rhodas's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
miss_kristen's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
raquelzc's review against another edition
3.0
Este libro es uno poco usual para mí, entre suspenso, thriller, semi-policiaco pero sin policías.
La historia trata de la búsqueda de justica al perder a su hija, Eve Taggert está desesperada por respuestas, y toma acción. Habiendo tenido una infancia difícil, no tiene problemas con ensuciarse las manos para lograr obtener las respuestas que busca. Esta búsqueda la lleva a lugares que juró jamás regresar, ser un poco más como su propia madre, y descubrir la verdad sobre lo que le paso a su hija y su amiga.
Es una novela con mucho enfoque en la familia, tanto lo bueno y lo malo. En este aspecto, siento que la historia fue DEMASIADO buena. Vemos a Eve enfrentar su pasado, aceptarlo y asímismo, decidir que a veces nuestro pasado si nos define y en ocasiones, por muy malo que pueda ser, nos hace mejor. Eve es un personaje que de inmediato me cayó bien, me gusto estar en su cabeza, tanto procesando la perdida de su hija como este otro lado que dominó su duelo para encontrar al culpable.
Es más sobre lo interno que de plot-twists, pero no le quita que el descubrir la verdad fue un shock impresionante para mí. Jamás se me habría ocurrido, pero cuanta verdad cuando dicen que usualmente es más cercana a ti la verdad de lo que esperabas. No es fácil de leer por el tema de la perdida, así como las medidas que toma Eve para descubrir lo que le pasó a su niña, pero sin duda, te dejara pensando un buen rato y se te dificultará dejar de leerlo.
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@_nocturnalreads en Twitter
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La historia trata de la búsqueda de justica al perder a su hija, Eve Taggert está desesperada por respuestas, y toma acción. Habiendo tenido una infancia difícil, no tiene problemas con ensuciarse las manos para lograr obtener las respuestas que busca. Esta búsqueda la lleva a lugares que juró jamás regresar, ser un poco más como su propia madre, y descubrir la verdad sobre lo que le paso a su hija y su amiga.
Es una novela con mucho enfoque en la familia, tanto lo bueno y lo malo. En este aspecto, siento que la historia fue DEMASIADO buena. Vemos a Eve enfrentar su pasado, aceptarlo y asímismo, decidir que a veces nuestro pasado si nos define y en ocasiones, por muy malo que pueda ser, nos hace mejor. Eve es un personaje que de inmediato me cayó bien, me gusto estar en su cabeza, tanto procesando la perdida de su hija como este otro lado que dominó su duelo para encontrar al culpable.
Es más sobre lo interno que de plot-twists, pero no le quita que el descubrir la verdad fue un shock impresionante para mí. Jamás se me habría ocurrido, pero cuanta verdad cuando dicen que usualmente es más cercana a ti la verdad de lo que esperabas. No es fácil de leer por el tema de la perdida, así como las medidas que toma Eve para descubrir lo que le pasó a su niña, pero sin duda, te dejara pensando un buen rato y se te dificultará dejar de leerlo.
Sígueme en:
@nocturnal.reads en Instagram
@_nocturnalreads en Twitter
Nocturnal Reads en Youtube
emilheeheee's review against another edition
4.0
i’m writing this right after finishing this book so my views may change in the morning but initial thoughts this book was so raw and brutal and unlike anything i’ve read before and i loved it.
the plot twist was just the cherry on top of what was a perfectly paced and developed story and plot i literally opened this book this afternoon and finished it this evening i couldn’t put it down it was so addictive.
would recommend to anyone and everyone even if u aren’t into drama/thrillers i already wish i could read it again for the first time and i can see myself coming back to it soon
the plot twist was just the cherry on top of what was a perfectly paced and developed story and plot i literally opened this book this afternoon and finished it this evening i couldn’t put it down it was so addictive.
would recommend to anyone and everyone even if u aren’t into drama/thrillers i already wish i could read it again for the first time and i can see myself coming back to it soon
brittany_tellefsen's review against another edition
3.0
Rating: 3.5/5
Amy Engel is not afraid to broach the dark and disturbing within her books. The Roanoke Girls was so deliciously twisted that I could not help but snort it like Crack. And while The Familiar Dark definitely has that same gritty texture, it did not have the same flair.
