I think every girl goes through a phase where she is consumed with theories about what happened to the Roanoke Colony, and this book gives answers in a delightfully wicked way. The author's prose and writing style reads true to the era and started off the story strong, but towards the middle and end it was a struggle to keep up with and truly follow. An enjoyable story, and easy to follow characters, but left me wanting more than I got overall.

Ananias & Eleanor Dare & their two (soon to be three) children are part of the second colony heading to the New World, following the failure of the first group. The Dares are moving for a fresh start following Ananias's affair with another woman but his promises of faithfulness do not last long & his actions set of events which culminate in the horror-filled end of Roanoke.

This is of course loosely (very loosely) based on the missing colonists of Roanoke who disappeared between 1587 & 1590 leaving behind the word 'Croatoan' carved on a tree. Although theories have abounded ever since, there has been little solid evidence of what happened to them so the scope for imagining their fate is quite wide.

This one started off quite well before descending into chaos which left me feeling 'What the heck did I just read?'. Although it did keep my interest enough to finish reading it, it became a bit unhinged towards the end. I was also a bit disappointed that it relied on the usual stereotype of witches being ugly, old women. A miss for me I'm afraid.

TWs: death of a child, infidelity, scenes of a sexual nature., animal death, cannibalism.

Thank you to NetGalley & publisher, Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op, for the opportunity to read an ARC.

While this was a perfectly serviceable and enjoyable read with some genuinely horrific moments (looking at you, skin dog creature), I'm just not sure what the author wanted us to take away from it. At times, it seemed to be going in a Good For Her direction and supporting the witches' actions in the face of sexism and ridiculous social standards. However, then the witches would do something especially heinous and (I think?) we were expected to then side with the colonists in condemning them as pure evil hellbeasts with no possible redemptive qualities. While this may have been intended to convey complex morality, it came across as muddled and made it hard to connect with or understand the characters. I'm also not sure why it was billed as "found footage style" when 1) it was set in a time before the concept of footage existed and 2) the word "epistolary" exists, but that's a nitpick.

What actually happened to the colonists at Roanoke? This extremely detailed and well written story attempts to provide us with those answers. Through prayers by the colonists and we get insight into the fears of the community as they face forces known and unknown. This book is perfect for fans of historical horror and folk horror.

In 1587, the Dare family arrives at the Roanoke Colony, hoping for a new beginning, but instead finds death, despair, and something far more sinister. Blending historical tragedy with supernatural horror, The Devil’s Colony reimagines the fate of the Lost Colony in a chilling, blood-soaked tale of survival and faith.

While the premise of The Devil’s Colony is intriguing, I struggled to fully engage with the story. The alternating diary entries and internal thoughts, written in both archaic English and modern English, made for a jarring reading experience. I found myself skimming after the first quarter, as the structure and pacing didn’t work for me. That being said, the atmosphere is effectively eerie, and fans of historical horror may enjoy this take on the Roanoke mystery.

This story was not what I thought it was going to be. Unfortunately the story was slow and did not hold my interest and I ended up DNFing at 25% . Thank you for the opportunity to read though.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this novel! Unfortunately I was not able to get into the story. It’s very well written, and the premise is great, and generally right up my alley. But I was unable to really get into the story, and thus I was unable to finish it. This was definitely on me.
My biggest recommendation would be to put the prayers/diary/journal etc entries into italics to seperate them from the regular story.

I will definitely be recommending this book to my friends that enjoy witchy and historical fiction.

You know one of those cheesy horror movies that you randomly choose from Netflix and laugh at with your friends, but later when you're trying to sleep your brain is still thinking about it? This is 100% that energy in book form.

The Devil's Colony takes the mystery that has shrouded the Roanoke colony for centuries and transforms it into a supernatural tale of deception, violence, and bloodshed. It is, as other reviewers have said, reminiscent of the atmosphere of The Witch (2015) and in some ways, I think a TV/movie adaptation would actually more benefit the story that Lestrange tells. The imagery is visceral and grotesque, but the writing style (and unfortunate lack of proper editing) left something to be desired. It started to drag a bit for me towards the end (despite the culminating aspects of the story), but all in all it turned out to be a quick and pretty entertaining read.

Also, tag yourself: I'm a Skin Beast.™

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review. I'd also like to mention that I really appreciate Lestrange's commitment to making sure her readers had the correct file format through NetGalley; I received a weirdly formatted version first, and she later sent out an email with a revised version and further explanation.

Even if I finished the book and cannot say that I didn't like it entirely, I will not post a review to recommend this book on my social platforms and my blog (except my opinion on storygraph when I'll put it as finished in a few minutes),

I was aware of the Roanoki Colony's stories and speculation around the lost colony and the idea to read an horror fiction around it was why I requested the ARC. I am a big fan of folk horror stories working with puritan and witchcraft subject so I thought I would enjoy the ride. But I didn't. Or at least not enough to recommend it to my audiences.

