nothing in this book that made me feel compassion for anyone in the book including even the people accused of a murder that were then found innocent years later. The author did a horrible job with the whole book. If you want to do a memoir of your time in WV, then do that but don't do that in a book about true crime. Make it about the crime, not your personal conquests and drinking. Did not enjoy it and was very disappointed.

I had high hopes for this book. I am a true crime lover and was excited to learn more about this situation. While I did enjoy reading about the history of West Virginia, I did not feel like this was a "True Crime" book. The book bounced back and forth from a story about the murder investigation and the authors time spent in West Virginia. It read more like a memoir to me.

This is not what I expected. The author could have chosen to write a book about these murders, but instead chose to write a book about why she was writing about these murders (with some details of the murders thrown in). To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. The book could have been much shorter and far more interesting if she had concentrated on the crime, its victims, and the perpetrators. It came across as extremely narcissistic to write bout her journey to decide to write about these women who were murdered while attending a rainbow meeting.

Read in June 2019
I received a free copy from Netgalley for an honest review.
I thought that this story was well written. I had never heard of this case before I read the book, but I believe the author did a wonderful job of telling this story.

I thought this was going to be more of a true crime book, as it was categorized and I was looking forward to learning more about those particular crimes and the girls involved. I was disappointed to discover that they were only lightly touched on and the majority of the book was about Eisenberg herself and her personal time in West Virginia.

Author is too involved in a story that has nothing to do with them. It rubbed me the wrong way, being from the area the book is about.

Not quite what I expected especially from the title and the synopsis. I believe there is potential here it just needs a lot more tweaking.

2 stars Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read and review this book. Published Jan 2020.

NO! NO! NO! I do not think I have ever read a nonfiction true crime book that was so badly written. Written as a memoir this book would not have been good, but I am leery of giving critical complaint to a memoir. This nonfiction crime book was just awful.

I listened to the audio book and, for the most part, maybe once in each disc for about 20 words the author speaks about the topic of the title - the murder of two girls in Appalachia. This book is like sitting down with a quasi friend who talks nonstop - but talks about people you do not know, will never meet and don't give a flying fart about. I mean who cares about her husbands aunts sister in law who lost a family recipe - and she goes on about it for 20 minutes!!! Then goes right into her nephews school teachers cousin who just bought a new house. I mean who cares! That is what this story is like. It has gone from the square mileage of the state of West Virginia, to a flood in 2016, to the reason that men lie, to why people cling to lies instead of finding out the truth, to mining, to fracking, to the authors own drinking frenzies, suicide thoughts, and sexual relationships, all with introducing at least 40 characters (inclusive of someone's aunt and someone's brother in law, and the niece born to one of the victims, long after the murders, that have no pertinence to the story whatsoever). This story is just terrible. I highly doubt that reading the book would be any better. There is so much nonsense in there and has about 35 too many characters to even consider thinking about, let alone care about.

This is my first - and my last - book by this author. It is really a waste of time - nonsensical, rambling, way off point to the story, with little to nothing to do with the subject. Definitely no recommendation from me.

I had never heard of these murders before reading this book. This is a great investigative endeavor by the author to show how a small town can protect as well as turn on one another. Super true crime read.

I love a good crime book and this one did not disappoint. I was completely sucked into this story from the first page to last and can't believe it took me this long to start reading. It's a great well written book from start to finish.

Many thanks to the author and publisher for letting me read a copy of this book early for an honest review. I got to this a bit late, and then 2020 hit and reviewing entirely got away from me but I'm finally getting around to it now.

As other readers have mentioned I'd echo their sentiments saying this read as quite unusual for the true crime genre. It was undeniably well written technically and read nicely, but way the story was presented left something to be desired. I believe that's because the book tried to cover too much at once between coverage of the crime, a rather expanded history on the region, and a memoir chapter(?) in the middle. The opening also started off with a no-nonsense tone enumerating facts of the killing. It was bit unusual off the bat and I didn't find it especially compelling if I'm being honest, though I did appreciate that you could tell right away this would be a direct story, strongly rooted in known facts. There'd be no over embellishment or contrived drama here. Many readers may admire the straightforwardness. There's something to be said for starting off with a strong foundation in the facts of the case, but it does leave less to be uncovered throughout the book later on. That was something I missed.

Overall if this had been repacked leaning more firmly into the memoir style (author moves to the area, hears about its history, investigates the case, talks to residents, etc) or true crime (more mystery and drama, less memoir) I think it may be more successful.

While I did appreciate the research the author did, I just couldn’t get into this story.
I’m not sure where the title came from? There is practically nothing written about the third girl🤷🏼‍♀️
All in all, it just seemed to drag on and on and on.
I think upon contemplating my feelings...I just needed more depth into the murder investigation.
Thank you to NetGallery, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read this book for my honest opinion. All opinions expressed are my own.

I wanted to love this book, but it just failed to keep my attention. I put it down and came back to it several times, but I just could not get into this book.
I think this book had a lot of promise, but it just failed to deliver.

Great book! I was hooked from the start, thank you so much for providing me a copy of this book to read. This is something I would love to purchase.

This book was a quirky mix of true crime, memoir, and history. While many reviews did not seem to like that, I did. I found it made the book more interesting and relatable. As a Canadian who has never visited West Virginia, the author painted a picture of the landscape and the struggles of this area.

I had never heard of the case of the Rainbow Girls, which was very interesting to me. In 1980, the Rainbow Festival came to Pocahontas County, and what was supposed to be a celebration of love, co-op living, and community began with the murder of two young women. The police did an investigation which implicated many men from the area and it forever changed the lives of those involved.

Intertwined is the author’s own history with this area, her coming of age so to speak. She worked in the area in the VISTA Program, a program that assists youth with education and mentorship with an anti-poverty focus. In working with VISTA, the author made friends and was adopted by the county, and was able to see the beauty and the struggles in the area.

It was a good read for me, but seemingly not everyone’s cup of tea. I went in with an open mind, knowing it would not be a run-of-the-mill true crime read and was pleasantly surprised.

Thank you, NetGalley for a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion!

Puh, where to start! I can't really put my finger on why I didn't like the book as much as I expected, but I think there are so many true crime books on the market that describe true life mysteries so much better. For me, this book was lacking a more in-depth look at the girls and the mystery surrounding this apparent crime. This book felt more like something I could have googled if I wanted more information. I didn't need this book. It felt like this book was more a summary of what I would find on the internet, if I searched online. Sad, but true!