This was a creepy read about a house wife named Eloise who is also a serial killer. The premise intrigued me and I thought this would be right up my alley. However, the story fell flat for me. The killings and the killer seemed unrealistic and too messy to actually get away with. I also couldn’t stand any of the characters, including the murderer, as they all lacked any moral fiber. I almost DNF but I wanted to know how it ended and found the ending to be exactly what I had predicted. Although I thought this was an okay read, I would definitely try another novel by this author.

Creepy.
Suspenseful.
Very Desperate Housewives-esq.

This was an interesting one! Told through multiple first-person POVs and dual timelines, Still’s latest diabolical thriller, 𝑴𝒚 𝑫𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 is action packed and filled with unlikeable characters you can’t help but loathe.

Definitely recommend for anyone who doesn’t mind a few psychotic, rich housewives. 🤪

Thank you to NetGalley & Rising Action Publishing for the digital galley!

Wow!! Creepy read!! But a good one! This book had a crazy twisted storyline! It had suspense, intrigue, murder, mystery, serial killer, and some really crazy twists and turns! I definitely recommend reading this book as it was well worth reading! Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

⭐⭐⭐ 3 Deranged Screaming Stars !

"She has no reason for being the way she is. She was born evil, nature's flaw. A beautiful flower that kills without mercy. Protection from natural selection. But this type pf evil, this type of species, has no place among human kind."

Read this if you like:
* Nonsensical Reads
* Serial Killers
* Deranged Characters
* Multiple POV's and Dual Timelines
*Shocking scenes
* Dark Twisted Reads

My Darlings premises is what hooked me, and the cover, I am such a sucker for covers !! " ABC's Desperate Housewives meets HBO's Dexter , come on you had me at Desperate Housewives !!

Eloise is the star of show in this book who I loathed so much . She is evil, she is deranged and she is a serial killer.

Eloise is the PTO president and has her little clicky group of friends she is a master of manipulating and Eloise is hot for her next victim, but someone seems to be stalking Eloise and mysterious things are happening all around her , does she have a "Watcher"? But hey nothing stops this twisted woman , makes her want to kill more!

I did really struggle with this book, some scenes were just too hard to digest and some of the characters placements and actions made no sense specifically Suzanne's. A few chapters or dare I say many I did a lot of eye rolling , I felt that maybe the author was trying too hard. The book had sooo much potential but a few things just did not add up for me, however I am a bit of an outlier so take this review as you see fit. I do know that ALOT of people will really love this book so if you do read this let me know your thoughts as I have seen several 5 stars !

Thank you Netgalley , Rising Action Publishing and Marie Still for this dark digital ARC!!

Respectfully Another Read by Angie

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC- this is a violent thriller mystery. The setting is the rich people of Washington, DC. Multiple points of view, including Eloise, our serial killer. Let's put aside that most serial killers are male, there have been some documented females! Eloise is PTO President, very well put together with several "ladies who lunch." She has one daughter, who is struggling with her teenage years, and a bit of a brat. Several secrets come to the surface throughout this book. The characters were extremely selfish and unlikeable... it is tough to get through a multiple POV book where there isn't at least SOMEONE you are rooting for. Some of the husbands were boring, and these were the BEST ones, the worst ones were horrific. The ending definitely was rushed and I had to re-read it to uncover what actuallly happened. It was less ambiguous and more forced to find the conclusion.

What made me request this book was the TV show comparisons.

I did not get much enjoyment from this book. I wasn't a fan of the writing style itself, but the story just got lost. I think it had potential to be a great book, but with everything going on it was just bland to me.

I predicted everything that happened.

2.5 starsc

Eloise is the perfect suburban mom, she’s the PTO president, a stay at home mom who takes care of her husband and her daughter, she lives in a very nice community. She’s also a serial killer, one must have their hobbies.
The most enjoyable part of this story is probably that Eloise is just bad, no sob story to explain her behaviour, she just enjoys hunting and killing people. Her sociopathic nature works really well in her community, she’s really good at making people do what she wants and at acting the way people expect her to. She’s the serial killer but far from the only evil person in this book, there’s also an incredibly abusive husband and a mysterious Watcher who seems to know about her and her past. She’s the best at it but they all pretend to be someone they’re not. Everyone is lying and cheating while pretending that they’re still perfect members of society.
Bryonny, Eloise’s daughter is also such a fascinating character. She’s Eloise’s best project and as she says a lot “she loves her” “she hates her”
It’s rare to have women’s villains being truly evil without the need to be written like a man or like a stereotypical femme fatale (it’s usually one or the other). Eloise sometimes uses sex as a weapon, but it’s not her main one. She’s the perfect little girl, the perfect stay at home mom, nobody would think twice when meeting her, which makes her such a dangerous predator.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of the book, all opinions expressed are my own.
My Darlings is expected to be published on August 1st

📖 My Darlings
✍️ Marie Still
🗓️ 08 Oct 2024
📝Rising Action Publishing | Rising Action


⭐️Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my advanced copy. All opinions are my own, I was under no obligation to review.

I loved Marie Still’s debut novel. It was so well written and fresh. So I had to read this one as well. Well, I can report, this was not a fluke. The woman can write, and that damn well!

