This book had me from the very beginning. Early on we learn that something twisted is going on at the Roanoke estate. While I don’t think the author meant for that to be a surprise, I was able to figure out what was happening to the Roanoke girls. What the author was able to hide until the very end was who was responsible for one of the girls who went missing. The author did a good job of giving us lots of suspects. I like the way the chapters flipped back and forth between the past and the present. This ended up being a good page turner.

This is the author’s first foray into writing an adult novels. Well done Ms. Engel!

ARC from Crown Publishing, via Netgally

The amount that I enjoyed this book is only exceeded by the amount I was disturbed by it.

The Roanoke Girls is a look at a family filled with horrifying secrets.

The relationships (some of them anyway) were something I clung to throughout when I felt particularly bogged down by how disturbed the Roanoke family was at its core.

At it's base this book is heavy and disturbing. It takes an extremely gifted author to allow me to see past how heartbreaking the Roanoke story is. I felt a multitude of emotions while reading- sad, angry, disgusted, hopeful. It takes a really talented author to take this at its core and make this intensely readable work of fiction.

This book is binge-worthy reading.

Lane originally went to live with her grandparents on Roanoke farm in Kansas when she was fifteen years old after her mother’s suicide. There she met her cousin, Allegra. The two looked like sisters, not cousins. After a tumultuous summer, Lane took off for California.

Now, almost eleven years later, she’s called back to the farm when Allegra goes missing.

The novel alternates between past and present and, while told from Lane’s point of view, we read brief detours into the short lives of all the Roanoke girls and women.

The subject matter is serious, and yet dealt with in a such a casual, matter-of-fact way that it’s disarming.
There are two mysteries going on simultaneously—the mystery of what happened to Allegra and the mystery of the exact details of the Roanoke women—of which Allegra and Lane are now the last.

Lane is a likeable enough screw-up considering her messed-up childhood with a mother incapable of loving her—or herself. There were a few points in the book where I asked myself “Am I really reading what I think I’m reading?” The answer was yes. The is a unique story that might not be for everyone.

The Roanoke Girls tells the story of Lane’s life from the time she is fifteen to when she is thirty and grown. The story is told in two different timelines. Then, when as a teenager Lane came to live with her grandparents and cousin, who she never knew existed. And Now, when at the age of 30 Lane returns to find out what happened to her cousin, who has vanished.

Right away it is obvious that something isn’t quite right on the sprawling family estate. The big family secret around which the entire story is based is evident fairly on and is very disturbing. As another reviewer put it – ICK! That being said, the subject is handled well by the author and the story is told in a way that forces you to keep reading. It is hard to put the book down with so many unanswered questions floating around.

Overall, besides the disturbing subject matter, I enjoyed the book and the mystery was well done. Lane was an interesting character, though a bit messed up. If you like a good mystery, with dark family secrets and don’t mind a bit of taboo subject matter then you would probably enjoy this story.

I am still not 100% sure how to feel about The Roanoke Girls.

It surprised me, that's for sure, right from the description of Roanoke. It was not a beautiful, imposing mansion like in other novels. Instead, it looked like something an insane person would build, or someone who didn't give a shit.

I was very thankful for the family tree in the beginning of the book because at some point I didn't know who was who and how they were related to such and such.

The prose was extremely engaging. I never got tired of it and kept wanting to know what happened next.
However, there was something about the way that was structured that I didn't find very appealing, for some reason. Maybe it has to do with the fact that the narrative alternates between now and then and the 'now' chapters announce things that happened 'then' in a somewhat anti-climatic manner. Stuff that is so powerful and is just dropped there. I don't know.

Ultimately the 'then' chapters as well as the ones about each Roanoke girl served to form a picture of the hideousness going on in that house. And although the entire premise resting on (view spoiler) seems a bit far-fetched, I could see how it would come to be, lest of all due to the isolated nature of the people living in that house.

Lane was the epitome of the unlikable main character, which usually doesn't bother me. However, she came across as unnecessarily bitchy and whiny at times.
Again, I could see why she came to be that way but I guess I needed something to balance that constant nasty feeling out and the fact is every single character was quite depressing.
The ending was very predictable but I still appreciated how it was described.

This book really makes me wish for half stars since it is a solid 3.5 for me. I am very undecided about rating up or down but since ultimately I kept wanting to keep reading I will round it up.

