Wow!!! This is one book you don't want to put down! Set in the 1970's, the story begins with Sage, a teenager who has already had a less than perfect chance at life. Her mother has died leaving her with a step-father who had rather she not be around. She overhears her step-dad talking about Sage's identical twin sister, Rosemary (typical 1970's names). Instead of being dead like her mother had told her years before, Rosemary was alive and living in Willowbrook, a "school" for persons with mental problems. Not only is Rosemary still alive, Sage's step-dad reveals that Rosemary is missing from Willowbrook. Sage is determined to find Rosemary, no matter what it takes. She decides to go to Willowbrook, alone, and gather information about her sister. This turns out to be a huge mistake. Throughout the story, Sage's delima goes from bad to worse, then to almost impossible. Who can she trust? Who even knows where she is? You can feel the misery she is going through, being alone and scared in a hopeless situation and place. Who are the demons and who is the real "angel of mercy"?
While this isn't my usual genre to read in, I decided to venture out of my box. Wow, I am truly glad I did. I give this book 5 stars!!!

Wow, this was such a powerful and gut-wrenching story based on true history. It’s a heartbreaking story of survival and I truly relished how Wiseman was able to add a suspenseful mystery element to this historical fiction read!

While extremely challenging and gruelling to read at times, it was a book I couldn’t put down as it was incredibly enlightening. It’s hard to believe places like this ever existed, especially as long as it did. This one will have you googling Willowbrook and it’s horrific tales long into the night. This is certainly one of those stories that will stick with you, long after the final page.

It was exceedingly atmospheric, super intense, completely riveting and unfortunately, unimaginably disturbing. This was my first by Wiseman but it certainly won’t be my last!

4.5 stars rounded to 5 for goodreads!

I loved how this book was about a real place. After reading this, I did a google search to look up Willow Brooks history. This book gave insight to the atrocities that occured in this supposed "school". This book was creepy with a side of mystery. I have never read a book with this sort of topic. I give this book 3.5 stars. Wouldn't reach for it again bet definitely worth being read once. Thank you for the opportunity to read this book!

I liked the Lost Girls of Willowbrook. I l9ve historical fiction and at the end hearing about what happened to the characters. The narrator was good, this a make or break for me, if I can't stand the voice chances are I will not get past the first chapter. The author did a great job of keeping my attention. I recommend.

Format: audiobook ~ Narrator: Morgan Hallett
Content: 3.5 stars ~ Narration: 4 stars

The blurb promised Girl, Interrupted meets One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest, so I picked this up. Add a thriller to this equation, and you get The Lost Girls of Willowbrook. The novel is a fictional story set in a Willowbrook State School on Staten Island, a mental institution that shocked America when exposed in the 1970s.

Sage Winters had an identical twin Rosemary that died of pneumonia six years ago. Or so she was told. But this was not true. Her sister was at Willowbrook all this time because of her mental health issues. Six years after Rosemary’s supposed death, Sage overhears a conversation and finds out that her sister is alive in Willowbrook State School and is now missing. Telling no one, she goes to Willowbrook to help find her.

We learn some details about the neglect and mistreatment of patients. Those are based on actual events revealed during the exposure of the facility. But I did not expect the story to be a thriller. More than that, I hoped it would be a psychological drama about life in Willowbrook. I expected a different genre, and some parts were not to my liking. But I still enjoyed the story.

A few facts about Willowbrook from Wikipedia:

"Willowbrook State School was a state-supported institution for children with intellectual disabilities located in the Willowbrook neighborhood on Staten Island in New York City from 1947 until 1987.

The school was designed for 4,000, but by 1965 it had a population of 6,000. At the time, it was the biggest state-run institution for people with mental disabilities in the United States. Conditions and questionable medical practices and experiments prompted Senator Robert F. Kennedy to call it a "snake pit". The institution gained national infamy in 1972, when Geraldo Rivera did an exposé on the conditions there. Public outcry led to its closure in 1987, and to federal civil rights legislation protecting people with disabilities."

Thanks to Recorded Books for the ALC and this opportunity! This is a voluntary review and all opinions are my own.

