The story starts in Vermont, at Idlewild Hall in 1950, a boarding school for troublesome girls. Girls who are unwanted, forgotten, broken. Four girls, roommates, form an unlikely friendship. It's the only bright thing for them in the dark and haunted halls of the school, until one of them disappears.

The storyline alternates between 1950 and 2014, where we meet Fiona Sheridan, a journalist who harbours an unhealthy obsession with Idlewild Hall. Her sister's body had been dumped there twenty years earlier, so when Fiona hears that someone was planning on restoring Idlewild, she felt compelled to cover the story.

Mary Hand, Mary Hand, dead and buried under land...
Faster, faster. Don't let her catch you.
She'll say she wants to be your friend...

This book was part mystery, and part ghost story. I have never read a book that so seamlessly wove together both of those aspects, it was fantastic! This book hooked me from the very first page and I found that I couldn't put it down.

Thank you to Netgalley, Simone St. James and Berkley for this wonderful read.

I loved this creepy, gothic, suspenseful novel. Idlewild Hall is an old abandoned boarding school for troubled, unwanted girls. Fiona's sister was murdered on its grounds 20 years ago. A recent renovation reveals more secrets. Great story with a little supernatural thrown in.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to preview the Broken Girls.
Modern day ghost story that goes back and forth in time.
If you like this genre, this is a good read.

I'm not really a fan of supernatural stuff but this was so well done that I really enjoyed it! I love the boarding school chapters. The writing was so descriptive that I felt like I was there. Spooky and suspenseful! I stayed up way too late reading this.

I absolutely loved this story. I stayed up way too late at night reading it and looked for every possible moment to get back to it whenever I had to put it down. Simone St. James creates characters that are likable and interesting. I also enjoyed the setting of an all girls private school with a ghost roaming the property. I will be recommending this book to family and friends, and I hope it makes the Goodreads Choice Awards 2018. I also think it would make an excellent movie.

Thank you Berkeley Publishing Group and Netgally for the opportunity to read this superb advanced reader's copy. So glad I didn't gave to wait until March to read this marvelous work. .

The author alternated between two eras of time, both the same setting, just 64 years apart.

Vermont, 1950. What did they do, back in the 1950's with girls no one wanted; the troublemakers, the illegitimate, the too smart for their own good? They were hauled off to boarding school. It’s called Idlewild Hall. And in the small town where it’s located, there are rumors that the boarding school is haunted. Four roommates, Katie, Sonia, Cecelia and Roberta bond over their fears, forming lifelong friendships, until one of them mysteriously disappears. . . .

Vermont, 2014. Fiona Sheridan is a fierce journalist and cannot stop revisiting the events surrounding her older sister, Deb who was tragically murdered. Twenty years ago, her body was found lying in the overgrown fields near the ruins of Idlewild Hall. And though her sister’s boyfriend was tried and convicted of murder, Fiona can’t shake the suspicion that something was never right about the case.

Fiona discovers that Idlewild Hall is being restored by an anonymous benefactor and wonders why anyone would throw money away on that creepy run down place. She decides to write a story about the mysterious, old boarding house. She begins to uncover shocking mystery after mystery.

The author wove fascinating history into this intricate tale full of mystery and just enough creepiness to keep the reader looking over their shoulder.

I enjoyed the way the author brought the two eras together joining the characters that I came to know. I didn’t want this story to end. The Broken Girls is truly an amazing story that captivated me. I will follow this incredible writer Simone St. James.

This is not normally the sort of genre I am keen for but I was so many raving reviews I just had to check it out. And WOW. I was blown away at the level of suspense and imagery. It was creepy and mysterious, but I enjoyed every moment of it. I was suspicious of the multiple time-lines but the author executed it very well and made it seemless.

Thoroghly enjoyed this mystery. Has been awhile since I read a book by this author and now I am anxious to go back and read her previous ones. I enjoyed the relationships between the four classmates and was trying to determine how it all fit together in the present. Good job!

I didn't know what to expect when I received my DRC of The Broken Girls. This book is a little out of my normal reading niche, but I really enjoyed it. The storyline kept me interested throughout the book. I kept trying to make connections to figure out what happened in the past and what was going to happen next. This book will appeal to readers that enjoy ghost stories with a modern twist.

First and foremost, Thank You to Berkley Pub for sending me an Arc of this book, in exchange of an honest review.

Have you ever read a book, that you felt was just consistently good? I really enjoyed this book, I felt like it didn't drag on, or have parts that lost my interest, I literally enjoyed every page. This book was brilliantly written,and I mean it's about ghosts, but really there is so much more to this amazing book, thing's you wouldn't imagine are within the pages, and I absolutely loved it. It's kind of like a suspense novel, with a bit of non-fiction thrown in. Once you read this, you will understand what I mean. 

I loved the four girls in the 1950's each of them were so unique, and such solid individuals, I understood how they became friends, and how they loved and supported each other. They opposites attract, and I definitely felt like it did with these girls. All four of them were from different walks of life, but they loved and respected each other, like true friends do. 

Fiona was a character I understood, I got why she couldn't let got of her sister, and the way she died. There was no closure for her. I felt like she couldn't move on with her life, because her sister didn't get to move on with hers. I loved that Fiona was persistent, she stood her ground, and she never gave up on what she wanted. Such a great characters with depth, and a heart of gold.

