I have never read a paranormal thriller and I was not sure what to expect. The book moves back and forth between Vermont in the 1950's  and 2014.   Idlewild Hall is a school where girls were sent to be forgotten.  It was shut down decades ago  and is rumored to be haunted but, is suddenly bought by an unknown benefactor who intends to restore it and reopen it.  Fiona Sheridan is a journalist, whose sister died on the property of Idlewild in the 90's.  She cannot let go of the past and decides to write a story on the school, and its history.  What they discover on the property of Idlewild takes the reader on a thrilling mystery and Idlewild slowly gives up its dark secrets.  I loved the mystery and could not put the book down.  The paranormal component wasn't over the top which made it totally readable, believable with just the right amount of fear factor.

The first thing that struck me about this story was the creep factor. I think everyone has an experience where you can just feel something’s not right. Something bad had happened or maybe you feel weird about a building.

That’s the feeling you get within the very first chapters of this book. Whether you believe in spirits or ghosts or not, this is a ghost story. A good one! It creeped me out a few times! But it is also a sad story on many levels too.

Told in chapters of alternating time, you get the story from the girls point of view that live at Idlewild Hall. Their fears, sadness, problems, and their fragile connections. Then we get today’s story. The renovation, after effects of Fiona’s sister’s murder, and Fiona’s diligence to find the truth, no matter the cost.

The author has an amazing talent to craft a story with haunting effects. She gives us a taste of history, a touch of tenuous romance, some great twists full of suspense, and a ending that may surprise you, or not.

The Broken Girls left me with different feelings on many levels. On one hand I hated for the book to end because it was engrossing and just so good. On the other hand, I was anxious to see how the author would wind it up and tie that pretty little bow.

St. James brings mystery suspense to a new level with this book. If you can handle a good mystery that will give you a few creeps, you need to read The Broken Girls. It will stay with you for a while!

PS.. Maybe not one to read before bed….

One of the coolest thriller/mystery story lines I have read in a quite a while and to top it off, it had an even cooler twist. And to top THAT off, the cover fits in perfectly with the story line.

I wanted to start out by saying that the author did a fantastic job at creating such a “spooky” atmosphere for the reader. Both past and present, I was creeped out. And for this storyline- that was much needed. It set the entire theme for both of the timelines and it was executed perfectly.

With me saying that, the dual timeline in the story was MUCH needed and much appreciated (ya girl is thankful). The structure of it worked so well that I was completely enthralled with all of the characters involve, past and present. If I was reading about the 1950’s I was happy. If I was reading in 2014, I was happy too. It was a complete win-win for me.

The pacing of the book was superb. It kept me hooked the entire time and constantly turning the pages. With all of the questions I had building up in my head, I was given all of the answers. Like the author herself just knew it would need to be done that way.

The story as a whole was clever and very bone chilling. Haunting and captivating. I’m very glad to know that out there in a pool full of “Gone Girl” and “The Woman on the Train” (or whatever it was called) comparison books, The Broken Girls was WAY more than all of those books. It restored my faith in the thriller/suspense genre.

I really enjoyed this thriller. Sometimes, books that bounce back and forth between different time periods can be frustrating, but this one did a nice job. I was completely invested in all the characters and the mysteries surrounding the Idlewild School. I say mysteries rather than mystery because it really felt like there wasn't any real connection between the mystery from 1950, the one from 1994, and the difficulties of our main character's investigation in 2014 other than the setting of the school itself. Sometimes, this seemed a little odd--as did the introduction of some characters and plot devices seemingly out of nowhere. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the book as a whole.

All of the girls in this book are all “broken” in some way - by the pain of tragedies that won’t let them go, by the rejection of a society that deems them worthless, by the spurning of families who wish they would just go away, or… by the literal bone-crushing of violent crime. But what everyone (including these ladies themselves) doesn’t realize is that they aren’t as powerless as they seem. I highly recommend The Broken Girls. It was genuinely spooky, heartbreaking, and thrilling by turns, but also surprisingly moving. I couldn't put it down!

