FINALLY, I can talk a bit more openly about this stunning novel. I read Darling Rose Gold in one sitting when I received the ARC back in October of 2019. It. Was. Intense. And I loved every minute of it. If you are aching for a new thrill, look no further than this gem.


Sharp Objects meets My Lovely Wife in this tightly drawn debut that peels back the layers of the most complicated of mother-daughter relationships...

For the first eighteen years of her life, Rose Gold Watts believed she was seriously ill. She was allergic to everything, used a wheelchair and practically lived at the hospital. Neighbors did all they could, holding fundraisers and offering shoulders to cry on, but no matter how many doctors, tests, or surgeries, no one could figure out what was wrong with Rose Gold.

Turns out her mom, Patty Watts, was just a really good liar.

After serving five years in prison, Patty gets out with nowhere to go and begs her daughter to take her in. The entire community is shocked when Rose Gold says yes.

Patty insists all she wants is to reconcile their differences. She says she's forgiven Rose Gold for turning her in and testifying against her. But Rose Gold knows her mother. Patty Watts always settles a score.

Unfortunately for Patty, Rose Gold is no longer her weak little darling...

And she's waited such a long time for her mother to come home.

As always, a copy of this book was provided by the publisher or author in exchange for my honest review. This does not effect my opinion in any way.

Months have passed since I first read Darling Rose Gold. But, let me be blunt really quick: I haven't stopped thinking about it since. A part of me was almost hesitant in picking it up, because I was so hooked by the synopsis I was concerned that I was hyping myself up only to be let down. This could not be farther from the truth--Darling Rose Gold left me hypnotized, chilled and completely cloaked by its intrigue.

If there is one thing you need to know about Darling Rose Gold is that it's wildly entertaining, purely addictive and the perfect suspense to curl up and sip a warm beverage with. Already, this is one of my favourite releases of 2020.

Which, I'm sure, is no surprise.

Described as a little bit of Gillian Flynn's Sharp Objects, aka my favourite standalone novel of all-time, and a ripped from the headlines spin on the DeeDee and Gypsy Rose Blanchard case, it's easy to see why my true crime and thriller loving self NEEDED this book.

In so many ways, Darling Rose Gold feels a bit like a call-back to the tone of books like Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas. Of course, the similarities only lay in premise (inspired by real, ripped from the headlines cases) and atmosphere.

While Darling Rose Gold was clearly inspired by some real life events, but for the most part the story is entirely its own. In the case of Darling Rose Gold, there's this eerie and tense atmosphere to it that makes the novel build up on its own. It is bleak, slow-burning, and full of suspense. Darling Rose Gold keeps readers on the edge of their seat with an almost blindly unsettled feeling stirring within.

What makes this story most striking is in the way it builds. Stephanie Wrobel messes with your head a bit by unraveling the central storylines; Darling Rose Gold is somehow both tantalizingly slow and destructively fast. There's this brutal quality to the way that Wrobel tells the story and I found myself reaching for page tabs to annotate quite a few portions of the novel.

Wrobel's writing is the sort of prose that gets under your skin and makes a home out of your unease. If you love a good suspense, Darling Rose Gold needs to be at the top of your TBR this spring. But, beware: it is a highly addictive read.