Disclaimer: I would like to thank the publisher, Blogging for Books and Netgalley for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

In a story with sensitive subject matter you need at least one likable character. One character to root for, to share the emotional journey with, The Roanoke Girls had at least 6 female characters to choose from, yet somehow managed not to provide even one that was relatable. .

Lane, the MC comes off as selfish and manipulative. Allergra is full of spirit but her naivety makes her too weak. The only likable one seems to be Conner, who is usually too busy having sex with Lane that his character never gets to show off his other qualities.

If you want to read about a lot of sex, and drinking with a background on dark family secrets than check out this book. However, this book missed many opportunities to make a heroine out of Lane. Lane says repeatedly that she is there to solve the mystery of her cousin but she puts in zero effort to find "clues" unless you count her looking through the bottom of a bottle. She insults every single person around her, yet she never shows emotion herself besides anger or irritation. Even when Lane is discussing her own daughter that she gave up when she was a scared teenager, you get facts and nothing else. No answers on all the questions, no growth from any of the characters.

This gets 3 stars only because the author writes well, but much like her characters, she just didn't follow through.

Well hell, this book was weird. Not only does it switch time eras but it also gives backstory or further information about a character that was talked about in the previous chapters. In the beginning, I didn't really like this very much but as I kept reading, I ended up really liking the writing style. Just the story was weird. I get that with a book called The Roanoke Girls, I should have expected something a bit odd but this definitely exceeded my expectations.

I will end up talking about some spoilers later on in this review but I will add a header in order to let you know when so you can avoid them. This book wasn't long, only about 350 pages so I read it in about three days. I found myself thinking about this book during the day and I would always be excited to read it when I had time. I read almost half of the book in one night so maybe I read it in two days.

I really liked the main character, Lane, because she was different than any other female lead that I've ever read about. She was promiscuous and didn't really care about what anyone else thought about her. While she wasn't like Allegra, she was headstrong and thought for herself. Lane wasn't scared to do things that would get her in trouble and didn't hesitate when it came to supporting Allegra. She was someone I could find myself relating to.

Holy hell but the "big secret" that the Roanoke family was keeping from everyone was just wow. It was obvious what the secret was from the beginning of the book but I won't mention exactly what it is until I recommend it because I will add a trigger warning because I'm sure some people won't want to read about it. That being said, the author doesn't make the subject a detailed part of the book. It's there, but it doesn't overpower the book. The secret was one of the things that kept me reading because I wanted to find out what would happen if people found out. I wanted to know if Lane would tell anyone.

Okay, the next paragraph is going to mention exactly what the secret is and a few other spoilers so if you would prefer to avoid them, just skip the paragraph.

So okay wow incest. Gross right? Well, it's even worse when you're sleeping with every single one of your daughters while your wife is in the same house. I had my suspicions about the grandfather when he would do certain things and the way the nan would act just made everything odd. Then the nan kills some of them?? Like sure you're jealous but you just killed your own daughters. And then she doesn't tell anyone?? Girl you need to get your shit together because this is some messed up shit. The girls all slept with their dad/grandad willingly so at least there's that. If there can really be any positive side to this aspect of the story.

Okay, the next paragraph will contain a trigger warning but other than that, no spoilers.

TW: this book contains incest and mentions of abuse so if you do not want to be reading about either of those things, this may not be the book for you.

I don't know if I would really recommend this book to any of my friends because of how weird it was. I mean it was interesting and held my attention throughout the novel but I don't think I would ever give this book to a friend and tell them to read it. This is a fast paced book though and would be great if you are in between books or just want a quick contemporary.

Release Date: March 7, 2017

My Review:
Lane Roanoke is sent to live with her grandparents in Kansas after her mother commits suicide. She is fifteen years old with no other family members to care for her. Lane has no prior connections with her grandparents because her mother left her home as pregnant teen. The move also gives her a chance to meet with her extended family.
Lane quickly assimilates to living with her grandparents and cousin Allegra at their rural estate. Allegra is the same age as Lane and has always lived with them. Allegra explains the dysfunctional family tree and a strong bond is formed. She becomes comfortable living with her new family although her cousin’s behavior is erratic. Lane eventually stumbles upon a horrific family secret that forces her to flee to California.
This novel introduces dark and difficult themes but the author weaves it into an intriguing story. The characters are all flawed individuals but they are interesting and integral to the story. I enjoyed the mixture of emotions and suspense.