I love books that are based in Vermont. It's nice to be able to envision where the scene is actually taking place because you've been there before.

Fiona has never gotten over her sister's death. The event that forever changed the dynamics of her family. The one item that keeps plaguing her is Idlewild Hall, where her sister's body was found.

Once she hears that the place is being restored, Fiona starts investigating in earnest. Not only trying to piece together what happened the night of her sister's death, but also the mysteries that seem to be popping up since the restoration started.

An engaging story that goes between present and past. Showing the life of the girls that lived in Idlewild Hall and what one sister will do to get to the truth concerning the one she loves.

This book totally won me over in a completely unexpected way. I wasn't sure about it since I knew there was a ghost element to the story and I'm not huge on paranormal stories. However, my friend Jennifer told me I absolutely had to read this, and since we always tend to agree, I gave it a shot. I ended up being glad I did as the story totally gripped me and while the ghost story was part of the story, it was done in a way that felt organic to the story. I am always drawn to stories told in dual timelines and I really enjoyed how everything came together and I was surprised by the twists that were revealed.

What a good book! I enjoyed the characters and time moving back forth between the past and present. Satisfying read.

The Broken Girls is 2/3 psychological suspense and 1/3 ghost story, which, I’ll admit, is not my favorite genre. In fact, it would have worked just as well without the “ghost” parts, but it does add a creepiness to the storyline that might not have been there otherwise. It’s set in small-town Vermont, where a girl’s boarding school has sat empty for decades. Journalist Fiona Sheridan is somewhat obsessed with its locale, as this is where her sister’s murdered body was dumped 20 years ago. Fiona was 17 at the time, and the murder tore her family apart and seems to have kept her in limbo ever since, even though her sister’s boyfriend was tried and convicted of the murder. She keeps her police officer boyfriend at arm’s length, and when she learns that someone is renovating the old school she thinks it would be a good idea for her to investigate and write a story about it. Flashing back and forth between this timeline and the 1950’s, we learn that the girls at the school were all afraid of the ghost of Mary Hand, and that one of them, Sophia, is about to be murdered as well. Through her research on the school, Fiona discovers some clues to Sophia’s murder, and unearths some new information about her sister’s death as well. This book will suck you in, and the final dénouement is riveting, with or without the ghosts.

Creepy, suspenseful, and gripping without being hard-core horror. I loved the gothic feel and the Vermont setting. Riveting! I love this book!

When I first rated this book, I gave it four stars. After thinking about the book a bit, I think it deserves five. This was the perfect ghost story.

Fiona can't get over her sister's murder. Deb's killer is behind bars but Fiona just can't accept that the story is exactly how the police say it was. Four girls have been dumped at the depressing Idlewild boarding school for various reasons. They are haunted by a ghost named Mary Hand who haunts the school. Some say that she was a student that was locked out of the school and is still begging to get in. Others say that her baby is buried in the garden. Either way, Mary digs into each persons unique past and shows those she haunts what can scare them most.

I was surprised that this book was this scary! Mary Hand is the perfect ghost. She is so creepy and gets at the heart of what will scare both the characters and the reader. This book also functioned as a historical fiction, of sorts, with some of the story being dedicated to the history of the Ravensbruck concentration camp and the atrocities there.

I loved this book! From the characters to the storyline, I was kept in suspense until the very last moment. I was fascinated by the historical accounts of Ravensbruck and I was saddened by the way that the girls were thrown away so easily but the ghost story is really what kept me turning the pages well into the night. I can't say enough good things about this book and I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a great horror story.

When an abandoned boarding school gets bought by a mysterious benefactor, a journalist decides to do a story on the transaction. She has a personal attachment to the school, and when a body is discovered on the grounds her article almost becomes a crusade. Author Fiona Barton strings together a series of unrelated events and forces them into the well-written but failed novel The Broken Girls.

Despite the two decades that have passed, Fiona Sheridan can’t let go of the facts surrounding the murder of her sister, Deb. Fiona’s boyfriend, a cop in their town of Barrons, Vermont, wishes she’d let it all go, but she can’t. That’s why Fiona finds herself at odd hours wandering the grounds of Idlewild, the shuttered boarding school where Deb’s body was found.

