After the birth of her first and only child, a girl named Junie, Eve Taggert vows to do a better job than her own mother did. She spends the next 12-years putting her past far behind her. She never introduces Junie to her Grandmother and tries her best to make sure Junie always feels safe and loved, a luxury she never had.
When Junie is murdered, along with her best friend, Izzy, on a snowy day at an abandoned playground, Eve is shattered with grief. Her girl was her entire world, her entire purpose, but now she has a new purpose, getting justice for Junie and she may have to go back to her roots in order to get it. We're talking real hillbilly justice.
It's clear the police, her brother Cal included, are not getting anywhere in their investigation. At least if they are, they aren't sharing it with her. So, Eve decides to do a bit of investigating of her own.
One of her first stops is her Mama's house. A warm reunion it is not, but Eve feels oddly supported for the first time. Maybe her Mama's lessons are going to pay off after all.
This book is aptly titled, as it got dark real quick and stayed there. The overall feeling is desperate and depressing, but it worked. I thought Eve's character was written so well. I could feel what she was feeling, it hurt and kept me engaged the whole way through.
Coming in at under 300-pages, it is a pretty quick read, but definitely packs a punch.
If you like gritty Crime Fiction with the perfect touch of Hillbilly Noir, you should definitely give this one a shot!
I feel like this is Engel's wheelhouse; it definitely suits her writing style well. Atmospheric and DARK, just how I like 'em.
Thank you so much to the publisher, Dutton Books and NetGalley, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

This is a harrowing story of one mother's love and quest to look for the murderer of her daughter. Set in Missouri in a small town called Barren Springs, twelve year olds Junie and her best friend, Izzy are murdered in a park. This kind of crime is rare and it shook the whole town. Grieving and angry, Junie's mother, Eve, is determined to look for her murderer. Her search for answers and quest for justice will force her to return to her past which she abandoned long time ago.

This is one dark, melancholy and atmospheric thriller. Engel is great in giving us characters that readers are able to connect with. You can hear the despondency of a grieving mother in Eve's voice. It is emotional and really heartbreaking. The barrenness of the town and the struggles of the have-nots in this town could be felt throughout the book. I enjoyed reading the investigations part by Eve in the story. It was full of suspense and kept me turning the pages! But just like any avid reader especially crime/mystery/thriller readers, you can pretty much figured out the perpetrator of the crime. So did I still enjoy this story? Oh yes! I liked the ending and it is just perfect for this story.

I would recommend this book if you're looking for an atmospheric and character driven thriller/mystery. Albeit a quick read, it left a lasting impression on me. I certainly do want to read more by this author, and I will start with The Roanoke Girls.


***Thank you Penguin Group Dutton and NetGalley for this gifted review copy in exchange for an honest review. All views expressed in this review are my own and was not influenced by the author, publisher or any third party***

This is a hard and gritty thriller about a woman trying to find out who killed her daughter.

However, this book was not for me. I was curious enough to finish reading and appreciate that the book was interestingly told with some good writing -- it is hard to put into words why I didn't like the book.

There are a lot of cliches and a lot of darkness. I didn't bond with the main character at all and got annoyed at times. Others love this book so this may simply be a case of nothing is for everyone.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a review copy of this book.

The blurb for this book sounded really good which is why I decided to read. In all honesty I felt this story to be very very slow. I didn't care much for any of the characters and it started becoming a chore to finish. I ended up skimming to the end and I honestly didn't expect that person to be the killer. I did like the direction that the author took in regards to the killer their punishment.

// B O O K / R E V I E W // ⭐⭐⭐⭐.💫 Wow. I have A LOT to mentally unpack from this book. I reached out to @amyengelauthor for a copy of #thefamiliardark because I was intially declined on @Netgalley and I was have serious FOMO after reading all of the reviews on #bookstagram. She kindly sent me a copy and it may just be one of my favorite ebooks to date!

This is not a light read, though it's written so well that you will keep saying "just one more chapter" until its almost midnight and you are haunted by the story and characters. If you love the show Ozarks, where this book takes place, you'll quickly understand the gravity and seriousness of the subject matter - poverty, drugs and death. I found myself completely absorbed in this book and the reason I didn't give it 5 stars was because I wanted it to be longer!

