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This book gave me such immense anxiety, but wow! An intense and horrifying story that is guaranteed to keep you glued to the pages.

Edited to add: Loved the narrator on this #audiobook.

A chilling and haunting story that offers insight into the misconduct and neglect of poor souls who are institutionalized in the 1960s. The main character, Sage, goes looking for her twin sister Rosemary and instead ends up being locked up and trapped. Largely overpopulated and sorely understaffed, the “hospital” has patients starving to death, sitting in their own soil and filth for days, and no treatment other than sedation. Worth the read!

Tackle the TBR 🤓📚 #boleybooks #thelostgirlsofwillowbrook #ellenmariewiseman #bookbeast #bookjoy #bookbuds #bookchat
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A fictional account of a true place that was encased in urban legend, Willowbrook, a government underfunded institution, is where discarded children went in the 70s. When Sage learns she has a sister there, she is compelled to find her. Instead, she finds a serial killer is loose, and she is trapped. With no one on her side, Sage clings to the two who do believe her. This book is terrifyingly disturbing and, unfortunately, predictable.

This book was DEVASTATING!!! I vaguely remember watching a documentary on the believed serial killer named Cropsey but was shocked to know that it was tied to a very real institution (called a “school” even though no education was going on) that abused and neglected thousands of disabled and “difficult” people for decades. So many atrocities went on there that it was hard to read about at times, even in fiction form. The situation that the main ⬇️

Wow - this book was so well written and hard to read at times.
One of my first jobs after grad school was working with the MR population in group homes. A good number of the residents there were people who had been at willowbrook- some had no family contact and most had some significant behavior difficulties that I‘m sure came from living in that hell hole. So sad…

This book is fiction, but every awful thing in it about the Willowbrook State School is true, based on interviews and testimony at the time when the state finally started shutting Willowbrook down. The place was a living nightmare.
I got so caught up in this book that I couldn‘t see how there would ever be a happy ending. Definitely a pick, but TW for sexual and physical violence, child abandonment/abuse, and non-treatment of mental illness.

This was a really good fictional story that takes place based on real situations/places. It is overall a pretty heavy and graphic book, but I learned about a new tragic event in history. Would recommend!

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Relaxing this morning, reading ??? ???? ????? ?? ??????????? by ????? ????? ???????, an engrossing work of historical fiction based on horrific events.⁣

I don't plan to venture further than the pool today. Forecast: 86 degrees with soft tropical breezes.⁣
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It's referred to as "paradise" for good reason.⁣
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?: Morning on Maui with a view of Lana'i
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Y‘all don‘t want to miss this one!

https://reecaspieces.com/2022/09/02/the-lost-girls-of-willowbrook-by-ellen-marie...

Imagine finding out that your twin sister hadn't passed away but has been in an institution.

FULL REVIEW: https://tinyurl.com/4yw5ktfb

@ellenmariewiseman
@kensingtonbooks

REVIEW 8/31.

Imagine finding out that your twin sister hadn't passed away but has been in an institution.

A horrible institution, exposed by Geraldo Rivera, for the mentally challenged.

When Sage went to visit, they thought she was the missing Rosemary, and forced her inside.

The horrors that happened inside come alive with Ms. Wiseman's detailed writing style and flowing story line. 5/5

@ellenmariewiseman
@kensingtonbooks