ARC Review: Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand

Sawkill Girls

Author: Claire Legrand // Publication date: October 16, 2018

★★★★☆

Beware of the woods and the dark, dank deep.

He’ll follow you home, and he won’t let you sleep.

Who are the Sawkill Girls?

Marion: the new girl. Awkward and plain, steady and dependable. Weighed down by tragedy and hungry for love she’s sure she’ll never find.

Zoey: the pariah. Luckless and lonely, hurting but hiding it. Aching with grief and dreaming of vanished girls. Maybe she’s broken—or maybe everyone else is.

Val: the queen bee. Gorgeous and privileged, ruthless and regal. Words like silk and eyes like knives, a heart made of secrets and a mouth full of lies.

Their stories come together on the island of Sawkill Rock, where gleaming horses graze in rolling pastures and cold waves crash against black cliffs. Where kids whisper the legend of an insidious monster at parties and around campfires.

Where girls have been disappearing for decades, stolen away by a ravenous evil no one has dared to fight… until now.

Goodreads

Thank you Katherine Tegen Books for sending a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

“Decades of dead girls. Poor girls and rich girls. Black and brown and white girls.
All of them Sawkill girls.”

It took me a while to finish reading this since I’m currently on vacation. The atmosphere over here in Kenya is windy and cold, and is in fact a great place to read this. Sawkill girls is an extraordinary book. I admit that the cover drew me in, but the synopsis is definitely what sealed the deal. If you’re looking for a creepy and skin crawling read then this is the book for you!

The story is narrated by three girls: Marion, Zoey and Val. And each girl has very different circumstances. What they do have in common is that they all live on Sawkill Island. An island where girls have gone missing for decades. Their bodies never found and the culprit never caught. It’s up to these three girls to solve the mystery before it’s too late.

I can’t explain how much I loved this story. It was unique and very well written. Each event kept me on the edge of my seat in anticipation. It definitely creeped me out, and caused goosebumps from time to time. The story was also very well paced. At first it seemed a bit confusing but as I got through the book more and more things began unfolding.

When it comes to the characters I have to admit that my favorite was Zoey. I loved her personality and she most definitely was a badass. I loved her point of view the most. I also loved Grayson (Zoey’s ex but also her best friend) he reminded me a bit of Simon Lewis (from The Mortal Instruments series) who also happens to be my favorite character. I could relate to Marion when it comes to one thing: her over protectiveness. She isn’t the oldest but she is the one who always stays strong for her loved ones, and I loved that about her the most. As for Val, I spent a lot of time trying to understand her. Trying to figure her out as well as trying to figure out how I felt about her.

The story comes together in the strangest way and so do these three girls. Claire Legrand did an amazing job on this one. I got approved for a review copy of Furyborn a few days ago and I’m looking forward to reading it very much!

About The Author

Website

Claire Legrand used to be a musician until she realized she couldn’t stop thinking about the stories in her head. A native Texan, she is now a writer and librarian living in central New Jersey.

Her first novel is THE CAVENDISH HOME FOR BOYS AND GIRLS, one of the New York Public Library’s 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing in 2012. She is also the author of THE YEAR OF SHADOWS, a ghost story for middle grade readers, WINTERSPELL, a young adult re-telling of The Nutcracker, and SOME KIND OF HAPPINESS, a middle grade story about mental illness, family secrets, and the power of storytelling.

 

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