Third Rainbow Girl (Eisenberg) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
[A]n evocative and elegantly paced examination of the murders that takes a prism-like view of the crime.… [Eisenberg's] unraveling of the brutal double murder is as skilled as her exploration of Pocahontas County, where the men, as much as the women, appear trapped in their predestined societal roles, and where toxic masculinity gnaws at the men, rudderless and lost, who drink to fill the idle hours. But she also digs deeper, beyond the old cliches of insular, backward mountain folk, to find a thriving transgender community and an independent, open-minded streak among the county’s inhabitants…. [This is] not just a masterly examination of a brutal unsolved crime, which leads us through many surprising twists and turns and a final revelation…. It’s also an unflinching interrogation of what it means to be female in a society marred by misogyny, where women hitchhiking alone are harshly judged, even blamed for their own murders.
 Melissa Del Bosque - New York Times Book Review


[A] haunting and hard-to-characterize book about restless women and the things that await them on the road.… Because she lived and worked with teenage girls in Pocahontas County on and off for several years but isn't a native, [Eisenberg] is suited to the insider-outsider reporter role.… there's a deeper dimension to The Third Rainbow Girl that gives it its contemplative power. Eisenberg intertwines her own raw story about coming-into-womanhood into the true crime narrative.
Maureen Corrigan - NPR


[A] true crime tale as thoroughly researched and reported as it is perplexing.… [The book] offers a deep-dive into rural Appalachia, a region of the United States that is little understood, and it digs into questions of how deeply misogyny and bias can run inside a community. It is also an honest and endearing coming-of-age tale—one that will leave readers curious to know what Eisenberg will write about next ... Eisenberg's growing personal commitment to the summer camp for teen girls, and to her friends in this complicated rural ecosystem, emerges as the living heartbeat of the book.… [Eisenberg's] relentless reporting and attention to detail are what make the true crime elements of this book so enjoyable.… [It] accomplishes what any good murder mystery should. It shines a spotlight on a nexus of people and a place.… The insights into human nature are the real gritty, good stuff you get from reading a masterful work of journalism like this one.
Rachel Veroff - NPR


[Read this work] as a memoir, as a deeply researched true-crime report, as a work of philosophy. And the language is physical and visceral in its description of both the corporeal and the psychological.… Eisenberg is a skilled researcher, a truth made clear by the troves of detail about the "Rainbow Murders" case, expertly laid out in engaging prose.… Ultimately, the book is about accepting multiplicity and the prismatic nature of truth and justice… a rare find.
Sarah Neilson - Seattle Times


Compelling and sensitive.… The Third Rainbow Girl is not only a meticulously investigated story of a crime and its haunting aftermath, it's also a coming-of-age memoir.
Salon


[A] deeply felt exploration of Appalachia, a land where fault lines of race, gender, and class run deep. Eisenberg, a one-time resident of Pocahontas County, never lets her former home off easy, but instead evokes a portrait at once generous and devastating.
Esquire


If this is a book about a murder, it is also a book about the history of economic exploitation in Appalachia, the systemic biases of the criminal justice system, and the unreliability of memory.
The Nation


[G]ripping… [as the author] blends the case facts with a memoir of her time living in the area…. Part self-discovery and part crime and courtroom drama, … [this] is essential reading for true crime fans.
Publishers Weekly


[S]tunning…Eisenberg delivers the gripping tale of the murders, trial, and subsequent reverberations through the community. The author transcends genre and offers a unique work that is part memoir, part sociological analysis…. [N]ot to be missed. —Mattie Cook, Flat River Community Lib., MI
Library Journal


(Starred review) Eisenberg has crafted a beautiful and complicated ode to West Virginia. Exquisitely written,
this is a powerful commentary on society's notions of gender, violence, and rural America. Readers of literary nonfiction will devour this title in one sitting.
Booklist


[A] genre-straddling debut that blends true crime and memoir.…  [Eisenberg] reconstructs the case with a brisk pace and a keen sensitivity…. The compelling second story is, in effect, a memoir of her coming-of-age in Pocahontas County…. [A] nuanced portrait of a crime and its decadeslong effects.
Kirkus Reviews