Darling Rose Gold

I only got like 17 pages in. I knew it was inspired by actual news of that girl whose name I currently cannot remember but actually reading felt exploitative from the jump. Like it immediately just didn't sot right with me and I just couldn't keep going.

Summary: For years, Rose Gold’s mother, Patty, convinced her whole community—Rose Gold included—that her daughter had a chronic illness that required extensive caregiving and financial support. The reality, however, was that Patty was poisoning her own child, and she was imprisoned for five years after she was caught and convicted. Now, upon Patty’s release, Rose Gold has decided to allow her mother to come live with her and her new baby for reasons unknown to anyone but Rose Gold herself. Based on the true story of Gypsy Rose, this book gives readers a look into the minds of mother and daughter, exploring their motivations and perceptions of themselves and each other.

Everyone is awful, but there another did a good job of making them sympathetic.

3.5⭐️

Definitely a fun read. A few plot holes that kept me from rating higher, but I wanted to keep turning pages to see how it all played out.

likes
- definitely gripping and I did want to continue to find out what was going to happen

dislikes
- this was too similar to the Gypsy Rose case - I know the author said she took inspiration from it but that was um.. a lot of inspiration.
- I guessed the twist probably about 40% of the way through the book
- did not really like the writing

overall, I can see why so many people are liking this one but it didn't really wow me!

3.5 stars. Fast paced and twisty novel. This is a revenge story between two characters with emotional and psychological issues due to abuse. Even though it is fiction, that may be a barrier to enjoying this book for some readers.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the digital advanced reader copy of this book.

Don't let the title of this book fool you! The soft colors and pretty words belie the darkness hidden under the cover. There is nothing “darling” about Rose Gold Watts or her mother, Patty Watts. In this story, this mother and daughter are pitted against each other in a sick tale of control and revenge.

Rose Gold Watts spent her entire childhood suffering with illness that her mother, Patty, intentionally caused. The book begins with Patty being released after five years in jail for child abuse. Rose Gold takes her mother into her home and even allows her to care for the baby that Rose Gold is raising. One would wonder why a victim of abuse would allow her abuser back into her life this way. Either she's weak or she's out for revenge.

Wrobel does not make it clear at first whether Rose Gold has a plan of revenge for her mother. This makes the story suspenseful as the reader is constantly wondering the reasons for Rose Gold's behavior. Patty's intentions are clear in the chapters she narrates, but Rose Gold's narrated chapters are mostly flashbacks that do not reveal her plans. It is not until we get closer to the end of the book that we can start to predict what Rose Gold's been up to.

I enjoyed the way author slowly revealed Rose Gold's personality as the book progressed. It was interesting to see it take shape. I didn't develop my true opinion of her character until the last quarter of the book. On the other hand, I knew I did not like Patty from the beginning.

This story has enough twists and turns to keep the reader engaged. It is an easy, fun read that is just dark enough to be enticing to a thriller fan. Stephanie Wrobel has made a solid debut with this story, and I look forward to what she writes next.

This book was one I was highly anticipating and I was grateful to get a copy from Edelweiss to review. I absolutely loved this story. The twist at the end was great and totally unexpected. Definitely a book I would recommend to anyone who like a good thriller with a strained mother/daughter relationship. Looking forward to reading more from this author!