The Familiar Dark should earn its way onto every mystery/thrillers bookshelf ... but its only so much more than just that genre. It digs DEEP into family issues, trust, deception and hatred. Simply put, I LOVED THIS BOOK.

Will you be adding this to your #TBR?

#netgalley#bookstagram #bookstagramer #bookstack #booknerd #booklover #booksofinstagram #booksofig #igreads #instabooks #booksbooksbooks #booksof2020 #bookworm #bookish #bookaddict #bookobsessed #goodreads #booksarelife #booksaremagic #bibliophile

Thank you to the publisher Dutton and Netgalley for this copy of 'The Familiar Dark' by Amy Engel. From the first page, I felt like I was not going to be able to breathe correctly. What a way to start a book, a murder of two young girls. Right away, we are thrown into a murder in a small town. Eve finds out her daughter was one of the girls murdered and immediately falls back into her old patterns from when she was younger. This was more than just a murder mystery though. There were so many twists and turns that I never grew bored and I never thought I had everything all predicted. This is such a difficult story to discuss without giving anything away. I honestly went into this blind for the most part. I knew enough to pique my interest but not enough to know the whole plot. Trust me, you'll want to do just that! Everything from the writing style to the characters will hold your attention for the long run. I enjoyed every second of this read.

This story dove right into the heavy plot line with the murder of two twelve year old girls. Eve, the devastated mother of one of the girls, is determined to know who committed this heinous crime. In this sleepy small town, where poverty and hopelessness is common, Eve discovers dark secrets that exposes an even darker side she forgot she had.⁣
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This was a twisted story that really makes me appreciate my parents and upbringing 😅 I really enjoyed this thriller, it was just over 250 pages and a really fast read!⁣

What a fantastic book. A slow burn yet addictive murder mystery. If you read The Roanoke Girls then you already know what a fabulous writer Engel is and this book only serves to remind us of that. The setting for this book is Barren Springs, Missouri which is off the beaten track and a very hard place to make much of a living. Two twelve year old girls, Izzy and Junie are murdered. Izzy’s parents are Jenny and Zach. Junie’s mom, Eve, is the narrator. These families are from different backgrounds, emotionally and financially. Eve is hellbent on revenge for the death of her daughter especially after she learns from one of Junie's school friends that Izzy was friends with an older man and Junie had been desperate for Izzy to end the relationship. Eve's pursuit for her brand of justice takes her on a shocking journey because as she investigates Junie's murder, she has to deal with people who hurt her badly and are hiding dark secrets from the past. I found that the grief in this story was written with such precise detail and empathy that it made me almost experience countertransference. This is definitely not a feel good story, but it was realistic and written with such care that I haven't been able to get it off my mind. Strong recommendation from me.

When I saw someone review the new Amy Engel novel, I headed to NetGalley as quick as humanly possible. Without even bothering to read the synopsis for The Familiar Dark. You can’t easily forget the way Engel pushed the boundaries with her debut. I needed to know what this twisted brilliant mind had up her sleeve.

First, let me just share the first few sentences from my personal notes for this story: “Honestly, I’ve been hooked from the first page.” & “I remember this about the Roanoke Girls too. Engel can really capture her audience.” Those were two separate comments. That my Goodread’s friends should tell you all you need to know.

Not only does Engel spin an intriguing tale, she describes one too. In this story, she goes into a great amount of detail about being poor. The descriptors she used were actually rather unique and picture painting. She mentioned rabbits for sale. They aren’t for pets, cheap meat. I just thought this detail was so clever and telling. Additionally, she mentions thing like chili with an unknown protein that routinely changed based on what was caught. These little details just really added to the story for me. I’ve read a million stories about poor people, she just expressed it in such a graphic and detailed way that made it rather enjoyable.

