Welcome to Litsy!

“Because that's the one thing women are never, ever allowed to be. We can be sad, distraught, confused, pleading, forgiving. But not furious. Fury is reserved for other people. The worst thing you can be is an angry woman, an angry mother.”

4.5 ⭐️

A mother seeks justice for the murder of her 12 year old daughter. Dark and disturbing set in a small town with lots of secrets. I had to stop myself from jumping ahead to see what happened!

I love it when everything matches 🖤🤍🖤 I just noticed the trees on the cover match the bookmark 🖤 I try to keep him off the table, but y‘all know how that goes! I guess it‘s good it‘s getting used!

#Adayinthelifeoftux
#Catsoflitsy
#LitsyLove
#LitsyLoveReads

They died during a freak April snowstorm, blood pooling on a patchy bed of white.

Idk why I chose this one from the shelf. Her first book was great so I have high expectations!

#FirstLineFridays

May 3, 2024

#Secrets #TBR

#SpringSkies

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#Dark
#MayMontage
#TBR

I read this #Dark gritty crime novel last week and thought it was really well done.

#ScarathlonDailyPrompts #Scarathlon #TeamSlaughter @Clwojick

Another audiobook finished for #Scarathlon and #LittenListen.

Amy Engel writes dark, gritty crime thrillers that will make your skin crawl with the depravity of the characters. In this book she focuses on a horrific crime, a town with secrets, with a dysfunctional family at the center of everything.

If dark crime novels are your thing, read this one.

#TeamSlaughter #Scarathlon2022 @Clwojick @aperfectmjk

#alphabetgame #LetterF #LetterG
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

The Familiar Dark is a deep dive into a dysfunctional family and a horrible crime.
I know The Goldfinch is divisive, but personally I loved it.

I read and liked this author‘s other book, The Roanoke Girls, but also know how dark this author can get, so I braced myself for this one. It was a good mystery. Fast-paced, and then for the last 40 pages, I had to cover the page so my eyes didn‘t glance ahead to find out what happened. This book is about a lot of things, and I like that it shows that people aren‘t all good or all bad. A solid mystery, though it‘s already fading from memory #NYWD

✅ We Begin at the End Finished
✅ The Familiar Dark finished
✳️ Making progress on When We Spoke in Tongues
⚠️ Have not started Sing, Unburied, Sing or Paper Palace
BUT
✳️ Started When We We‘re Vikings (#NYWD)
✳️ Making progress on Dune

Overall, #JoyousJanuary readathon is going quite well!

#JoyousJanuary Goals:
📚Finish We Begin at the End (almost done)
📚Finish When We Spoke in Tongues (just started)
📚Finish The Familiar Dark (just started)
📚Start/make progress on Sing, Unburied, Sing and The Paper Palace
This feels ambitious for me but doable 💪🏼

I have a #stalker 🤣🐶

Watching football and starting a new book is a great Saturday!

This was a different kind of domestic thriller. Complicated relationships & secrets tear a family apart. It touched on justice, the people & relationships that serve to form the foundation of who we are. It was different & I liked the small-town vibes; even though I had a hunch on who the killer was pretty early. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Last year I read and loved Engel‘s The Roanoke Girls. This was also a one sitting read. What does a mother do when the most horrible thing she can imagine happens? Eve must visit her own “familiar dark” in order to solve the mystery and get revenge. Riveting and heart-breaking.

I'm torn. I absolutely loved The Roanoke Girls by the same author but I felt a little lacking with this one. I enjoyed reading it and the tone of the book was good. I just can't help but think the size of the book didn't fit the story, it felt like it should've been longer. Wasn't a fan of the ending either or the revelation of who the killer was. Seemed a bit of an add on. Decent book all the same.

😔💯

Grabbing 30 minutes reading while Bear cooks my birthday dinner - Pork Kiev ❤️💖🐻

Happy Easter 🐰🐰 lovely day for reading with a cup of tea. Today's flavour Carrot Cake 🥕🎂

Reminiscent of my all time favourite quote 💖😪

🤓🤓 Happy Saturday 🐾🥂

This book is gritty and dark, offering a glimpse into one mother's journey to find the person who killed her 12-year-old daughter. The writing had more depth than your typical run of the mill thriller, providing insight into what it's like to be poor and how difficult it is to escape one's familial roots. The ending took me by surprise but in good way. Overall, this was a short, suspenseful read that was equal parts heartbreaking and empowering.

