Simone St. James has written another wonderful read. One that gets you so involved, that you must keep reading to find out what has happened in this very creepy Girls School. Who is the ghost that roams the school and what does she want. Missing girls, murders ghosts and very creepy atmosphere, enough to keep you on the edge of you seat! Excellent read!

Idelwild Hall being renovated but not being made public? Did the mysterious woman and her son that were doing the renovation know something no one else knew?

One good thing about the renovation was that it meant Fiona would be able to get inside the school grounds where her sister was found dead on the football field twenty years ago.

Fiona still had questions about her sister's death, and this would be the perfect time to investigate.

THE BROKEN GIRLS moves from 1950 when we meet the four main characters and then back again to present day with Fiona using her journalist's skills to write a story and find more clues to what happened at the school. It looked like more than what the public knew.

During her investigation, Fiona finds something else that happened that was kept from the public.

Fiona’s investigation heats up when she finds a teacher who was at Idelwild Hall during its hey day. The teacher let Fiona know that no one liked being there - students and teachers alike.

There was something at the school that was sinister and something that everyone wanted to keep quiet or perhaps something they didn’t know about but kept the students and teachers on edge.

You won’t want to put THE BROKEN GIRLS down.

THE BROKEN GIRLS has lots of secrets, along with ghosts, mean girls, and a school that was for unwanted girls for a reason.

This was my first book by Ms. St. James. Her writing is mesmerizing, detailed, and draws you in so well that you feel as if you are right there with the characters and the drama.

Murders, an old boarding school, corruption, and an awesome story line await the reader. And...how about that cover? A great indication of what is inside.

ENJOY when you read THE BROKEN GIRLS during daylight hours. LOVED the book. 5/5

This book was given to me free of charge and without compensation by the publisher and NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Hauntingly creepy, this ghost story will chill your bones. A dual timeline that takes place in a haunted, abandoned all girls school - the perfect setting for a ghost story!

I've been a fan of Simone St. James since reading The Haunting of Maddy Clare. She has a great instinct for adding just the right amount of supernatural elements to her stories to make them interesting and believable. In The Broken Girls, the the story takes place in Vermont across two timelines: the present day and the 1950s, when a group of girls resided at Idlewild Hall, a boarding school for young outcast women. In the present day, the main character, Fiona Sheridan (a journalist), who is still grieving the murder of her older sister many years ago, discovers that someone has purchased the dilapidated Idlewild Hall, and this creates an obsession to research the history the school. She isn't convinced the whole story of her sister's murder was really brought to light, and of course, she's right. In the narrative covering the past era, the reader is introduced to a group of girls who have all "seen" or "heard" something that they think is the ghostly presence of a young woman killed at the school in the 1800s. There are mysteries to solve in the past and in the present and the author does a great job of tying all these mysteries together. I found this to be a very enjoyable read, and an excellent example of this genre.

In 1994, Fiona Sheridan’s sister was found murdered in a field outside of Idlewild, a long-abandoned girls’ boarding school. Twenty years later and now a journalist, Fiona begins looking into the school’s past, uncovering a forgotten mystery involving four girls attending Idlewild in 1950 and an even older story of the ghost of Mary Hand. An intriguing dual narrative where the past converges with the present, featuring hauntings, murders, history, and just a tiny bit of romance.

True to St. James’s style, yet breaking the mold of her post-WWI-era novels. A highly enjoyable read!

An intriguing murder mystery with a supernatural element thrown in. The story takes place in different time periods, from 1950 to present, all revolving around the setting of a creepy girls school. This would definitely appeal to those who like a more gothic type tale; something not too graphic or gory but still quite atmospheric. 3.5 stars because I like my mysteries to be grittier!

A really fascinating, hair-raising tale! Couldn't put it down!

In the 1950s, Idlewild Hall in rural Vermont was a place where families sent daughters they’d rather forget. The residents of the boarding school are illegitimate, traumatized, criminal. But the school may be haunted by more than bad memories; a spirit called Mary Hand is said to stalk the halls, and four roommates, bonded over shared misery, will face the spirits of Idlewild when one of them disappears.

Meanwhile, in 2014, a local journalist is shocked to hear that long-abandoned Idlewild Hall is being restored. Her own obsession with the overgrown and forgotten school started when her sister’s body was discovered on the grounds twenty years earlier. As she begins to dig into the history of the school, she finds old mysteries entwined with new, and a growing sense that something haunts the grounds of the old school.

This was a wonderful mystery story with a supernatural twist. St. James weaves her narrative between 1950 and 2014, slowly parsing out information and clues to the reader. The book is atmospheric; the boarding school exudes a palpable sense of menace and despair. Fiona Sheridan, the journalist, and the four roommates from 1950 are well-written, with the young students quickly becoming characters to care about and fear for.

