This book was phenomenally written. I haven’t felt this attached to, invested in, or triggered by characters this much since reading We Begin At the End, which is easily my favorite book of all time at this point.

Sayer’s character development had me on a rollercoaster because it was so difficult NOT to feel anxious and horrible for the predicament he found himself in after being someone I despised early on. The subject matter of overcoming trauma is something so vital for young readers to understand and familiarize themselves with to break the cycles and negative stigma on mental health.

I loved this. I wish it had been around when I was younger. It’s a fast-paced and unsettling read, but it’ll really tug at your heartstrings and you’ll come out different for it as a reader, in a positive way.

Brief summary: Sayers Wayte, a teenager who has the perfect life, is kidnapped. Waking up trapped and chained, a man he doesn't know tells him that his life is a lie. (That's all I knew going into this, and I encourage you to go in the same way).

When Robin Roe asked me if I would like a copy of her book in exchange for an honest review, I paused. I don't normally read YA, and the few times I have, I've been disappointed. But I read the blurb, and had to know what happened! A few pages in, and I was hooked; I ended up reading all 512 pages of it within 24 hours.

While the story is technically YA, the story is mature. Roe's writing is east to read, but not simple. The characters are well-developed and likeable (a problem I've had with other YA). Sayers's character in particular is complex, and I loved watching him grow. There's another character I fell in love with, and saying who might spoil things... Basically, this story is beautiful, the characters are beautiful. If you're looking for something to take you on a thrilling and emotional rollercoaster, this is it.

Dark Room Etiquette
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Thriller
Format: Kindle eBook
Date Published: 10/11/22
Author: Robin Roe
Publisher: HarperCollins
Pages: 512
GR: 4.53

TW ⚠️: This book does have some heavy trigger warnings that I want other readers to be aware of including, kidnapping, sexual assault, torture, abuse, bullying, death, and brainwashing, almost cult like activity.

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and HarperCollins and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

My Thoughts: I stumbled upon this book through the author and am I glad that I did! What a dark, disturbing read. Trauma, it can look different on different people, it is how you deal with it, move through it, and get on the other side that really matters. I loved how Roe takes us through Saye’s privileged life, the kidnapping, and then the aftermath, healing from the trauma. There were times I had to put the book down and come back to it. The story evoked a large range of emotions in me, sadness, horrified, hopeful, and anything in between with tears. Towards the 60-70% mark, the book is almost impossible to put down. The author really researched this subject well, you can feel it in the writing. The characters were fleshed out in multifaceted depth, with mystery, they were intriguing, and creatively developed. The author’s writing style was complex, suspenseful, dark, yet disturbing, and absolutely kept me engaged throughout the storyline. I loved the way that Roe suspended time throughout this story, not only confusing me, but also the MC, it was really brilliant. If I had to use one word to describe this book, it would be masterpiece. While it is long, it does not feel that way. This publishes next week and I highly recommend picking up!

4.5 stars rounded up.

Sixteen-year-old Sayers Wayte has everything - until he’s kidnapped by a man who tells him the privileged life he’s been living is based on a lie.

DARK ROOM ETIQUETTE was my first read by Robin Roe, and wow, did it pack a punch.

This one is hefty, coming in at 512 pages, but reads much quicker than that. Filled with emotion, this one had me publicly crying and flipping pages to see where the story would go next.

I will say, the first portion of the book was suuuper uncomfortable to read because our main character Sayers is really just an awful person, but the way Roe manages to make the reader feel empathy for him by the halfway point, despite everything, is really beautiful.

If you’re in the right headspace to read about trauma and the aftermath of that trauma, I highly recommend picking this one up.

Huge thanks to Robin Roe, NetGalley, and Harper Collins/HarperTeen for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Publication Date: October 11, 2022

4.5 stars

Sayers Wayte has grown up never wanting for anything. Living in a wealthy family means that everything has come easy for him. Until one day, he gets kidnapped. Kidnapped by a man who tells him that his entire life up until then has been a lie. According to this man, he's not who he thinks he is.

