Author: Simone St. James
Publisher: Berkley
Rating: 📖📖📖📖/5
What do you do when you can't give up on someone even after their death? In 2014 a reporter named Fiona Sheridan, after the murder of her sister Deb twenty years prior, cannot let go of the past. The murderer is in jail and the case has been solved. So why must she dig deeper? Fiona digs deeper into the case and finds that the abandoned Idlewild Hall, where Deb's body was discovered, is being renovated. Her research leads down a road she never thought she would discover, secrets that have been kept hidden for good reason.
The Broken Girls by Simone St. James was definitely not what I was expecting. After reading a string of thrillers and murder stories, I thought that this book would be more of the same. I was wrong. St. James paints a story that different from expectations. For some reason Fiona resonated with me. I don't easily give up on something I feel passionate about. Not to mention if something feels off, I have to investigate further. I guess you could say I am stubborn. Anyway, it is plain to see in this book that St. James knows how to keep a secret. There are twists in the story that are so subtle that the reader won't even pick up on them. At least I didn't. I admire how the author made such a realistic and believable world that not even I could have guessed exactly how the book would end. Not many authors have done that for me.
The story is told both in the 1950s and 2014. Normally, I dislike books that skip through time. They often leave me confused and quickly lose my focus. However, St. James weaves both time periods seamlessly together. When one aspect is touched on in one time period, the other follows with a similar theme. This makes it much easier for a reader like me to follow the story.
But there are two aspects in this story that often make many readers put books down: the supernatural and boarding schools. I honestly believe that a mystery story that centers itself on the supernatural often becomes predictable and, lets say it, boring. You have the ghost that goes around tormenting and killing people blah blah blah. BUT in The Broken Girls the ghost isn't the center at all! The ghost, Mary Hand, is a welcome addition without taking away from the real story. I was SO thankful for this. The other aspect, the boarding school, wasn't even cliche! I was expecting a bunch of snotty girls who complain for the whole story, but instead I found a group of girls with very different backgrounds and personalities that come together in a less-than-glamorous boarding school. Again, I found the boarding school theme to be welcoming and not boring.
Overall, I HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone who may read this blog. Supernatural, mystery, boarding school drama and even general readers would all enjoy this book in my opinion. Please check it out if you get the chance!
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