The Roanoke Girls had been on my radar for so many months! That beautiful cover, the intriguing blurb, the glowing reviews... It was one of my most anticipating reads and I couldn't wait to finally get to it. I'm proud to say that it didn't disappoint... but it wasn't what I was expecting at all.

I guess I thought this would be some kind of domestic psychological thriller, but I was so incredibly wrong. The Roanoke Girls had me hooked from the very first page with its simple yet beautiful writing. This is a deeply disturbing book about a very special family: the Roanokes. There are family secrets and a bit of mystery, but this is mostly a family saga that tells us the story of Lane, Allegra and all the other Roanoke girls.

Don't expect a big twist... I had read many reviews and I suspected what it was about before I even started the book. Turns out I was right, but the book actually makes it obvious from the very first chapters, so you don't need to worry if you think you know "the secret". This doesn't mean the book is boring or predictable, because it isn't. At all. It's actually a highly gripping read: short, fast-paced and completely unputdownable.

The structure was perhaps what made it so unique and enjoyable. Lane is our main narrator and we get to follow her steps THEN (her first time in Roanoke) and NOW (when she finally returns, eleven years later). But that's not it. Every few chapters, we discover what happened to each one of the previous Roanoke Girls. And what we find out it's not pretty... Fortunately, the ending wasn't as depressing as I thought it would be, as it was hopeful and beautiful at the same time. I'm a sucker for unhappy endings, but this time I think the characters deserved something different.

I would recommend this book to those who aren't easily impressionable. The topic is quite disturbing and it's one of those novels that you never know if your friends are going to enjoy or not. I think it was amazing; but then again, I'm kind of weird sometimes ;)

The Roanoke Girls reminded me of reading the Flowers in the Attic series over thirty years ago. The story is twisted, depraved, and tragic, yet oddly compelling. The author does an excellent job with character development and capturing the personalities and emotions in each scene. Although the plot is just deplorable and nauseating, the book is really good. I had to keep reading to see what happened.

Fifteen year old Lane Roanoke came to live with her grandparents and cousin, Allegra after her mother committed suicide. She stayed for just one summer, but that time changed her life forever. Fast forward eleven years. She gets the call from her granddad that her cousin, Allegra is missing and they need her to go back. Going back means facing the horrible secrets at Roanoke that she ran away from. At the end, these secrets will rip her family apart.

First, I have to say that this book was sick and twisted. There was an incestuous theme all through it. It felt creepy, gross, and wrong. What made it worse was the pervasiveness of this through the whole book. I didn’t particularly enjoy this aspect and almost quit reading it because of that. The only thing that kept me reading was the actual writing style. Engel gave you just enough in each chapter to keep you flipping to the next one. It was like a train wreck. You knew what the ending would be, you just didn’t know how it would get there and who the culprit would be. The character development while taking you from past to present was well done. It is because of this and ONLY this that I give this book 3 stars instead of 2. I just couldn’t get past the incest. That being said, I intend on following the author to see what else she comes up with because her writing style was excellent.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the publisher for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book took a quick not previously expected turn to a dark theme. One, I would have preferred mentioned by the publisher in the story synopsis. To say that the home life of the Roanoke family is disturbing is an understatement and some may not appreciate not being made aware of it prior to reading this book. But, since the publisher did not mention it, then for me to state it would be a spoiler. Other than the potentially uncomfortable plotline, The Roanoke Girls is well written with excellent character development. The story is laid before the reader through the eyes of several of the women in the Roanoke family both in the present and in the past, before Allegra is missing. Lane, having run away after only spending a summer in the family home, is forced back to try and find her missing relative. She is the main voice in the story and as we go through the book we see her coping with her relationship with her deceased mother and the nature of her family. Again, this was a great book but I wish the publisher had decided to share the twist as some of them shouldn’t be surprises thrust upon an unsuspecting reader.

It kept me reading into the wee hours of the morning.... a very unexpected ending . Well done !!!

4.5 stars

If I’d written a review immediately after finishing this book, it would have been very different. This is a story that puts you through an emotional wringer, making you feel everything from revulsion to hope. So I took a few days to let it all percolate & see what remained.

The story follows 2 threads with chapters that alternate between then & now. They unfold simultaneously & the past has increasing significance as the book progresses. The MC is Lane Roanoke & we first meet her as a 15 year old living in New York with her mother Camilla. They have a cold, distant relationship & Lane knows nothing about her mother’s past or family.