Now trapped in a cellar, Sayers has to go along with everything his kidnapper says. If he doesn't, things could end up even worse for him. But as Sayers pretends to be someone else in order to survive, the lines between imagination and reality start to blur. Sayers is no longer sure who he really is. And if he's ever going to get out of the dark room.

Thanks to NetGalley, Robin Roe, and HarperTeen for an advanced copy of Dark Room Etiquette to review! It's the perfect time of year for this kind of dark, gritty story with a hint of hope. Roe's writing in this hooks you from the beginning; once you pick up the book, it's difficult to put it down.

The first thing that hooks you is the characters. While Sayers is not the most likeable person at the beginning of the book, that changes. A lot of this story is about trauma. How trauma changes you, how we process trauma, how there's hope at the end of the journey. This isn't just a book about Sayers's kidnapping; it's also about the healing. It's a heavy book to read, but all of the emotions and the changes Sayers goes through feel grounded in reality.

Outside of Sayers, there are a lot of other well rounded characters as well. After his kidnapping, Sayers gets to see the real side to some of his friends. Which allows him to truly see himself as well. If you're a fan of mostly character driven stories, with a little bit of plot, you'll definitely love this aspect of the story.

All in all, this is a harrowing book about survival. About overcoming trauma. Check the trigger warnings before reading, but if you're in the right place mentally, I highly recommend it!

Oh wow did I love this book. I was hooked right away by Sayers’s wry sense of humour—and thank goodness for it, because this character would have been very unpleasant otherwise. It feels like you’re reading two stories, one where he’s physically captive and the other after he’s “escaped” and still very much mentally captive. It’s done shockingly smartly. And I love the writing, how easily it flows. I read Room, like many others, but this book is different and while it’s as dark and grim as the former, I liked this one better and I couldn’t put it down.

The book is well written, but it was much darker and heavier than I anticipated. This was a troubling read for me. I have a young teen son, so maybe I should have considered accepting this one more carefully.

oh. my. GOODNESS. This book was all kinds of intense. I love YA thrillers and this is one of the creepiest and most nuanced ones that I have read.

The story follows Sayers, a spoiled popular kid going into his junior year of high school, and the beginning of the book does a good job of setting up his character and how much he’ll change by the end. I knew from the prologue that some weird shit was going to be happening to Saye, which just added tension throughout the first 20% of the book. I was constantly on edge and noticing little signs that were pointing towards what was in store.

Sayer ends up getting kidnapped, and oh my gosh his time in captivity was so well written because it was CHILLING. I was stressed for Saye with each move he made to try and escape, and the story gets more and more frightening the more he learns about his captor. Just when I thought the book couldn’t get more intense, Roe found a way to brilliantly up the stakes even more.

I won’t say too much on the final third of the book, but I will say that I appreciated the way that the author explored certain areas of kidnapping stories in a way that not many other books have.

If you’re looking for a haunting, tense thriller that is packed with depth and perfect for spooky season, then be sure to check this one out when it releases this Tuesday, October 11!

This book had me riveted and drained me at the same time. Sayers has the perfect life: friends, money, a girlfriend who loves him. That all comes crashing down when he is kidnapped. What he thinks will end quickly becomes a daymare and nightmare all wrapped up in one. He begins to BELIEVE he is the son of his kidnapper due to the mental bashing he takes from Caleb. Will his daymare/nightmare end, even when he does escape? Has he lost who he was. There was the before, the after and the aftermath, having to discover who he truly is and how to live with the damage caused by his kidnapper.

I may not sleep for a while after reading this. This book packed a PUNCH. It should truly be 4.5 stars. Only gave it that rating because of the rawness and a couple of continuity issues, but other than that, just wow. Don’t read this book late night. Thanks NetGalley for the ARC.

Saye is a rich high school kid who’s one of the popular and cool kids. He’s aloof, and seems to find most people and things boring. Basically, he’s not a very likeable kid. Then he is kidnapped by a man claiming to be his biological father.

