The Broken Girls by Simone St. James @simone_stjames @BerkleyPub #bookreview #bookbestiereadssbrokengirls

Happy Thursday bibliophiles!

Hope everybody had a wonderful Christmas, my last day of celebration was yesterday and I am worn out! Today I have a review for a book that was just released in paperback by Berkley. This was a buddy read with Kenzie and I, the only besties that have not read this yet. We thoroughly enjoyed it and are excited to have Jennifer join us in the celebration of the paperback release!👻💕

The Broken Girls by Simone St. James

My Thoughts

A haunting mystery filled with the perfect amount of chills and thrills!

Mary Hand Mary Hand, Dead and buried under land. She’ll say she wants to be your friend. Do not let her in again.

This book was a bit of a genre potpourri…. a dose of mystery, a measure of thriller,a shot of historical fiction, a sprinkling of the paranormal, and a pinch of romance! All these genres were blended seamlessly creating one heck of a book! This book definitely caught me by surprise, I really was not expecting to like it quite as much as I did… I was completely entranced by the words on the pages throughout this entire book… bravo Simone St. James!

The story was told from duel timeperiods and multiple points of view… this was done flawlessly, there was never any confusion as to time or perspective… something about Miss St. James writing just transported me completely to 1950 and 2014 Vermont….

1950 four roommates, for“misfits“ sent away to boarding school at Idlewild Hall… when one of them goes missing, the other three are the only ones convinced that there was foul play at work…. what I loved about this part of the story is we got all four of the girls perspectives, and really got to know them and their backstories… The bond that forms between these girls was unbreakable, kind of ironic when the world saw them as broken…. three smart savvy girls determined to seek justice for their friend…

2014 Fiona is still haunted by the murder of her older sister Deb… still uncertain that the right person was convicted of The crime and still drawn to Idlewild Hall where her sister’s body was found… when somebody begins to renovate Idlewild Fiona is driven to write a story about the renovation…. but as she begins to dig into the history of Idlewild she finds herself with more questions than answers… what I love most about this part of the story was Fiona herself, she was so fierce and determined, I could just feel her love for her sister coming off the pages!

Two very different stories woven together with threads of Idlewild Hall, Family, friendship, love, and a ghost… I really enjoyed both storylines equally… I was mesmerized by the past and compelled by the present… so many twists and turns that took me by surprise… so many times during this book I found myself literally sitting on the edge of my seat…. all the characters in this book were so well developed, so real, I felt as though I would know them if they were walking down the street…. although I must admit Fiona was my favorite, I really had a soft spot for her and really wanted her romance with Jamie to work out! Don’t panic if you don’t like romance, this was a very small part of the story, but I thoroughly enjoyed it!

A captivating and compelling story that I would absolutely recommend to anyone who enjoys a good thriller! Don’t let the ghost scare you off!

*** A huge thanks to Berkley for my copy of this book ***

About the Book

A suspense novel from the award-winning author of The Haunting of Maddy Clare…

Vermont, 1950. There’s a place for the girls whom no one wants–the troublemakers, the illegitimate, the too smart for their own good. It’s called Idlewild Hall. And in the small town where it’s located, there are rumors that the boarding school is haunted. Four roommates bond over their whispered fears, their budding friendship blossoming–until one of them mysteriously disappears. . . . 

Vermont, 2014. As much as she’s tried, journalist Fiona Sheridan cannot stop revisiting the events surrounding her older sister’s death. Twenty years ago, her body was found lying in the overgrown fields near the ruins of Idlewild Hall. And though her sister’s boyfriend was tried and convicted of murder, Fiona can’t shake the suspicion that something was never right about the case.

When Fiona discovers that Idlewild Hall is being restored by an anonymous benefactor, she decides to write a story about it. But a shocking discovery during the renovations will link the loss of her sister to secrets that were meant to stay hidden in the past–and a voice that won’tbe silenced. . . . 

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Jennifer @ Tarheel Reader

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