Honestly, the “whodunit” trope does kind of get old when you are an avid reader. So when a story actually keeps my interest in an area that I am a touch bored in, you know its decent. Engel has some funny one liners and interesting characters in this one. Eve’s mother is a lawless meth-head whose doesn’t give a fuck. Quite entertaining. I would also like to mention that I did not actually figure out the killer until the last minute. There was one good ass twist worth mentioning that I actually did not see coming.

Overall, I think Engel is an author that you don’t need to be told to check out, But I am going to do it anyways: Check it out!

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Dutton for the read!

I requested The Familiar Dark without knowing anything about it other than I really dug The Roanoke Girls by this author and was up for whatever she had to offer next. When I discovered it was a story about a mother’s quest to find out who murdered her 12-year old daughter in the Ozarks region of Missouri and the ancillary players would be found in titty bars, trailer parks and consist of “entrepreneurs” who adjusted their sales from meth to heroin based on the growing demand, well . . . . my expectations were EXTREMELY high. Basically, I was willing to settle for no less than something like <i>Three Billboards</i>.

Luckily Amy Engel delivered. Holy crap. Every star.

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley!

‏I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review.

Amy Engel is known for her previous works, The Roanoke Girls and The Book of Ivy series. Her latest, The Familiar Dark, is the first of her books I have read. It will not be her last.

In The Familiar Dark, Eve Taggert's daughter is killed. She wants answers. When Junie was born, Eve turned away from her mother and the life her mother lives. When Junie is murdered, Eve is forced to go back to what she knew in her childhood, the dark side of life. Eve must decide how far will she go to get justice.

Engel could have written a typical "mom seeking revenge for her daughter" book. She does not. To find out the truth, Eve has to turn back to the dark side she never let and never wanted Junie to see.

Eve's childhood was one of poverty, fear, and neglect. The two constants in her life were her brother Cal and her drug-dealing abusive mother. Engel could have written a typical "pity the character because of how she was raised" book. She does not.

Amy Engel creates an engaging story that starts with a murder and ends....well, read it to see how it ends.

This 200-word review was published on Philomathinphila.com on 4/6/20.

Eve Taggert is a mother who faces the greatest loss a mother can experience when her only daughter is murdered. Growing up in poverty and living with an abusive mother, Eve does her best to create a better life for her daughter Junie, providing the stable home she never knew. But when tragedy strikes, Eve is determined to bring her daughter's killer to justice at any cost.

A fast, entertaining read. A fast-paced mother's quest for justice after her daughter is murdered. Good for a couple of afternoons of engaging reading. Nicely written, the pacing is fast and the narrative is woven tightly.

When it comes down to it, some people just have it coming to them.

Amy Engel is the author of The Roanoke Girls, a shocking thriller that proves she is a force to be reckoned with. The Familiar Dark is even better. My thanks go to Net Galley and Random House Dutton for the review copy. It’s for sale now, and you should get a copy to help chase away your cabin fever.

Eve Taggart was raised poorer than poor in a ripped up trailer in Barren Springs, Missouri; it’s “a slippery part of the world. People dart in and out like minnows in a shadowy pool…Folks here are hard to pin down, even harder to catch…It’s a place for people who don’t want to be found.” Her mother is an addict with a mercurial temper, and so when Eve gives birth to Junie, she resolves to parent differently from her mama, and to never take Junie to visit her. The more space there is between her present and her past, the better off Junie will be.

But when Junie and her best friend, Izzy are found in a public park with their 12-year-old throats slit, everything changes. Without Junie to provide for, all of the social conventions that Eve has so carefully nurtured, all of the tentative connections she has made with mainstream members of the community are gone in an instant. Eve’s older brother Cal, a cop, tries to provide a buffer between Eve and the town, between Eve and their mother, and between Eve and the disastrous errors she makes as a result of her grief; none of it does any good. And Cal is sitting on a secret of his own.

