Review: The Lost Girls of Willowbrook

The Lost Girls of Willowbrook by Ellen Marie Wiseman
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Happy Publication Day! And just in time for Halloween!

I couldn't do it. I just could not finish this book. I have loved other books by this author and felt that this one was going to be just as good. It was not. At least, not in my opinion.

This book just seemed to be a poorly written remake for teens of the book The Snake Pit, and you might as well just watch the movie.

What the re-cap leaves out is that the live twin gets her butt in trouble big time by ending up in this horrid place (and YES, there was such a place as Willowbrook) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willowb... , then to add insult to injury the author adds in a possible serial killer. As if there wasn't already enough horror in this novel!

This is the perfect kick-off for Halloween!

*ARC supplied by the publisher Kensington Books, the author, and NetGalley.

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Synopsis: "Willowbrook State School is the infamous Staten Island, New York, mental institution that shocked a nation when exposed in the 1970s as a dumping ground for unwanted children. A gripping narrative of social injustice, survival, and a young woman determined to find her sister.

Sage Winters always knew her sister was a little different even though they were identical twins. They loved the same things and shared a deep understanding, but Rosemary—awake to every emotion, easily moved to joy or tears—seemed to need more protection from the world.

Six years after Rosemary’s death from pneumonia, Sage, now sixteen, still misses her deeply. Their mother perished in a car crash, and Sage’s stepfather, Alan, resents being burdened by a responsibility he never wanted. Yet despite living as near strangers in their Staten Island apartment, Sage is stunned to discover that Alan has kept a shocking secret: Rosemary didn’t die. She was committed to Willowbrook State School and has lingered there until just a few days ago, when she went missing.

Sage knows little about Willowbrook. It’s always been a place shrouded by rumor and mystery. A place local parents threaten to send misbehaving kids. With no idea what to expect, Sage secretly sets out for Willowbrook, determined to find Rosemary. What she learns, once she steps through its doors and is mistakenly believed to be her sister, will change her life in ways she never could imagined..."