When Sage Winter finds out her identical twin sister, Rosemary, has gone missing from Willowbrook State School in Staten Island, New York, she is more than a little surprised. After all she was told Rosemary died six years ago. Needless to say, Sage hopped on the first bus to Willowbrook to find her sister … BUT … when she arrived she’s immediately mistaken for the lost Rosemary and no one believes her. Sage’s worst nightmare is about to begin. Willowbrook is not a school, but an asylum for the insane and the unwanted. The circumstances are abhorrent. Abuse is rampant in the overcrowded wards and the living conditions are horrific. Will anyone believe Sage or is she destined to be locked up in Willowbrook forever and what happened to Rosemary?? Wiseman writes a compelling drama of heartbreak and survival combining fact and fiction. With deaths an everyday occurrence, no one really took notice until the serial killer went a step too far and Willowbrook is finally exposed! Morgan Hallett does an excellent job telling Sage’s story!

It has taken me a while to write this review because I am so conflicted in my feelings about this book. It was entertaining when it should have been gut-wrenching.

I love a book that opens my eyes to a slice of history I know nothing about. When I read the description of this book a few months back, I immediately added it to my TBR list. I couldn't wait to learn more about the fiasco that was Willowbrook State School. So, I expected to love this book.

When reading a book like this, I often take to the internet looking for just a little bit of background. I find this helps me appreciate the historical components more. Once I got to the part where the author started describing the physical structure of Willowbrook, I got on Google to see what the building looked like. While there, I decided to watch a video clip that showed the atrocities inside. The clip was only 1.5 minutes long. Needless to say, it was horrifying! I also glanced at a photo with a caption that said something about tunnels in the building. I made a mental note to look for a documentary sometime down the line, but I didn't allow myself to look any further for the time-being. I returned to the book, figuring I'd learn more about Willowbrook as the story unfolded. Disappointingly, I can't say I learned much more than what I saw in the 1.5 minute video clip. In fact, I got the feeling that the author had done about the same amount of research I had... about two minute's worth. The language she uses to describe the scene was like a commentary of that 1.5 minute video.

The story lacked substance for me. The dialogue bothered me and some of the plot features seemed so far-fetched. The thing that irked me the most, though, was that I felt like the author used Willowbrook simply as a backdrop for her story; she didn't succeed in making it the heart of her story. For these reasons, The Lost Girls reads more like YA than adult fiction. I felt gross reading/listening to it because it was like she is profiting off of the atrocities committed without truly giving a voice to the victims.

The narrator of the audiobook did nothing to help the book either. While she had a pleasant enough voice, she lacked emotion at times where there should've been immense amounts of emotion. She'd be better served as a narrator of nonfiction audiobooks instead.

Overall rating: 2.5 stars, rounding up to 3 stars

Thank you to NetGalley, Kensington Books, and RB Media for allowing me early access to the ebook and audiobook versions of this novel in exchange for my honest opinion.

A shocking discovery of her twin sister's fate sends Sage on the way to the most chilling place on Staten Island, Willowbrook. Driven by an eagerness to find and help her sister, unknowingly Sage walks into a hell on earth. And a spread-of-the-moment visit to Willowbrook is going to change her fate.

It has been a few days since I finished the novel, and I still have full-body chills. The treatment of mentally challenged children that was described in the novel was disturbing. This book is a work of fiction, however, the novel is based on real-life facts about the Willowbrook State School which has been a dumping ground for unwanted children. The physical abuse, neglect, and other mistreatments of the children are thoroughly incorporated into the book. It is not an easy read, and I give full credit to the author for the courage to bring back the story from the 1960s and remind us of the horrors of the so-called "institution" for children with intellectual disabilities.

Thank you, NetGalley for an advanced copy of the novel in exchange for my honest review.

Wow! I wasn’t familiar with this author but the description of this one drew me in. It’s based on a real mental hospital on Staten Island that was open in the 70s.

Sage Winter thinks her twin sister Rosemary died six years ago, but she suddenly finds out that she’s actually been locked up in Willowbrook and has recently gone missing from the hospital. Sage heads there on a mission to find her.

You wouldn’t think this historical fiction book is for thriller fans but this may be the creepiest book I’ve read in a long time, mainly because you know that this was an actual place where real people once lived. As someone who has worked on a locked psychiatric unit in the past, I thought Wiseman did an amazing job of capturing the setting and the deplorable conditions, abuse and neglect of this mental hospital. It will make your skin crawl just a bit and keep you on the edge of your seat, but also have you rooting for Sage and the mentally disabled.

