The Broken Girls - Simone St. James

The Broken Girls by Simone St. James is an excellent piece of work, part gothic ghost novel, part modern day thriller, threading three different events that take place at three different times in the same place, together. Freelance journalist Fiona Sheridan regards the ruins of Idlewild Hall as a tragic place where her sister was murdered 20 years earlier, but when someone decides to start restoring the old boarding school she realizes that there is much more hidden in the grounds.

I literally could not put this book down. I love a good ghost story in this genre, and I also love a good thriller. In addition to all that I especially love a good, strong female lead character who follows her instincts and doesn’t back down. Often when I’m reading through a thriller I find myself racing through, skipping paragraphs to get to the end, but The Broken Girls is so well written, you just can’t skip a phrase. I also loved the dual timeline in the novel, it was great to have the perspective from 1950 and from 2014, and it really helped to enhance the eerie ghost storyline. I’m off to get Simone St James’s other books now, because if The Broken Girls is anything to go by I’m in for a huge treat!!

I kept the summary as vague as possible because I don’t want to provide any spoilers – it’s such a smart book that keeps you guessing and really important to live the plot as it unfolds rather than through someone else’s eyes.

The Broken Girls will be published by Berkley Publishing Group on March 20th, 2018. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy!