This review contains affiliate links, which earn me a small commission when you click and purchase, at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my small business and allowing me to continue providing you a reliable resource for clean book ratings.
The island of Sawkill Rock is largely inhabited by wealthy families. Life is good and comfortable. It’s known for its prize horses. But it also has a legend about the Collector, who comes and steals away pretty young girls. Most write that off as just a story; sure, some teens have gone missing over the decades, but every place has its little scary stories, doesn’t it?
But now several girls go missing in a very short time, and people are getting worried. Still, that old story is just a story, right?
For new girl Marion, it’s not. She and her sister have already lost their father, and she’s the “strong one” who keeps her mom and sister going. How much more tragedy can she stand?
Zoey is one of the few on the island who’s not well-to-do. Her father is the police chief on the island, and she’s tired of everyone pointing fingers at law enforcement, blaming him for not doing more to protect the teen girls and solve the mysteries of their disappearances. But she’s angry herself because her best friend was the most recent to go missing, and the loss has cut deep.
Val is the wealthy daughter of the most privileged family on Sawkill Rock. They breed the famous horses. She’s gorgeous, perfectly dressed; she runs the show everywhere she goes. But she is hiding a terrible secret.
These three young women all get drawn deeply into the dark truth at the heart of the old stories. They discover they have the power to face down the evil that has been lurking. But each cannot do it alone; can they look past their differences and hurts to pull together? Even so, they may not make it out unscathed.
Sawkill Girls turned out to be quite dark. It had elements that leaned toward the horror genre, which I’m not really into. I was drawn in but there were times I was thinking about putting it down because of the dark content. I did want to see how things turned out and what happened to each of the three main characters. I’d only recommend it to those who are looking for a book with that touch of horror.
Rated: High. There are a solid 10 or more uses of strong language, and other uses of more moderate language. There are scenes with teen drinking, teen sexual content (including scenes between two girls), and plenty of violence. The evil thing that is taking and killing girls (spoiler here) … quite literally eats them, and it’s pretty gross.
Click here to purchase your copy of Sawkill Girls on Amazon.