Don’t be scared of this one. It’s too good to miss. Pick this up if you think you might love a thrilling historical fiction novel.

This was a horrific fictional account of how life may have been like for those in a state asylum in the early 1970s.

For anyone that finds this an interesting topic I would highly recommend the non-fiction book " The Woman They Could not Silence". Although this is set decades apart they unfortunately have many similarities in the conditions on how thise in custody are treated.

Overall, I found the book enjoyable but find it an average read. Some of the critiques that I have are the illogical decisions of most of the characters (not just the ones in the asylum) and the use of the horror movie troupe that the main victim finally gets help and that person takes them back to those who was harming them / place of danger.

Thank you to NetGalley and RB Media for an advanced audiobook for review.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advanced audiobook copy.

This is my second book I have read from Ellen Marie Wiseman. I thought the book was good but I expected more about what went on inside Willowbrook.

Ellen Marie Wiseman pens another fantastic read, this one set in the infamous Willowbrook School on Staten Island, exposed by journalist Geraldo Rivera back in 1972. Ms. Wiseman brilliantly depicts the atrocities that occurred for years in this horrific institution while sensitivity giving voice to its many victims. Well done Ellen Marie Wiseman!

This book is highly recommended for historical fiction readers who enjoyed stories like Before We Were Yours, Sold on a Monday, and Orphan Train.

Thank you to NetGalley, RB Media and The author for the opportunity to listed to this Advanced Listening Copy. The narration by Morgan Hallett was fantastic!

What a powerful gripping story that is base on the true life events that happened at Willowbrook State School on Staten Island. The story grabs you from the beginning and is heart wrenching, unbelievable that something fairly current, had gotten away with the abuse and inhuman mistreatment of children for years.
The story surrounds Sage on her quest to find her missing twin identical sister. Sage had thought her sister had died of a pneumonia 6 years ago. Being only 9 years old of course she believes her mother, but she overheard her stepfather that RoseMary is missing. That all this time she has been at Willowbrook, the place parents threaten to send misbehaving kids. There are many rumors and horror stories that surround the school, but Sage wants to help find her. Not telling anyone she takes the bus there, even though she does have some misgivings about not bringing someone along with her. As one could imagine Sage is mistaken for her sister. Trying to prove she is who she says she is, only opens up her eyes to the horror of Willowbrook.
This story will definitely move you, best I read this year. Definitely do read it or listen to the audiobook, the narrator did a wonderful job……I just couldn’t put it down. Thank you NetGalley for this eARC. I am voluntarily posting an honest review after reading an Advance Reader Copy of this story. #NetGalley #TheLostGirlsofWillowBrook #RBMedia

Despite having 3 Ellen Marie Wiseman novels on my TBR shelf, this is my first! And wowza, it was fantastic!!!! The hype surrounding this author is not for nothin'!! 🤩 Wiseman can WRITE!!! What made this even more fascinating is that it's based on heartbreaking, true events.

It's historical fiction, but I'd say it leans more into the mystery / thriller genre. It's fast-paced, twisty, and keeps the reader guessing the entire time. This would be an excellent introduction to the historical fiction genre for someone on the fence.

Teenaged Jade Winters lost her identical twin sister, Rosemary, 6 years ago. Sadly, she loses her mom a few years after that. Now it's just Sage and the drunken stepdad she can't stand. One day, she overhears her stepdad on the phone, talking about how Rosemary had gone missing. Gone missing!!?! How can someone dead go missing!? As it turns out, Rosemary was committed to a mental institution: Willowbrook. Her mom and stepdad had lied about Rosemary's death.

Grappling with the truth of her twin sister being alive, and spooked by rumors of a killer stalking the woods surrounding Willowbrook, Jade sets off to look for her missing sister. Only when she arrives at Willowbrook, they have mistaken HER for ROSEMARY! Jade is locked in and resumes the life Rosemary was living; a life of deplorable conditions and treatment. Will Jade be able to convince someone that she's not who they think she is? Or perhaps she isn't who she thinks she is? Based on true events, The Lost Girls of Willowbrook is at once tragic and thrilling. Completely unputdownable!