I am generally a reader that has between six and twelve books going at any given time, but once I was about a third of the way into this one, I read nothing else. Instead of asking myself which book I’d like to read right now, I knew exactly. The suspense is built numerous ways, by foreshadowing, by the little hints given by others in her tiny town, but there’s more to it than that. Part of it is Engel’s unusually vivid word smithery and the frank, unsentimental dialogue that moves it forward. But the meatiest part of this story is in the pathological family triangle that—resist it though she has—forms most of Eve’s world. The further we get into the story, the more layers are peeled away and the more we learn about Eve and mama, mama and Cal, and Eve and Cal. We learn some secrets about Junie that poor Eve didn’t know, but these are almost secondary as they reveal more about the three adults. It is mesmerizing.

Eve thinks she has nothing left to live for now that Junie is gone, but Mama, who’s been drawn to the killing like a vulture to roadkill, assures her she is mistaken. What’s left is vengeance. This resonates with Eve. Pulled into a press conference in which she doesn’t want to participate, standing alongside the other bereaved parents, people that are well groomed and whose social skills make them vastly more sympathetic figures to the public than she will ever be, Eve decides to cut to the chase. After the other two plead for possible witnesses to call in tips to the local cops,

“I pointed out at the cameras, stabbing my finger into the air…’I’m going to find you, you sick fuck. And I’m going to tear you apart.’
“I thought about all the press conferences I’d seen over the years, parents trotted out for missing kids, killed kids, abused kids. Everyone feels sorry for those parents, those mothers, until they don’t. Until the mothers don’t cry enough or cry too much. Until the mothers are too put-together or not put-together enough. Until the mother are angry. Because that’s the one thing women are never, ever allowed to be. We can be sad, distraught, confused, pleading, forgiving. But not furious. Fury is reserved for other people. The worst thing you can be is an angry woman, an angry mother.”

Does this ring as true to you as it does to me? Sooner or later, the mother always gets the blame. And so now I am still riveted and I am nodding. Uh huh. That’s right, Eve. Tell it!

When a novel is as outstanding as this one is, I almost hate to read the last fifteen or twenty percent, because often as not, that’s where it comes undone. Either the solution doesn’t hold water, or a hard cold tale of murder and revenge takes on a sudden sentimentality that doesn’t match the rest of the book; in these I sometimes picture editors and publicists urging the author to provide a feel-good ending, and the author ultimately bending. As I progress, I have figured out what the poignantly sweet ending to this one will likely be, if Engel goes in that direction.

But she doesn’t.

Instead, this story is one of badass female bonding gone dark, dark, and darker. Oh hey. The title.

Highly recommended.

This book was just okay for me. I read it quickly and I enjoyed the tension and the action of it. It was a great mystery to follow along with, and I didn't guess the perp until almost the very end.
I loved the development of atmosphere. Learning of the history of the town and the hierarchy of cops, residents and criminals was interesting and immersive. It was this development that I felt the most connection too.
The characters fell flat for me. I thought most of them, aside from the mom, were one dimensional and predictable. I did sympathize with Eve, and Cal even, but I didn't relate to them and that made it hard to invest in the story for me.
All in all, I would recommend this for a mystery that's fast paced and has a decent level of suspense.

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Sometimes you just need a dark book of loss in your life. This book is unforgettable. Its been 9 days since I finished it and I still find my thoughts drifting back. It was well written, the characters were well portrayed, and the plot was just amazing. I really enjoyed it.

Thank you kindly to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for this review copy.

Wow. Just.... wow.

This is definitely one of the grittier and darker novels I have read in years. Amy Engel has written a novel that puts the worst of "poor white trash" on display in the most beautifully vivid way.

Eve Taggert is absolutely not what I would call a likable narrator, but she is an incredibly strong character that you find yourself empathizing with in the strangest ways. I think every town has it's own wrong-side-of-the-tracks dynamic, and I unfortunately know people who have grown up in ways that were not nearly far enough from the brutal truths that Engel brazenly puts on display in The Familiar Dark.

This was an incredibly fast read for me, as I couldn't put it down even when I wanted nothing more than to do so. A wonderful thriller, and a tragic portrayal of poverty in rural America - I highly recommend this title to anyone looking for a fast paced, well written mystery.
4.09/5

Thank you so very much to Netgalley and Dutton Books for the opportunity to read this for free in exchange for my honest review.