The isolation, loneliness, and trauma Saye goes through when he’s kidnapped are heartbreaking. He does his best to cope and survive, but he loses parts of himself.

This book examines not only Saye’s trauma, but the effects it has on those around him. It’s a tough story to read, but ultimately it’s message is hopeful.

I really wanted to see more of Evan’s character and how he coped with being bullied and abused. Readers only get a glimpse of how Evan’s trauma affected him. But not how it affected his relationship with his parents or his younger brothers. I think readers would be able to connect more with Evan’s story than with Saye.

Thank you HarperCollins Children’s Books for an ARC on NetGalley of this book in exchange for my honest review!

Sayers Wayte is a privileged teenager living the good life. That is until a man kidnaps him and makes him question everything he has ever known. Is his idyllic life just a lie?

With no way out, Sayers is forced to pretend he is what his kidnapper says he is. But what happens when the lines between what is real and what is fake begin to blur together? Will he find a way to escape his kidnapper and if so, will he still be himself?

Wow! What a gripping, suspenseful ride of a book this is! From the very beginning I was hooked and I could not stop reading until I found out what happens. This is marketed as YA but the level of psychology and how the author makes you question everything is so beyond that.

The book focuses on trauma and how we all handle it differently. Even though this is a very heavy subject, it was written so in a very thoughtful and thought provoking way which I appreciated. It definitely makes you look at the world in a new perspective! If you want a thriller that will make you think while putting you at the edge of your seat, read this when it’s out next week!

Thank you so much Robin Roe for reaching out to me directly to read your amazing book! I can tell your heart and soul went into the story and it shows in this masterpiece!

This book in 3 words: Impressive. Gritty. Intense.

Sayers Wayte is a 16-year old with an affluent family and thinks he has it all. That's until he's kidnapped by a man, claiming his whole life is a lie.

This book definitely went in a different direction than I was expecting and I really enjoyed it. I thought this was a YA thriller but it's much more than that. Dark Room Etiquette includes some aspects of a thriller, mystery, psychological suspense, and even horror.

I'm amazed at how the book progressed. What starts out as almost a survival story, ends in a deep dive into how to navigate and live with trauma. It's all about what happens

The pacing keeps the reader engaged, start to finish, and I was itching to get to the next part. It was like I couldn't read it fast enough.

Characters are unique in this one. I found almost all of them unlikeable but that led to some incredible redemption.

I definitely recommend Dark Room Etiquette by Robin Roe. Check out the trigger warnings before picking this one up.

I was gifted a copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This book is one hell of a journey. I’ve quite literally never read anything like it.

From the get-go, I was on edge and the creepiness kept building. Sayers would often make comments that foreshadowed what was about to happen to him. Obviously, he wasn’t aware, but as the reader, you have more knowledge about his future and it really gets your spine tingling.

I could not put Dark Room Etiquette down. Within my first sitting, I was around 35% through and I only stopped because it got really late. The fact that this has such short chapters really plays in its favour. It also mirrors the frantic pace at which the character's thoughts and feelings changed.

Without giving too much away, the change you see in Sayers the deeper into the story you get was really quite something. I really did not like him to begin with. I thought he was a spoilt brat, but as you spend more time you spend inside his head you can’t help but pity him. He devolves into a younger version of himself before your very eyes and although the changes are subtle, once you realise it hits you like a truck. It seems for the most part that he is aware of his surroundings and he’s searching for a way out, but like with most victims of kidnappings, it starts to get in his head.

Dark Room Etiquette is the type of book where it’s difficult to explain why it’s so special. It’s about how it makes you think and feel and that's only something I think you can experience if you read it for yourself. There was never a moment of reading Dark Room Etiquette where I didn’t think or feeling anything. It really is the type of book that ensnares you and won’t let go until the very end.

Then again I’m not convinced that it has fully let me go yet. Trust me when I say you need to check this out. Do take a look at the trigger warnings though, there isn’t anything majorly graphic most moments are just passing comments or are talked about in small detail, but just to be safe.