The audiobook narrator did a phenomenal job!!!! Top notch performance. A+++!!!!! 👏

I recommend this for fans of Diane Chamberlain and other authors who flawlessly combine mystery with history. 💕

5/5 stars!

Wow! Wiseman did an amazing job at an intimate look at Willowbrook State School, an institution for the mentally retarded. (That is the word they used back then). The story follows Sage, who’s twin, Rosemary, is believed to be dead, but is actually a patient at Willowbrook. Sage goes there, without telling anyone, to try to find her. But once there, she is mistaken as Rosemary, who has run away. Sage is taken in and sees the unspoken horrors of Willowbrook first hand. This was a heartbreaking story that I could not stop listening to. Sage’s hope and need for survival are what kept her pushing through. This was written impeccably and the characters, although made up, seemed very real. This is a must read for historical fiction lovers.

What would the story have been if Alice's fall into the rabbit hole brought her to Dante's Inferno instead of Wonderland?, It would look a lot like The Lost Girls of Willowbrook.. Sage Winters has not had it easy. Her parents split and her father disappeared from the lives of Sage and her mentally unstable identical twin sister Rosemary. Her beloved sister dies from pneumonia and her mother dies some years after. This leaves Sage to fend for herself with her drunken stepfather, Alan.
Sage overhears Alan telling his friend that he got a call from WIllowbroook telling him that Rosemary is missing. A shocked Sage confronts Alan who tells her that Rosemary is alive and that their mother committed her to Willowbrook , a state institution for unwanted and disabled and mentally ill children,. Sage, determined to find her sister, boards a bus to Willowbrook. When she arrives, it is not Sage that they see before them, but Rosemary. She is sedated, strapped down and thrown into the ward that her sister has been living in for six years. A place straight out of Dickens, she is never escaping. Can she piece together where Rosemary ran to and survive the torturous inhumane asylum of Willowbrook?
This was a chilling read as the real life Willowbrook is brought to barbarous life with Wiseman's words. Both the reader and the characters do not know who can be trusted. The story contorts and takes you to places you do not expect,. but in the best (albeit for Sage, the worst) possible ways.
4.5 Stars

My thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of The Lost Girls of Willowbrook in exchange for my honest review.

Bad news first: I was not drawn into this audio due to the narrator being rather monotone for the most part and had to speed it up to get through it. At times when she did inflect, it was awkward and the punctuation didn’t make sense.

Good news:

Phew. This story is AMAZING. At first I didn’t know if I liked it, but then I NEEDED to know what happened. I had to occasionally take breaks as I was so emotionally involved with what was happening and didn’t know if I could handle whatever the next twist and turn brought. Ellen Wiseman did a perfect job of combining fiction and history that in the end you were left with being able to completely imagine the horrors, deaths, and hope that the residents of Willowbrook endured.

I am giving the book 5 stars… this rendition I am giving three as although I was not a fan of the narrator, I still want to recommend this and talk about this book.

Ellen Marie Wiseman never disappoints. In her newest novel since The Orphan Collector hit shelves in August 2020 (set during the Spanish Flu...talk about nailing the relevant time period), Ellen Marie Wiseman tackles Willowbrook, a home for those with intellectual disabilities. Sticking with her historical fiction genre that I love her for, she portrays the story of Sage Winters who discovers her twin sister Rosemary was sent to Willowbrook years earlier and is determined to get to the bottom of it. With Wiseman's story-telling, twist and turns, and descriptions of the deplorable conditions within the mental institution, Wiseman takes us for a ride we don't want to end. bravo 👏👏

This book was an easy read/listen. I did e joy the story line but the writing seemed a bit off. I’m not sure what it was, maybe a bit like it was written by an amateur. .

An intense novel. Gripping and heavy. Such a good story, though! In 1971, Rosemary and Sage Winters are identical,twins that have a strong bond. Sage knows Rosemary is a bit different; too emotional, feeling things deeply. Six years after Rosemary’s death from pneumonia, Sage is now 16 and still misses her. Their mom died in a car crash and their stepdad Alan is resentful of his burden. Despite being strangers to each other, Sage finds out that Rosemary did not die; but was committed to the Willowbrook School where she was lingering for years until she just disappeared. Sage sets out to find her sister but is mistaken for her. What she discovers there will change her life forever.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Kensington for this e-arc.*