I admit, the story was wild and at times over the top, but so what? I enjoyed that so much. When I was on insta, I talked to Marie and I remember asking her for her plans for her new book and what kind of character she would love to write. And she did it. The true villain. Someone so evil to their core, the perfect sociopath. I do enjoy this aspect in novels, so I did not mind. Irving was too graphic for my taste.

I don’t want to take anything away from the story, but boy, I am so happy that I got to read it, it was brilliant!

Eloise Williams seems like your typical suburban mom – PTO president, philanthropist, all-around pillar of the community. But as I quickly discovered, there's more to Eloise than meets the eye. She's also a serial killer. Yeah, you read that right.

But here's the kicker: Eloise isn't the only one in this upscale DC neighborhood hiding dark secrets. As the layers peel back, we're introduced to a cast of characters whose hidden lives rival Eloise's in their darkness and complexity.

With each revelation, the body count rises, sending shockwaves through the community. And let me tell you, the suspense is palpable. I found myself on the edge of my seat, eagerly devouring each twist and turn as the story unfolded.

But what really sets "My Darlings" apart is its exploration of the consequences of deception and the struggle for control. As Eloise desperately tries to maintain her facade of normalcy, the cracks begin to show, and the chilling reality hiding behind closed doors is exposed for all to see.

Overall, "My Darlings" is a gripping psychological thriller that pulls no punches. It's dark, it's twisted, and it's utterly addictive. If you're a fan of thrillers that delve into the complexities of human nature and the secrets we keep hidden, then do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of "My Darlings." Trust me, you won't be disappointed.

I was invested in what was going on from the cover and then glad it continued to keep me hooked with the story. The characters were everything that I wanted and enjoyed in this setting. I thought Marie Still wrote a strong story and was glad this was a killer read.

Eloise Williams is the epitome of an all-round wonderful mother, involved in the PTO at her children’s schools and devotes her time to many boards raising money for worthy causes. Life is all about appearances to her and she is obsessive regarding her looks, her home and her children and the picture these paint to the rest of the world. She married her husband not so much out of love but more as a means to an end, as he has the funds to support the lifestyle she craves and desires and everything she does is to paint a picture of a perfect lifestyle.

She has a close group of friends but underneath she feels she is way better than any of them and again these women play part of a role vital to her life. But Eloise is not a nice woman, she is a serial killer and plans these attacks meticulously, she believes that she will never be caught.

To be honest I found the whole story way over the top, characters I struggled to care about and once this happens, I do lose interest quite quickly. Will I remember this book? I doubt it but I would be open to trying another book from this author.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of the book, all opinions expressed are my own.

𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐈'𝐦 𝐜𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐲𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐞, 𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐬. 𝐈𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦.

For so long this was just a cover on my Want to Read shelf, so the second I saw it was available to request, I damn near dislocated something trying to get to that request button! Of course some obligations and required adulting were screaming my name at just that time, and that's the only reason I didn't finish in a single sitting!

The short review: Holy sh*t. I am speechless.

The long review: Never mind. I found my words and will be using a lot of them in my review!

I have read plenty of books featuring the female MC as a serial killer, sociopath, or psychopath, but none of them have repulsed me and left me as unnerved as Eloise. Eloise lives in an exclusive neighborhood in DC and rules as president of the PTO at her teen daughter's school. In her free time, she's also a serial killer. What sets Eloise apart from other similar characters I have read about is that she's not killing for a noble purpose, like ridding the world of evil. She's doing it because it gives her a thrill. Her absolute lack of remorse, zero empathy, and the hideous mask of normalcy she wears made me root for her demise.

Even worse, there are plenty of flashbacks to her youth that include this abhorrent behavior. I know my face was doing things as I read these, and all I could think was, "What exactly do you do with a child like this?" Once again, the age-old debate of nature vs. nurture pops up, but this time, there is a sense of urgency. Monsters like Eloise exist. They are empty vessels that rely on human suffering to fill them up. As soon as Eloise talked about her first "darling," I knew I was in for a wild ride.

Even worse, Eloise is not the only monster in this book. Lurking close to her inner circle of friends is someone you're going to absolutely hate, and THEN there is someone only called The Watcher who narrates small snippets here and there. When that identity is exposed, I was screaming!

I feel like I need to watch a Disney movie or something, but this book exceeded my expectations. It will definitely make you uncomfortable even though it's not overly graphic. I'll be thinking about this one for a long time. Thank you so much to the author for the early copy. MY DARLINGS will publish August 1, 2024.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this book for free in exchange for my review! All opinions are my own.

The premise of this book being compared to Dexter and Desperate Housewives was very interesting to me. It was the cover that made me request it. I love a good suburban domestic thriller.. Unfortunately, this book was more Dexter and less Desperate Housewives in my opinion. I would almost consider this book to be borderline horror as some parts were more graphic than I was expecting for a thriller (I have read other books about murder that have been less graphic). If I had known that, I wouldn't have requested this book. I might pick up another book by Marie Still. in the future.

Many Thanks again to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this book in exchange for my honest review.


2.5 rounded up
********


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