Book review: The Familiar Dark by Amy Engel

Wednesday, April 8, 2020 Permalink

I enjoyed The Roanoke Girls published in 2017 but Amy Engel’s latest release, The Familiar Dark, actually frog-leapt over several other books for a rather superficial reason. Its slimness.

Don’t get me wrong, the backcover blurb made it sound gripping, so I was keen to read it—but given everything that’s happening in the world—like many others, I’m struggling to maintain focus for extensive amounts of time. Large tomes have felt a little overwhelming. But I knew (again from the blurb) this would be a book I could read in a sitting. (And it was!)

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four-stars

Book review: The Roanoke Girls by Amy Engel

Monday, March 20, 2017 Permalink

I must admit I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book. The description was a little vague and I’ve recently been ‘tricked’ into reading outside of my normal genre by books I’ve assumed to be crime fiction or thrillers… only to later discover ghosts or the supernatural. Which would be fine if I wanted to read about the supernatural. But that’s usually not the case when I settle down expecting to be entertained in a macabre-but-safe manner by psychopathic serial killers.

And while we’re making confessions, I need to add that my interest waned a little early on in this book. I’m usually okay with unlikeable characters but for some reason a couple of the leads in this novel put me off from the get-go. Fortunately however, I hung in there…

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three-half-stars