Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel

Darling Rose Gold

by Stephanie Wrobel

THE USA TODAY BESTSELLER

"If you enjoyed The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides, read Darling Rose Gold."Washington Post

“Sensationally good - two complex characters power the story like a nuclear reaction...”—Lee Child

 
A most anticipated book of 2020 by 
Newsweek ∙ Marie Claire ∙ Bustle ∙ ShondalandPopSugar ∙ Woman’s Day ∙ Good Housekeeping ∙ BookRiot ∙ She Reads
 
Mothers never forget. Daughters never forgive.
 
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.

 “Dazzling, dark and utterly delicious”—J. P. Delaney, New York Times bestselling author of The Girl Before

“One of the most captivating and disturbing thrillers I've read this year. An astonishing debut”—Samantha Downing, USA Today bestselling author of My Lovely Wife

Reviewed by layawaydragon on

4 of 5 stars

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I'm into true crime, and fiction inspired by true crime but abuse stories are hard to bear so I tend to avoid them.

I made an exception for Darling Rose Gold because the blurb made it sound different and interesting enough with the abused child all grown up and possibility of revenge.

I'm glad I did so! It's a quick, enrapturing read. I didn't want to put it down. Every chapter started with a surprise and ended with a hook, landing every red herring perfectly and left me gasping until the very end.

The only thing is she got rotting teeth only partly right. The flinching and staring and reactions from people were all spot on. But not having pain, sensitivity, or problems eating? Bullshit. Bull. Fucking. Shit. Been there. Done that. And I WISH it was that easy.

Also, Rose Gold would've qualified for dental care through the state while she was a kid, so it should've been mostly moot. But even if that wasn't a possibility, she didn't have to wait for a bridge or implants or have it all at once. I've all my teeth pulled & full dentures at 25. I know what I'm talking about.

This doesn't seem like a big deal, but it's brought up like every damn chapter of Rose Gold's. And the last line that's supposed to mean something falls flat because of it. I'm seriously having phantom teeth pain from reading this & just thinking about a jawbreaker? *shudder*


Highlighted Quotes:
No eye contact, bowed head: I was starting to learn how to read body language. I wasn't the only liar in the room.

I'd have to space them out, maybe one text per day. I couldn't risk scaring him away.


"You deserve every rotten thing you got."

That's what separates the sane from the not: knowing madness is an option but declining to choose it.

It's hard to be a little girl when you're not little.

His drink could use more than a few drops from the small brown bottle with the white cap in my purse.

But nobody wants to hear the truth from a liar.


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  • 14 January, 2020: Reviewed