The supernatural elements of the story are well done, and fit organically into the plot. Who, or what, Mary Hand may be is dangled in front of the reader, but largely kept teasingly out of reach until the very end.

In all, this is a wonderfully satisfying mystery that avoids the pitfalls of the mystery thriller genre. Anyone who wants a ghost story mixed in with their mystery will enjoy this book.

An advance copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Well, this was fun!

The Broken Girls is half mystery novel, half ghost story, with a dual timeline, each with its own mystery. I thought the balance between both the two storylines and the ghost/mystery aspects was particularly effective (in a way it often isn’t with dual timelines). In the present day, Fiona is a journalist trying to come to terms with her sister’s murder. Even though the killer was tried and convicted, she can’t move on; the details aren’t sitting right. She decides to investigate the former school where her sister’s body was found after she learns the buildings are about to be renovated. The other half of the novel describes the experiences of four roommates who attended the school fifty years earlier, before it was abandoned. The four girls have all been labeled as ‘problems’ by society, but manage to build a friendship in an unlikely, and somewhat terrifying place.

I’ve read all of Simone St. James’ novels, and while I’ve enjoyed them all, I think this book is definitely one of the stronger ones. I read the book in one day, partly because it was so engaging, partly because I was worried I’d have trouble sleeping if I didn’t finish it before going to bed. What more do you want from a ghost story? And this ghost story is particularly creepy. Maybe it’s because of the modern setting – I think a historical setting can provide a sense of distance from the reader, a sense of that whatever’s happening wouldn’t/couldn’t happen now.

After I finished the novel, my brain kept circling around some of the common themes. The two storylines are connected by a school that has apparently been a place of tragedy for generations of women. It really brings home what can happen to women, particularly those society chooses to ignore, suppress, or judge, and how they have to fight to find a voice, or others have to fight to act as their voice for them.

Both storylines were well-developed; the character work is particularly strong. I do think that while Fiona’s character was easier to connect with initially, the development of the friendship between the four roommates was the more interesting in the end. Fiona occasionally comes across as a bit too tunnel-visiony (particularly in the middle of the novel), which worked in her capacity as a journalist solving a mystery, but made her romantic subplot (with police officer Jamie) difficult to fully invest in. She and Jamie had chemistry, but it was sometimes difficult to see the reason for the attraction. The resolution of the storyline from the past also felt better done than that in the present, both in terms of the character resolution, and the mystery elements. I did think the resolution of the modern mystery felt a little bit too neat. It might have been better with a little more nuance (particularly in connection with Jamie’s character arc).

Overall, this was an entertaining story, perfect for curling up on a couch on a snowy afternoon. I’d read it again, and recommend it to anyone who likes a good ghost story. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this title. Unfortunately, I was not able to finish this book which means I will not be able to review it. I truly appreciate the opportunity and apologize for the inconvenience the lack of review may cause you.

Another winner from Simone St. James! The tale weaves back and forth from the perspectives of 4 teens from 1950 to a journalist from 2014. The teens go to a boarding school called Idlewild that is reported to be haunted. The girls do get scared of something one by one. In 2014, the school is closed but gets bought by a wealthy investor that wants to reopen the school. It's during the construction that a body is uncovered. Fiona, the journalist, takes on an obsession with uncovering the mystery. Perhaps she begins "seeing" things as well. This story will consume you late into the night as things begin unraveling. Simone never fails to write an outstanding paranormal mystery!

I did not enjoy this book. It read as very drab despite the subject matter.

This book could also be entitled the forgotten girls, a remote "boarding school" in the early 1950's for girls that were illegitimate, inconvenient, or simply "too much" yields a nightmare existence . The girls are treated almost as prisoners and how they ended up at this remote school in rural Vermont is varied, but always tragic. Four roommates in room 3C form a relationship that will last for the rest of their lives, that are not necessarily to old age. Fast forward to the present and an inquisitive journalist who has her own horror on the grounds of the long abandoned school. Fiona is tenacious, damaged, smart and intuitive. The past to present segues in the book are seamless and make a lot of sense. Any fan of historical fiction, suspense and the politics of small towns will enjoy this book. It will keep you guessing until the very end.

"Mary Hand Mary Hand, dead and buried under land. She'll say she wants to be your friend. Do not let her in again!"
Then : The Idlewild girls, out of sight, out of mind, unwanted. Shut away in a boarding school
where their families rarely if ever visited. Katie, Roberta. CeCe and Sophia, four girls with not much in common other than being forced to share a room, become the best of friends. They live in fear, not only of what the future holds, but of the legend of Mary Hand, a story passed down from generations of school residents before them, scribbled about in the margins of text books that have never been replaced. They say Mary is buried on school property, that she haunts the grounds and shows you things, horrible awful things.