“The things that hurt you, change you. And they can either make you better or make you worse.”

Sayers is an entitled teenager that is kidnapped and told his entire life is a lie.

I’ve read many kidnapping stories but this was different. Usually there is a sinister reason behind the crime but this had more. More questions, more backstory, and even more “after” which I loved.

Sayers was interesting. He started out as an entitled prick who bullied and used his last name to get him ahead in life. When he is taken, all of that changes and you see him break. You see him at his lowest, questioning everything.

Throughout the kidnapping, it was hard to piece the story together. Is what the man said true? Was it brainwashing? Does Sayers have Stockholm Syndrome? and so much more. I was wrapped up in this story and couldn’t get enough.

“What is something you get more of every time you give it away? Love. It makes you bigger.”

My favorite aspect of the story was that there was an “after.’ You don’t often get to see the story come full circle, and while the “after” was obviously a bit slower than the kidnapping, it was such a great addition. More than that, Roe states the research of trauma and the after. This was fabulous. I love anything that gives me the psychological aspect of what has happened, I eat that information up. While the second half of the book was slower than the first, I was still entertained throughout. My biggest want for the story was a timeframe. Sayers undergoes such change that I found myself wondering if it had been months or was it years? I didn’t know till much afterward. The timeline would have helped me understand Sayers trauma a bit better.

“How do we know if the bad things will make us better or make us worse?” She’s concentrating again, her sunflower eyes nearly closed. “I think we get to choose.”

“…but trauma can feel like a dark room. We live in it, or maybe it lives in us, and it can become a place we’re not sure we can ever escape.”

Thank you to Harper Teen, NetGalley and Robin Roe for the gifted copy!

The book releases October 11, 2022.

✨ 𝔹𝕠𝕠𝕜 ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨 ✨

𝑫𝒂𝒓𝒌 𝑹𝒐𝒐𝒎 𝑬𝒕𝒊𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆 𝐛𝐲 𝐑𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐧 𝐑𝐨𝐞

𝑀𝓎 𝑅𝒶𝓉𝒾𝓃𝑔: ★★★★★
𝒢𝑜𝑜𝒹𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒹𝓈: 𝟦.𝟦𝟫/𝟧

Oh my. Where to begin. Robin reached out to me to ask about my interest in her new novel and if I'd like to give it a review. Going in, I did not know what to expect as I am new to her as an author. Let me say this, I was absolutely blown away by 𝑫𝒂𝒓𝒌 𝑹𝒐𝒐𝒎 𝑬𝒕𝒊𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆.

Sayers' story was dark, sadistic, and heart breaking. There were times that I had to step away because of how much this book tore at me--but that only justifies how much this book is worth your time. I like to keep my reviews spoiler free but I will say that being a completely anxiety riddled individual, this book drove my anxiety through the roof. I would recommend reading trigger warnings for this one because it touches on subjects that could be difficult for some.

I try not to hand out 5★'s unless they're deserved but 𝑫𝒂𝒓𝒌 𝑹𝒐𝒐𝒎 𝑬𝒕𝒊𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆 received them all. I truthfully could not stand Sayers at first. As his story unfolded and he went through difficult trials, I felt made his character become nothing shy of rock solid. I connected with Robin's writing style and how she developed her characters--I always look for these qualities when searching for good writers. I cannot wait to read more from her in the future.

While reading, I kept forgetting that this was a YA novel but I think that is what makes 𝑫𝒂𝒓𝒌 𝑹𝒐𝒐𝒎 𝑬𝒕𝒊𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆 what it is--brilliant. I will be thinking about this book for a long time.

Thank you so much to Robin for reaching out, her publisher HarperCollins, and NetGalley for a chance to read this amazing story of trauma and forgiveness.

The moment I saw the blurb for Dark Room Etiquette I was ready to dive in. I have a rocky relationship with so-called psychological thrillers, but this book did not disappoint.

