One of my favorite things to do is ‘learn’ while being entertained reading a book. I went into this novel not knowing what I was reading and glad the author made a note at the end. Although not based on one actual person or family, the author did a good job taking many stories and compiling it into one.
     Yes, doing that can create more drama and horror that would normally be spread out. It can be a bit much for a reader… but I think Wingate did a good job of balancing the two. 

I did struggle to initially get into the book. Sometimes that’s simply coming off a previous book… but sometimes it’s the story doesn’t pull the reader in. I believe I was the latter. I know we needed to keep the story moving, but it kept bothering me that Rill, or any of the children, didn’t speak up. We could have added a character witnessing another kid trying to speak up and being punished. At least there would be more of a reason the kids were too afraid to. 
     I would like to mention a specific moment in the ending that bothered me, but to avoid revealing any twists…. I’ll simply say, I did not like the twist. It didn’t make sense. On top of it, the entire ending felt rushed. It’s a slow moving book… the least the readers could get is very full, revealing ending. 
      All criticisms aside, overall it was a well rounded, well written and made me feel all the feels. I would highly recommend.