Set in an extremely poor town within the Missouri Ozarks, it starts with murder but is truly about the dysfunctions of one particular family. And what people will do to survive in or escape, their town.
Eve Taggert was born in one of the poorest areas of Missouri, to a very hard mother who enjoyed teaching her kids "lessons" about life that no mother should ever want their kids to learn. So Eve is no stranger to the dark.
After getting pregnant at 17, Even has spent the last 12 years of her life working in the same diner within her hometown, just trying to care for her daughter. Her circle is small, only having her brother and few other locals. Eve keeps to herself, doing what she can to survive.
But one day, she gets the news no mother wants: Her daughter Junie, along with Junie's best friend, have been murdered. And now, it is time for that hard-edged Eve, the one she put away so long ago when Junie was born, to re-emerge and find who killed her daughter.
Just like the Roanoke Girls, I did find this compulsively readable. It was very short, and from the moment it begins you are thrust into the story which maintains a fairly good pace throughout the entirety of book. It was easily digestible, not in content matter but in writing style, so I often found myself getting lost within the book, doing whatever task on complete auto-pilot as I listened.
It was also very atmospheric. Engel does a fantastic job of putting you right in the setting of the story. I could just feel the poverty and desperation of Eve's hometown. I could see the ramshackle place where her mother lived, filled with clutter, booze, drugs, and random men. I could see it all. And I appreciate that ability within the story.
I also enjoyed the fact that Engel made Eve a character who was not afraid to go there. She did not hesitate when she came face to face with her daughter's killer. There was no shaky hand. There was no questioning. There was no "'Tis better to forgive" bullshit. She did what she had to do and I enjoy seeing a female character played that way.
So, all-in-all, I still really liked this book. It was just so short, without a lot of opportunities to get to truly know the characters, that it was hard to connect with them, and that is something I've found I really need. However, I will definitely be following Amy Engel's career with great interest and I like the tone and darkness of her books.
Amy Engel is not afraid to broach the dark and disturbing within her books. The Roanoke Girls was so deliciously twisted that I could not help but snort it like Crack. And while The Familiar Dark definitely has that same gritty texture, it did not have the same flair.
Set in an extremely poor town within the Missouri Ozarks, it starts with murder but is truly about the dysfunctions of one particular family. And what people will do to survive in or escape, their town.
Eve Taggert was born in one of the poorest areas of Missouri, to a very hard mother who enjoyed teaching her kids "lessons" about life that no mother should ever want their kids to learn. So Eve is no stranger to the dark.
After getting pregnant at 17, Even has spent the last 12 years of her life working in the same diner within her hometown, just trying to care for her daughter. Her circle is small, only having her brother and few other locals. Eve keeps to herself, doing what she can to survive.
But one day, she gets the news no mother wants: Her daughter Junie, along with Junie's best friend, have been murdered. And now, it is time for that hard-edged Eve, the one she put away so long ago when Junie was born, to re-emerge and find who killed her daughter.
Just like the Roanoke Girls, I did find this compulsively readable. It was very short, and from the moment it begins you are thrust into the story which maintains a fairly good pace throughout the entirety of book. It was easily digestible, not in content matter but in writing style, so I often found myself getting lost within the book, doing whatever task on complete auto-pilot as I listened.
It was also very atmospheric. Engel does a fantastic job of putting you right in the setting of the story. I could just feel the poverty and desperation of Eve's hometown. I could see the ramshackle place where her mother lived, filled with clutter, booze, drugs, and random men. I could see it all. And I appreciate that ability within the story.
I also enjoyed the fact that Engel made Eve a character who was not afraid to go there. She did not hesitate when she came face to face with her daughter's killer. There was no shaky hand. There was no questioning. There was no "'Tis better to forgive" bullshit. She did what she had to do and I enjoy seeing a female character played that way.
So, all-in-all, I still really liked this book. It was just so short, without a lot of opportunities to get to truly know the characters, that it was hard to connect with them, and that is something I've found I really need. However, I will definitely be following Amy Engel's career with great interest and I like the tone and darkness of her books.
novelesque_life's review against another edition
4.0
RATING: 4.5 STARS
2020; Dutton/Penguin Group
Amy Engel, well done with The Familiar Dark. If you are a fan of Laura McHugh, Karin Slaughter or Alice Blanchard you will love Engel's writing. It is the kind of writing that gives you all the raw dark feels, and you still keep reading. Eve is a single mother working as a waitress in a diner in Missouri Ozarks, in a small town. Her daughter is her greatest love, with her older cop brother, Cal as her rock. After having her daughter at a young age, Eve wanted to give her a better life, and a more stable loving mother than she herself had. Her world is shattered when her daughter and her daughter's best friend are found dead with their throat cut. In a poor town where drugs are the main currency, why and who would murder the young girls?