I loved the shocking twists and turns of this book, and I loved how it just gripped me from the very first page. It's beautifully written, and a book I will remember for a very long time. It's definitely  gotten its hold on me. I hope you guys pick this one up, It's such an incredible read. If you've read it already, what are your thoughts?

I absolutely loved this book! Loved the main character of the present and how the author seem lesli wove both stories together. The chapters contained so much exciting action it was so easy to read just one more chapter! I loved the added element of the ghost story in the background. The roommates were well described and their relationship was touching. Brilliantly written. Best arc I’ve read in a long time!! Savored every page.

A really good ghost story. plus a murder mystery...Great fun!!!

A creepy tale told in chapters alternating from the 1950's to present day Barron, VT where private girls' school Idlewild slowly crumbles into the landscape. When a mysterious wealthy widow decides to reconstruct the school, and a body is discovered in a well, reporter Fiona, still mourning the death of her sister (whose body was found on the school property), decides to lay old ghosts to rest.

Well written and gothic -- I read The Broken Girls in one sitting. Writing more would be telling, but I won't spoil it for you -- read this book!

I loved The Broken Girls by Simone St. James. The characters were unique and memorable, and I loved how the story unfolded during two different time periods, and then came together at the end. I loved all the many mysteries. It was just a fantastic book.

Idlewild Hall history is filled with death, ghost and problem teenagers. After being closed for years someone decides to renovate and reopen Idlewild Hall. With the renovation comes memories and more mysteries. Great new suspense novel.
Goodreads

The Broken Girls was quite unlike most of the suspense/thrillers I've read lately. Maybe it was the combination of ghost story, missing girl, past murder, present day events that all so intricately tied together before my very eyes that left me impressed. So many aspects just fit together like puzzle pieces without being obvious or expected. Very well written!

"Mary Hand, Mary Hand, dead and buried under land.... Faster, faster. Don't let her catch you. She'll say she wants to be your friend...."

What a bloody brilliant story! The Broken Girls by Simone St. James is a creepy, chilling, and BOLD ghost story. Oh my gosh... I absolutely loved how Simone created a mystery within a paranormal/ghost story. I have read previous novels where authors have tried to create a paranormal feel to the mystery/thriller and it failed miserably but wow... I am utterly impressed with Simone's talent.

What can I say about this novel? Plain and simple... READ it!

Idlewild Hall is a boarding school for girls that are troublemakers or as you can say the "leftovers". Idlewild is located in Vermont and is rumored to be haunted by a woman in a black veiled dress.
Katie, Sonia, Cece, and Roberta are roommates at Idlewild Hall who bond over this mysterious lady in black and the strange things that start happening at Idlewild until Sonia mysteriously vanishes without a trace in 1950.

20 years later journalist Fiona Sheridan can't stop thinking about her older sister's death. Twenty years ago, Fiona's sister's body was found lying in the field of Idlewild Hall. Her sister's boyfriend has been found guilty and is serving time in prison. But, Fiona can't let her sister's case go and something isn't adding up.

Is the death of her sister somehow linked to the missing girl Sonia in 1950? What secrets are being hidden about Idlewild Hall? Is Vermont hiding something more sinister about these mysterious girls that keep going missing?

Simone does an amazing job with characterization and depth of illustration in this novel. I could not get enough of the beautiful writing and details in this creepy and chilling ghost story. I highly recommend this novel!

Overall, 4.5 stars for this addicting read. Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley for an advanced arc in exchange for an honest review.

Expected publication date: 3/20/18.

This certainly was the perfect book to read just before Halloween! The story takes place over two time periods in the same-ish location, in 1950 at a girl's boarding school and 2014 in the same small Vermont town the now-abandoned school resides within. In the present we follow Fiona, who has been obsessed with the details of her sister's murder twenty years previously and whose body was found at the abandoned school, whereas in the past we follow a group of "broken" (50s terminolofy for delinquent, borne of wedlock, or disturbed) young girls living their lives at a school that may be haunted by a ghost.
I always find that in these types of past/present stories, one period jumps out as the far more interesting story and overshadows both the characters and events in the other period. And that was no different for me here; the story of the girls, their pasts, and the ghost came brilliantly off the page. All I wanted was to keep reading their story. Each jump to the present brought with it a sudden lag in pacing and a drag at having to read about Fiona, who never interested me with her story, her boyfriend, or her self-made plight. I felt nothing but irritation because with each scene she's in, someone always describes her as her father's daughter (specifically, "Malcolm Sheridan's daughter"). In. Every. Scene. The father plays a pretty small role in the book, and the reader is really just told as a backstory that he was a journalist of some local renown "back in the day".
I was strictly middle of the road with my feelings about this book, but the last 100 pages or so once the stories merge, saved it from being a full on pass to a timely book to read around the Fall holidays.
I think much of this book could have been tighter, and it would have been far more interesting to focus more on the 50s at the school as well as the ghost, but in any event, at least it had a satisfying ending.

I had not read a Simone St. James' title before, thus I was attracted simply to the plot description, rather than the publicity describing it as a breakout genre title. A well-crafted story, The Broken Girls featured well-developed, complex characters; believable plot development; and a nice melding of mystery, romance, and the supernatural.

I'm not big into creepy/scary ghost stories, but this one had me hooked! I pushed through my terror to the end just to find out what happened!