The Familiar Dark hooked me from the beginning and I enjoyed the quick journey it took me on to find the killer. I love a dark and gritty family drama but I would say I love a Mother Daughter drama the best. Easy read. Highly Recommend

How much does our upbringing dictate the kind of person we’ll be? I know it sounds like a philosophical thought, like nature vs nurture. Can you be a “good” if you were raised by someone terrible? Or, the better question is, can a traumatic childhood twist a good heart into something questionable?

I mean, really, is “good” and “bad” even a thing?

These were the questions running through my head. The plot of The Familiar Dark was intense. I mean, I knew it was about a mother who lost her daughter, but I guess I didn’t expect to be that shook over it. This author really captured the pain, an all consuming grief, a parent would feel. Reading a loss like that, my biggest nightmare, made me feel ill inside. While I felt awful the entire time, I believed every second of it. Also, the little town in the Ozarks was so desolate. It was dark, and… brittle. It was easy to imagine how a place like that could create people this messed up. And, holy sh*t they were so messed up!

I will seriously never ever forget this book. There wasn’t one character in the entire story that was flat. There were no cookie cutter characters, just thrown in for fodder. Every single one was multi-dimensional. There were some you loved. The ones who fit in the “Good” box. Then, you had the characters you knew in your gut were just evil. They were “Bad”. In this world of books we can almost always bank on the good being good, and the bad being bad. Sometimes good loses, but in the end they were still good. But, back to those questions, how much does our nurture affect our nature? Who determines what “good” behavior is? How quickly does “good” behavior go out the window when it comes to survival?

The Familiar Dark opened my mind, and I both hated and loved it. It's the same way I hated and loved every single character. I was enthralled, but I was also left with some scars.

Eve Taggert grew up poor in Barren Springs, Missouri. Her mother was a meth user and dealer, a hardened woman who had little love for Eve or Eve's brother, Cal. When Eve became pregnant with her own daughter, Junie, she resolved their life would be different. While they might not have gotten out of Barren Springs--and they are still poor--Eve loves Junie fiercely. So when Cal, now a policeman, comes into the diner where Eve works with the worst of news: Junie is dead, found murdered with her best friend, Ivy Logan, Eve's world is shattered. And she resolves that she will stop at nothing to seek justice for her daughter.

"They died during a freak April snowstorm, blood pooling on a patchy bed of white. Afterward, some people said the killer must have had one eye on the gathering gray clouds. Taken the weather as a cue to strike and picked the moment when everyone else was huddled indoors, shivering in their optimistic shirtsleeves and muttering about global warming."

This book was powerful and utterly absorbing. I couldn't wait to get my hands on it after reading Amy Engel's previous novel, The Roanoke Girls, which is one of my favorite of books. It's one that I recommend to everyone. The Familiar Dark has much of the grittiness of The Roanoke Girls and, man, Engel is an amazing writer who excels at creating these worlds that just suck you in and, in some ways, spit you right back out.

"It had happened now, finally. The disaster I'd been anticipating from the second Junie was born. And I had never even seen it coming."

The title of the book simply doesn't cover it. This is a dark story. Engel captures the small town of Barren Springs perfectly. Our story is told completely from Eve's perspective, which I loved, and things unwind and unfurl as she figures things out. As mentioned, this is a dark tale, as Junie and Izzy's deaths are terrible. Eve's grief just pours off the pages. She is quickly pulled back to the horrors of her childhood and all that she endured. We see immediately that she's going to seek vengenance for what happened to Junie--no matter what. In any fashion, in any way.

I felt as if I almost became one with Eve as I read this book. She is riveting. As a mom, this book broke my heart, and the novel was a testament to a mother's love. It's oddly tender despite its horrifying and sad moments, and I defy you not to love Eve, despite her flaws. The book shows how her childhood formed her, and her brother Cal, whom is really the only person Eve has left after Junie's death.

I could rave on and on, but I don't want to risk spoiling anything. This book isn't for the faint of heart and it's not exactly an uplifting read, but as mentioned, it still resonates as a read about the power of family and love, despite its tense, uncomfortable moments. I am wowed by Engel's writing and can't wait to see what she comes up with next.