If Eve was a Netflix category, she would be strong female lead. She is an everyday working mom that is trying to raise her daughter right. She has flaws that make her a very realistic and relatable character. The emotion that Engle writes when Eve sees her daughter in the morgue, will stay with me for a long time. Her persistence in speaking for her daughter and getting her justice had me invested in the story and rooting her on. There is so much to say about the great writing and characterizations, but I am going to stop here before I reveal some spoilers. If you have not read this book, I highly recommend it. The book is on the shorter side and grips you quickly. I read 75% of the novel in one night as I just could not stop.
***I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.***
2020; Dutton/Penguin Group
Amy Engel, well done with The Familiar Dark. If you are a fan of Laura McHugh, Karin Slaughter or Alice Blanchard you will love Engel's writing. It is the kind of writing that gives you all the raw dark feels, and you still keep reading. Eve is a single mother working as a waitress in a diner in Missouri Ozarks, in a small town. Her daughter is her greatest love, with her older cop brother, Cal as her rock. After having her daughter at a young age, Eve wanted to give her a better life, and a more stable loving mother than she herself had. Her world is shattered when her daughter and her daughter's best friend are found dead with their throat cut. In a poor town where drugs are the main currency, why and who would murder the young girls?
If Eve was a Netflix category, she would be strong female lead. She is an everyday working mom that is trying to raise her daughter right. She has flaws that make her a very realistic and relatable character. The emotion that Engle writes when Eve sees her daughter in the morgue, will stay with me for a long time. Her persistence in speaking for her daughter and getting her justice had me invested in the story and rooting her on. There is so much to say about the great writing and characterizations, but I am going to stop here before I reveal some spoilers. If you have not read this book, I highly recommend it. The book is on the shorter side and grips you quickly. I read 75% of the novel in one night as I just could not stop.
***I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.***
books_in_badgerland's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.0
✨audiobook review✨
I really liked Engel’s newest, I Did It for You, so I wanted to check out her backlist. The mood and tone of the two books are similar.
I thought The Familiar Dark’s Ozark setting, small town atmosphere, and characters really came to life. Engel seems to thrive in creating these living, breathing, character-like settings. I also appreciate her characters with complicated relationships. I think the most interesting, thought-provoking part of the story was Eve’s relationship with her mother.
I like bleak books with messy characters. I love revenge stories with some vigilante power. At the same time, I can struggle with stories about mothers seeking revenge and parent-child stories. I didn’t connect with The Collective and Don’t Look for Me, and I didn’t totally connect with this. It’s hard to pinpoint why, so I’m wondering if it’s that trope? It seems like a personal preference issue, so I recommend others check this one out! I will continue reading Engel’s backlist including The Roanoke Girls.
⭐️RATING⭐️: Overall, even though I didn’t feel a strong connection, I think it was good. It’s a quick audiobook with a solid narrator! (3⭐️)
I really liked Engel’s newest, I Did It for You, so I wanted to check out her backlist. The mood and tone of the two books are similar.
I thought The Familiar Dark’s Ozark setting, small town atmosphere, and characters really came to life. Engel seems to thrive in creating these living, breathing, character-like settings. I also appreciate her characters with complicated relationships. I think the most interesting, thought-provoking part of the story was Eve’s relationship with her mother.
I like bleak books with messy characters. I love revenge stories with some vigilante power. At the same time, I can struggle with stories about mothers seeking revenge and parent-child stories. I didn’t connect with The Collective and Don’t Look for Me, and I didn’t totally connect with this. It’s hard to pinpoint why, so I’m wondering if it’s that trope? It seems like a personal preference issue, so I recommend others check this one out! I will continue reading Engel’s backlist including The Roanoke Girls.
⭐️RATING⭐️: Overall, even though I didn’t feel a strong connection, I think it was good. It’s a quick audiobook with a solid narrator! (3⭐️)
j_mekneel's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0