This is a brilliantly written, raw psychological thriller where we explore the journey that Saye goes on from having everything to nothing by being kidnapped and confined in a room. The idea itself is something that drew me in but the execution was amazing as well. We start by getting to know Saye who is a typical rich kid who is bored with his life. I think the only critique I have for this book is that it was initially slow and rather boring. It went the way most typically rich protagonists take their story but also the fact that Saye was bored of his life made me feel bored of it as well.

But things really take a turn once he gets kidnapped by a man who believes Saye is his son. It's the start of a great mystery because there are truly many times I questioned my own sanity and who Saye really was. The tension of what's going to happen to him, and how long will he be trapped there is really well built. I was thoroughly invested in it all.

From a psychological perspective, I love that the author was not afraid to write about dark, nitty-gritty things. In fact, you all should probably read the trigger warnings for this book, it does get rather intense as we progress. I don't know how much I can say without spoiling this book but the author gave us a very realistic portrayal of someone who is trapped with no hope. She explored the complex relationships he formed and how those around him were affected. The book explores how trauma can be different for many people and I think that's one of my favourite parts of this book. We also see how progress as a whole is not linear and it isn't simple to overcome your trauma once you're out of the situation. On a whole, this was truly well-researched and put together.

Also, the author's note had me crying, it was truly beautiful and shed some light on how the book came to be which I really appreciated.

I would 100% recommend this book to anyone who's looking for something dark or a psychological thriller that chills you to the bone.

The word I think of while reading Dark Room Etiquette is tension. Every situation is set up so tense that I had to consciously stop clenching my jaw. The way Roe shows us who Sayers is and then shows the complete breakdown of all of that is masterfully done and heartbreaking at the same time. I found myself rooting for Sayers, even though I hated him in the beginning. I imagine being a survivor of what Sayers endures is life altering and the sensitivity in which Roe handles it, makes it a must read.

I had the pleasure of chatting with Robin Roe, prior to picking up Dark Room Etiquette, and I have to say I was impressed with her, not only as an author, but as a person. Roe, has a deep appreciation for her readers and really cares about our thoughts and opinions. So, as I sit here pondering my review for Dark Room Etiquette, I hope you all enjoy and appreciate this novel as much as I did....

Dark Room Etiquette.

I think I was expecting a YA novel, based solely on the cover. Instead, I got so much more....

First, the prologue completely sucked me right in. I knew as soon as I began that there would be no way I would be putting the book down until I finished. The level of emotion I felt was something I will never be able to put into words but I will tell you, at times I was completely devastated and heartbroken.

The writing style was executed with precision and had an easy and suspenseful flow. I was never bored or skipping ahead.

The way that Sayers Wayte, is intricately drawn is something only a true storyteller can perfect. It also left me questioning humanity and how children can adapt to their surroundings and do what they have to, to survive. It goes to show you the capabilities of humans when it comes to survival.

Dark Room Etiquette, is a disturbing and dark thriller that is exactly the book you need for this "spooky season" . After concluding this book, I know that I will have Robin Roe on my radar for upcoming publications.

What a ride.

''How do you deal with Trauma?''

Sayers Waites, born to one of the most prominent families of his town, has everything. His entire life was served on a silver platter and he's never had to work hard, play nice or even try to be a good person. But then his life changes when he's kidnapped by Caleb who insists Sayers is his son, Daniel, kidnapped when he was 8. Chained to a bed in small windowless room, he keeps trying to run away, to resist. Soon he realizes that in order to survive, he needs to become Daniel and with time, the line between reality and the story he's pretending to be a part of starts to blur.

Roe explores Stockholm syndrome in this fast pace YA psychological thriller. I found it hard to put down. My only complaint is that some of details are highly unrealistic but at the same time, this is a YA book, so once in a while, it's okay to let go and just enjoy the ride.

this book was really disturbing and gave me so much anxiety to read but it does have a few important messages. It's also really long but the pacing doesn't ever get too boring. There are time jumps. Definitely look into the trigger warnings for this book before reading.