After Camilla kills herself, Lane winds up living in rural Kansas with Yates & Lillian Roanoke, her maternal grandparents. She also meets Allegra. She’s the same age as Lane & has lived on the farm since her mother abandoned her as a baby. For the first time Lane is part of a family & although Allegra is thrilled to have a partner in crime, not everyone is happy she’s come home. It’s the beginning of a long hot summer that will change Lane’s life. Allegra is a mercurial girl who gradually fills Lane in on the history & fate of all the Roanoke girls that came before. They’ve had their share of tragedy which Allegra sums up by saying “Roanoke girls don’t last long around here. In the end we either run or die”.

In the present, Lane is 25 & living a quiet life in LA. We know she fled Kansas at the end of that summer but we don’t know why. Any sense of peace she’s found is shattered when Yates calls to tell her Allegra has disappeared. Lane still feels guilty about the way she left & agrees to come back to help in the search.

Interspersed throughout the book are single chapters narrated by each of the Roanoke women from the preceding 2 generations. The author provides a family tree to help trace their lineage & as they tell their chilling stories, it becomes clear that Allegra was right.

What follows is an unsettling story that encompasses secrets, betrayals, abuse, coming of age & death. There’s a definite gothic undertone to the narrative that is enhanced by an atmospheric setting. Long hot summer days on a bucolic family farm topped off by small town Saturday nights…..sounds idyllic, right?

As usual it comes down to personal preference & like most books, it won’t be for everyone. Some readers have found the story line too disturbing & the MC unlikeable. The best I can offer is If you’re easily offended or prefer fairy tales, walk away. And I found Lane’s character more complex than that but then my pet peeves include distressed damsels in need of a spine donor so I doubt I could have finished it if she’d been a one dimensional doormat.

In fact, she’s one of the reasons I stayed glued to the pages. She’s 15 when we first meet but seems older as she describes her life in a voice that is flat & unaffected. Life with her distant mother has left her with few expectations. It’s only after she moves in with her grandparents that we catch a glimpse of all the insecurities that plague your typical teen. Her relationship with Allegra forces her to deal with emotions she’s never acknowledged & reveals her inner mean girl. But even at her bitchiest (and trust me, she gifted), you recognize her words & behaviour for what they are….a suit of armour protecting a fragile girl with no clue how to give or receive love.

There’s a bittersweet irony that Lane only really gets to know & understand her mother in the present, long after Camilla’s death. She’s old enough now to accept her own mistakes & realizes that escaping her childhood has been difficult partly because she was raised by a parent who never escaped theirs.

So yes, it’s an unsettling & disturbing read. But the fact it invokes such a range of emotions is a testament to this author’s ability to get under your skin. And as a reward for surviving the journey, there’s a tiny ray of light near the end. Don’t get too excited, it’s not like it suddenly veers down a path lined with puppies singing show tunes. There’s just the very real possibility that some of these characters may have finally earned a second shot at something better. I wish them all the best.

This story has so many layers. As you get into small town life and get to know the characters an idea starts to develop about what you think is going on. The Roanoke Girls are beautiful, but there is something strange going on. Something is off. How long will it take you to figure out what it really is? And once you know what's going on, do you know who is really to blame??

After her mother kills herself, Lane Roanoke moves across the country to live with her grandparents and her cousin Allegra at the house her mother grew up in. Lane doesn’t know a lot about her family, because her depressed mother refused to speak of them. Lane quickly adjusts to the life of being a rich Roanoke girl, until a dark family secret is revealed and she runs.

More than ten years later, Lane gets a call that Allegra is missing. Desperate to help find her cousin, she returns to her family home and the people who drove her away.

Told between two alternating timelines, the past and the present, Lane works to uncover what happened to Allegra, and why.


I really enjoyed The Roanoke Girls and found myself quickly hooked in the story. There are a lot of characters history to keep track of, but the author included a family tree in the beginning of the book which I found immensely helpful. I referenced it quite a few times throughout the book to remember who was who.

Without giving anything away, I will say that the subject matter of The Roanoke Girls is very dark. While there is nothing graphic in the book, the subject matter speaks volumes on its own. I hadn’t read a book like this, so I enjoyed the unique concept, even though there were times I wanted to put it down and walk away and remember that not all of the world is so darkly disturbed!

The pace of the story worked well for me. The book wasn’t an edge-of-your-seat thriller, but more of a slow burning suspense, and it worked perfectly in my opinion! I really loved the ending of the book, and even though I’d guessed the ending, I still loved reading it and found myself anxious to find out what happened!