Now:
Fiona has never gotten over the loss of her sister. Her murdered body found dumped in the field at the long closed Idlewild Hall. When restorations begin on the property by someone who claims to want to reopen the school, Fiona can't keep away. She is present when a body is unearthed on school property, and her investigative mind leads her to uncover long buried secrets. Not only will she uncover the truth about Mary Hand, but of what truly happened to her sister and the newly unearthed body.

Part murder mystery, part ghost story, this was a suspenseful and intriguing tale, told on 2 time lines which added a wondrous mix of historical fiction into this thrilling read.

Compelling story of female friendship, buried secrets, and the treatment of women who don't fit the mold. I read a lot of thrillers, and this is in my top ten for the past year. Great read. Highly recommended.

What a great story. A suspense written around a ghost, not my favorite genre, but I liked this book. The ghost was an intricate part of the story, not just added on to make it fall into the paranormal genre. The story goes between the past, and the present. In the 50’s Idlewild was operated as a boarding school for troubled girls. One of the girls disappears and is written off as a runaway. Now it is 2014 and journalist Fiona Sheridan finds out someone has bought the old school property and plans to restore it. Her sisters body was found on the property 20 years ago, murdered. She still has questions about the murder.

The transition between past and present is seamless. The story is compelling and will keep you turning pages. You get the feeling there are a lot more secrets hiding below the surface in this little town. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

Sent from my iPad

Worthy of a place near the great gothic classics, " The Broken Girls" creates an eerie environment from the first page and then keeps the suspense going until the secret of the haunted school is revealed. In rural Vermont deep in the forest sits the ruin of what used to be an all girls boarding school. Reporter Fiona Sheridan has never gotten over her sister's death and can't believe it when she hears that a wealthy investor has purchased the school and intends to re-open it as a boarding school even after her sister was found dead on the property and another body is found in a well. She is like a starving dog with a bone and will risk her relationship with a local cop (whose family won't accept her for her part in getting the presumed guilty boyfriend sent to jail) and her own safety as she tries to find out the real truth of what happened. The story then flips back to the 1950's as one of a group of friends at the school goes missing and no one seems to care. These girls were broken and haunted both emotionally and physically. From the first pages of a scary walk to the school at night to the heart-pounding conclusion, you will be up all night reading. My thanks to the publisher for the advance copy.

<i>The Broken Girls</i>' Fiona Sheridan is the grown up Nancy Drew you didn't know you needed. Two murders, a decrepit boarding school for delinquent girls and a ghost make this creepy novel just the thing to read with the light on. It's been a long time since I read something that gave me this many goosebumps!

St. James' writing is engaging and atmospheric, and I seriously couldn't put it down. Recommended to those who like to get the creeps and to those who always wanted the ghosts in Nancy Drew to turn out to be real.

I don't believe in ghosts in real life, but I absolutely believed in the ghost of Mary Hand haunting a girls' boarding school, even after it was shut down in 1979. The writing of Broken Girls is wonderful and unique.

The story is told during two diferent periods in history. In 2014, journalist Fiona Sheridan, daughter of a famous journalist, is still looking for more solid information on the murder of her sister twenty years earlier, even though Deb's boyfriend was convicted and has been imprisoned since her body was found in a field at Idlewood Hall in a remote part of Vermont.

In 1950, we get to meet four roommates, girls abanoned because they were born outside of marriage or they're orphans or their parents just didn't know how to deal with the challenges of raising a spirited daughter, especially at a time when we don't have the knowledge about mental health that we do now (and therefore it was shameful to not be sunny and agreeable at all times if you were female). I loved these four fifteen-year-old girls. When one of them goes missing, neither the police nor the teachers do much to investigate. She's a throwaway girl. Her friends, however, know that she was murdered because she'd never run away.

Fiona's search for the truth makes for an intriguing and enjoyable mystery. I really liked this book, which RELEASES MARCH 20, 2018.

Highly recommend!

Wow! By the end of the prologue which took place in 1950, I wanted…no needed to know more about who this unidentified girl being followed was. After reading chapter one I couldn’t wait to figure out how Fiona from 2014 would connect with the girl from 1950. I had never read a book by this author before and will definitely be doing so now. I literally could not put this book down and finished it in one day.

In the beginning I thought it may get a little confusing going between 1950 and 2014 and reading from so many character’s points of view but I was wrong! It was so fantastically written and developed, everything eventually connected and made sense leaving no unanswered questions. I loved the development of the characters, learning about the pasts of all the girls and learning about Fiona from 2014. I could have kept reading more and more about them! I wanted to finish the book to find all the answers but also didn’t want it to end!

Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC copy in exchange for my honest review.