A short, but good read. It really paints a picture of the poorest parts of the Ozarks. The murders of 2 12-year-old girls sets the stage for this gritty, thrill ride. It‘s told from Eve‘s point-of-view, the mother of one of the murdered girls. This read delves into toxic family dynamics & how the truly poor really live. The story is quickly paced and it kept me page turning until the powerful end!

A very dark and gritty read with a great twist at the end!
#ReadtheUSA2020 #Missouri (30th state) #Murder2020 (book 61)

What a heartbreaking book.

Hopefully can listen to a few hours of this today.

What sets the plot apart from conventional thrillers, is this cold perpetual feeling of grief and hopelessness hidden behind every word. The story is not about the big reveal or the excitement building up to it, but about how each of us are driven by emotions. A solid character study in the form of spunky Eve, Engel has delivered an amazing and perceptive story that is sure to leave a mark..!

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Author ??? ????? explores the journey to justice of a mother following the brutal murder of her only child. ??? ???????? ???? is an atmospheric, uncompromisingly disturbing study of "the shadowy side of the human experience." ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ⁣⁣⁣⁣

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Penguin Group Dutton has provided two 2 electronic copies. Enter through ???., ??? ?!⁣

https://tinyurl.com/yc4bsme2

My order arrived from my local bookstore finally. USPS had it moving all around me and returned it to the bookstore because it was “undeliverable.” Diving into The Familiar Dark next!

#bookmail #indiebookstore

This book ripped my heart out and crushed it. This is by far one of my favorite books I have read this year! I went on an emotional roller coaster and I enjoyed every minute of it. Definite 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟!

A harrowing story of one mother's love and quest to look for the murderer of her daughter. It's a dark, melancholy & atmospheric thriller! I liked it!

Rating: 3⭐

For my full review please visit https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3274756743?book_show_action=false&from_rev...

***Thank you Penguin Group Dutton & NetGalley for this gifted review copy in exchange for an honest review***

This was an interesting story though a hard one as my own daughter is 12 so that was tough. The plot was interesting and built to a clever, dramatic ending. I had begun to realize just who might be behind it but it was done well. The ending was clever and fitted really well with the tone of the story. I also liked seeing how the relationship between her mother settled as the story went on. A hard hitting raw story but a great read. #Netgalley 4*

⭐️⭐️ I was liking the beginning of this book even though the main character kept saying she was going to find her daughter‘s killer but not really doing a lot of investigating. But then about halfway through it became a soap opera. Way too dramatic and not in a fun way.

Alas, I am afraid that I am not a fan of Amy Engel‘s storytelling. With this and Roanoke Girls, I just felt deflated reading both these books.

For my full review, please visit my blog at: http://obsessedbookaholic.com/2020/03/20/the-familiar-dark-book-review/

Thank you NetGalley and Dutton Books for an Advanced Reader‘s Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Familiar Dark is a great new thriller by the author of The Roanoke Girls. I was so happy to be given a chance to review this before its release date on March 31st. Eve‘s daughter was murdered and she needs answers. But sometimes those answers changes everything. This was easily a 5 star read for me. This is one you don‘t want to miss.

https://readinginthewildwood.com/2020/03/07/the-familiar-dark-by-amy-engel/

I loved this book! Eve is an unforgettable character and I related to her as a mom sooo much! Her relationship with her own mother was fascinating and the small town secrets were gritty and believable. Heartbreaking, powerful, and full of fierce women determined to take care of their own.

I finished this thriller last week. The characters were brilliant and their backgrounds were set out well whilst keeping a good pacing. At no point in this book was I bored or lost interest. It was intense and emotional.

Pub date: 31 March 2020
⭐⭐⭐⭐

MY RATING⇢ 5 STARS | GRADE A+
The beginning of this gutted me and the middle had me transfixed and the end left me gasping and in tears...such a gutwrenching story. That is not just superbly written but is also perfectly plotted. I highly recommend.

See my full review here⇢ https://leahsbookishobsession2.blogspot.com/2019/12/the-familiar-dark-by-amy-eng...