Overall, I loved the book and definitely recommend it for thriller fans who are okay with a slow building domestic suspense and the secrets that can drive families apart. Thank you to Netgalley, Amy Engel, and Crown publishing for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review. The Roanoke Girls has a publication date of March 7, 2017 so be sure to mark your calendars!

I'm struggling to find words to describe my reaction to this novel. Oh. My. God. That's about the best I can do.

It's sick, sick, sick. What's even sicker, though, is the fact that I couldn't put it down. The whole situation...the family...the history, left me feeling ill and my stomach roiling with nausea, but I had to know the ending. And when you come right down to it, maybe that's what memorable books do. They grab hold of us, drag us kicking and screaming to places we don't want to go, and then spit us back out at the end gasping for air.

I guarantee this is a novel you won't forget anytime soon.

I received this book from Netgalley for an honest review.

This book dragged a little for me but it picked up. Clearly a messed up family. Wasn't as enjoyable as I thought it was going to be.

(Review will be posted on March)
Lane Roanoke's troubled mother committed suicide when she was just a teenager and in turn, was sent to her grandparent's spacious Kansas farm home. Lane lived there with her cousin, Allegra, as well. You see Roanoke girls don't stay. They either die or run away and that is the case with Lane and Allegra's mothers. Thanks to Allegra, she is brought up to speed on the Roanoke family history. Thing shouldn't be too bad here, right? The Roanokes are filthy rich and the patriarch, Yates Roanoke, her grandfather, cares for the girls fiercely. But Lane is wrong. Things are bad here and the Roanokes are harboring very, very dark secrets. Many years later, Lane's grandfather calls her up as Lane has moved very far away from them and asks her to return "home" as Allegra has gone missing. Lane feels like she has to since Allegra contacted her before she went missing, but Lane never responded. Feeling guilty, she comes back "home" to try to figure out where Allegra went and what happened to her, but her return opens up a new can of worms. Plus, there's the ex-boyfriend that Lane originally left on bad terms. Eventually she will need to confront all of her demons as well as find out what happened to Allegra. But this won't happen until she unearths some upsetting truths about her family. Amy Engel's dark tale, The Roanoke Girls, isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea. It's pretty disturbing and deals with a taboo subject, but at the same time, it is compulsively readable.

I wish I could tell you that I liked the characters in The Roanoke Girls, but that's not the case. Lane, along with everyone else in the story, is pretty despicable. I could say that Lane acts the way she does because of her upbringing, but I really don't want to make excuses for her. She is troubled and uses sex and alcohol to deal with her issues. It doesn't help that her family is a hot mess.

Allegra is also desperate for attention and acceptance in The Roanoke Girls. Tommy, a very nice young man, really loves her, but she self-sabotages every good thing in her life. She has this weird attachment to her family and declares that she will never leave town.

That is why when Allegra shows up missing, Lane knows something horrible must have happened as she knows Allegra would never willingly leave. The Roanoke Girls has a mystery embedded in it (finding Allegra), but to be honest, I wasn't overly invested in this part of the story, because the other dark parts definitely took it over.

So, the taboo stuff..... I don't want to give it away, but some people may be really disgusted by this. I know I was, but I have to give it to Engel. Her writing was so absorbing and compelling that I couldn't put The Roanoke Girls down despite my feelings. I wish I could explain this better, but I can't without sharing too many spoilers. Reading this book was very similar to watching a car wreck. I knew that things weren't good. I knew that it was a disaster, but I couldn't.stop.looking. Every character is completely dysfunctional and all anti-heroes...seriously there isn't one normal or redeeming character. I think, ultimately, this is what mesmerized me.

So, if you like dark, atmospheric reads filled with family secrets, give The Roanoke Girls a try. But I warn you-- all the characters are extremely troubled. However, it will leave you thinking about it long after you finish the book. It's definitely one of the most haunting books I've read in awhile.

Wow! I'm always a sucker for a book that starts with a family tree. In the present day, the main character Lane Roanoke returns to her grandparents' home because her cousin Allegra is missing. At age 15, Lane had gone to live with her grandparents and Allegra after her mother's suicide. There are dark family secrets surrounding all of the Roanoke girls in the family tree all of whom ran away or died.

I loved the format of the book with alternating chapters between the current time and Lane's past at the house. Also interspersed are chapters for each girl in the family tree. I could not put this book down. While I loved it, you must realize that this book deals with taboo subject matter. It is revealed early and is very, very sick and twisted.