The general idea is good, the journal entry format allowing to introduce smoothly different POVs definitely worked for me, i really like this part. It is mostly well written, though the book definitely needs editing. I Highlighted so much weird sentence structures, typo, names written differently from one chapter to another, that I guessed several time if the story had been beta read or not. This, is a super bad point for me. My brain tend to focus on only this then, and i cannot enjoy the rest.

I loose focus here and there because of some weird jump allowing too much lost information for the plot to be coherent all the way from beginning to end.

A warning for cannibalism, child death and graphic sex should be added. I don't read SMUT or romantasy/romance (just because I don't like how the relationship are painted) but I don't have issue with graphic sex in case of ritual or stuff like this in horror. But here it just felt like the spice had been added as an after thought to contempt the crowd and fit the trend. Unfortunately this part wasn't good, in my opinion. It adds nothing to the story and as it wasn't announced in the warning it made me almost DNF it at the first intercourse because it felt out of place.

The bigger issue for me in this book, is how women are painted and absolutely everyone of the female character has been poorly written and/or badly developed,< (or maybe just not enough). Of course, I don't speak about the position of women per se, as it was a tough period for women. But fitting the moeurs and believes of the era doesn't mean butchering the character development. I would advise to take a look at Gerald Brom's female Character development in Slewfoot to have an example of what I meant by witchcraft/puritan era and excellent female character development.

All together, it think that a revision of the text for all the typo and a beta reading session to have a second opinion about the character development and about the "world building" would have been enough to make of this book a great one. That's a really good first attempt but it feels raw still.,

I found The Devil’s Colony to be an enjoyable and pleasant read. I love multi-narrative tellings, and feel it was a really good choice for the recounting of the Roanoke colony, especially to reveal secrets along the way. With this narration, Lestrange gives the story much more depth and area to play with. It hones in on the opposition of themes like faith and madness, love and betrayal, and the variation of the character responses to supernatural occurrences. Exposing the marriage breakdown between Eleanor and Ananias Dare by swapping their point of view was exciting. But when their past was revealed, my initial intrigue about the source of their marital issues became a profound sense of pity for Eleanor. Imagery in The Devil’s Colony is rich and vivid, and although the overall atmosphere of the novel is dark and gloomy, it is sometimes used to convey a fleeting sense of bliss. Foreshadowing is used throughout The Devil’s Colony to produce a sense of unease, fear and tension which strengthens the exploration into the supernatural. Lestrange uses beautiful but hideous imagery to arouse the reader’s emotions, creating suspense peppered with anxiety. Clearly, Lestrange is a master with her descriptions and use of imagery throughout and I thoroughly enjoyed being able to vividly imagine every scene and every character. The only criticism I have is that the “found-footage” diary entries became grating. Personally, I feel they were used too often, and more than a handful of them were longer than they needed to be, taking away from the overall energy of the novel. This novel leads with a family in domestic dysfunction, creating an allure of curiosity and possible entertainment, and then shifts to horrific deaths and unthinkable images. It is a rollercoaster of a read and kept me on the edge of my seat throughout. I wish I was more engaged, as with the long diary entries, I did find myself trailing off, but I am very glad I finished this novel.

3.5/5

This book was unlike anything I have ever read before and I think I will be thinking about it for a long time to come. It is fantastic and I can't recommend it enough

This is an historical fiction surrounding the Lost Colony of Roanoke, partially revealed as journal entries over a span of 1587-1590. It’s a very dark and entertaining read with a bleak ending. An entire menagerie of evil is not-so-accidentally unleashed on the second wave of settlers to Roanoke, and our starving little band of people are in way over their heads when it comes to battling the forces of nature…and of evil. A really great slow build that ends with a dramatic finish. Some of the editing on the NetGalley version I read was sloppy, but as a book this was super entertaining.

This is a new dark "what if" scenario that semi-uses historical facts but also takes creative liberties in a story about the second attempt at creating the colony of Roanoke and their efforts to settle down and find comfort and God in their new home only to discover their woods hold demonic forces and a coven of witches. The found prayer journal entries of the Dare family and other settlers brings us through the short existence of their once pious settlement as family secrets and betrayals are revealed and the isolation leads to madness and death.

I've never heard a story about Roanoke like this one! It was shocking and bloody, Lestrange spared no expense in the details. The descriptions and imagery were beautifully done and really solidified the gloominess of that lonely and scared colony and the horrifying things these characters see. I loved the use of the POV switches between chapters giving us a chance to see the characters responses and reactions while they try to rationalize the tragedies and supernatural events that keep hitting them. I became so attached to Agnes and Jon holding onto their love for each other in the face of everything. And knowing that, in the end, Roanoke has to be found empty I couldn't stop myself from reading on to find out exactly what happens to them.

My only complaint is that at times I really didn't think some of the journal entries were necessary and didn't add much. They tended to be the reason I had to take breaks from reading the book.

Overall, I thought this book was great and I'm excited for its upcoming release!

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for a copy of this ARC

History and witchcraft always makes the best combination. This book talks about the colony of Roanoke with an added twist of witchcraft. I always admire when authors can write books about a specific time period. This author nails it! From the language to the descriptions of living in the 1500s.

This books takes us back in time to the time period of 1580s as we follow people from England building a colony Roanoke. This is no easy task as people are out of their element and are using the land they have been provided to make nothing into something. Little do the people of Roanoke know they are settling on land that is currently being occupied by non human people.

I did enjoy the multiple points of views and being able to visit each person through their story. It was easy for me to keep up since I prefer stories with multiple view points. This story definitely gives an American Horror Story Roanoke. If you are a fan of this series you’ll love this book. Definitely give it a read you will not be disappointed.

Thank you to Marie Lestrange and Victory Editing for providing me with an Arc! I am leaving this review voluntarily.

If you’re looking for a theory on the lost colony of Roanoke full of witches and spice which is also well-researched and a fun read, this is the book for you.

A dark and twisty supernatural take on the lost colony of Roanoke.

I’ve always loved hearing the theories, myths, and legends around this iconic mystery. Marie’s writing and plot take this to new levels with monstrous entities, devilish occurrences, and colonists fighting for their lives.

I found the style of the story interesting: a combination of journal entries and character POVs. Very 1500s “found footage” vibes.

At times I was a bit puzzled by what was happening, and had to jump back in the story to see if I’d missed something. It was also a bit over the top at times, so that I’d be more stunned (is this really happening now?) than scared or anxious. Some parts were genuinely freaky though too.

Definitely a story unlike any other I’ve seen about the missing colony.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and Victory Editing for a copy.

This was too all over the place for me. I could see some more editing being dine before release because this is a little bit chaotic. I could not stay on the plot and it made it unreadable in the end. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

The Devil’s Colony had so much potential—a chilling premise, a fascinating historical backdrop, and the promise of supernatural horror. But somewhere between its ambitious concept and its execution, the story lost its way, much like the ill-fated settlers it portrays.

As an archaeologist, I approached this book with cautious excitement, eager to see how the author might blend historical tragedy with supernatural dread. Unfortunately, the historical inaccuracies were glaring, even for fiction. I don’t mind creative liberties, but when the foundation feels this shaky, it’s hard to immerse yourself in the world being built.

Beyond the historical issues, the book suffers from significant structural and editorial problems. The plot is chaotic, with events unfolding in a way that feels more haphazard than suspenseful. The “found footage” diary entries, while an intriguing concept, are poorly integrated and disrupt the narrative flow rather than enhance it. To make matters worse, the grammar issues and clunky writing made it difficult to stay engaged.

The story has its moments—there are glimpses of the eerie atmosphere it’s trying to create—but they’re overshadowed by the disorganized storytelling and lack of depth in both character and plot. I wanted to love this book, but in the end, it left me more frustrated than frightened.

One star for the effort and concept, but the execution simply doesn’t deliver on its promise.

The wildest of rides I have been on in a whole!
Despite knowing the story of the Roanoke Colony, this book did not disappoint or just rehash facts. It was so creepy and downright vile at times (in the best way), and so atmospheric you could almost feel the tension rolling off the page.
My only real issue with it, and the reason I gave it 4 instead of 5, is that it went on maybe a few chapters too long. I think it could have ended a lot sooner.
Regardless, a brilliant read, and he got what he deserved 💅

I posted a longer review yesterday and it has been on my mind because of how harsh it was. It is especially weighing on my mind because from what I can tell this may be self-published or at least from a smaller publisher and it just feels bad to think that I have trash someone’s hard work. Anyway, here is my review condensed down into its objective points and can hopefully still provide guidance to someone who might be interested:

Challenges:
1. Needs editing for grammar, syntax, and POV.
2. It doesn’t feel entirely original to me. Recycled themes and tropes common to our culture and history.
3. Misogynist themes throughout that defined the book. Poor depiction of women.
4. No trigger warnings for self harm, child death, or graphic sexual depictions.

Positives:
1. Good character development.
2. Lots of action.
3. Easy to read and follow.
4. Good commitment to dialect and tone.

Overall: Entertaining, if problematic.