Unlike other people, though, Fiona doesn’t have to deal with uncertainty when it comes to the identity of her sister’s murderer. Deb’s boyfriend, Tim Christopher, was convicted of the crime and sent to prison for life. He’s spent 20 years declaring his innocence, but Fiona isn’t buying it. His assertion most likely comes from the arrogance that only the wealthy can afford; Tim’s family once owned Idlewild.

Until now. Fiona receives word of the school getting sold to a woman who seems to have no connection to it. The news sparks something in Fiona, and she pitches the idea of doing a story on the sale to the magazine where she works. Her editor lets her start working on the story with reluctance. Even though it’s been so long, no one in Barrons has forgotten the details of Deb’s death.

As Fiona starts doing research, a body is discovered on the grounds of Idlewild by the crew hired for renovations. Fiona is disheartened by the reality of what Idlewild was: a school where parents sent their daughters when those daughters didn’t match society’s standards and needed to be hidden from the world. At least Deb had a family who mourned her death. The mystery girl, it seems, had no one. Fiona is determined to give the girl some dignity by searching for her identity. The more research she does, though, the more she gets drawn into the shadows that persist around Idlewild and the secrets they hide.

Author Simone St. James takes a story that could have blossomed with possibilities and instead lets it wither with the book’s biggest weakness: too many unrelated ideas. The book goes back and forth between a group of friends who attended Idlewild in 1950 and Fiona in 2014 as she pursues the story of the school and its tragedies. All of the characters talk about Mary, a ghost purported to haunt the school, but readers only get Mary’s story through second-hand information.

An abandoned school haunted by a ghost seems to offer the perfect setting for a story juxtaposing the past and the present. Instead, St. Simone tries to force a string of unrelated events into one cohesive novel. Her strategy doesn’t work and will leave readers frustrated as they keep looking for connections between Mary, the mystery girl, and Fiona’s sister but find none. The only thing the girls have in common is that all three died on the grounds of Idlewild, and that fact alone isn’t enough to carry a book.

The writing itself is lovely. St. Simone offers descriptions of small-town Vermont in rich detail that will bring the streets and the landscape to life. Readers will find it easy to picture Barrons in the fall. Unfortunately, strong descriptions can’t save the story. The novel, then, becomes a collection of pages of unfulfilled potential. I recommend readers Bypass The Broken Girls.

I enjoyed this book immensely and easily could have raced through it if life had not interceded. The theme of "broken" girls runs through three separate timelines and mysteries, and St. James does a wonderful job of interlinking these seemingly disparate narratives. Everything falls into place by the end, for the most part.

The story jumps around from three separate decades in a small Vermont town. In the early decades of the twentieth century, there is a tragic death of a young local woman. In the 1950s at Idlewild School, a boarding school for wayward and unwanted teenage girls, one young girl goes missing and is presumed by authorities to have run away with a boy. Her friends at the school believe very differently. In modern day a somewhat cynical and reserved journalist is obsessed with the decades-old murder of her teenager sister and, along with her police officer boyfriend, becomes determined to get to the bottom of those events. It is a lot to juggle but it actually all works very well here, as the one thing all of these events share in common is that they took place on Idlewild grounds, long believed to be haunted.

As Fiona and her boyfriend, Jaime, realize quickly into the investigations, Idlewild is being renovated for a grand re-opening, much to the dismay of nearly everyone in the small town that houses this institution. Fiona's attempts to investigate the 1990's death of her sister leads her to the unsolved mysteries of the missing girls from earlier periods, and her investigation and discoveries are harrowing and unexpected. I love the theme of broken girls and as with all St. James's books, she has much to say about the realities of being a woman in our culture and what it means to be viewed as "broken" and undervalued. She has important messages here for women that successfully turn the sordid narratives into something empowering. I also love the generational bridges she makes by the end of the book. It is the young and the elderly females in our world after all who are viewed with the most contempt, and her messages seek to rectify that.

There is, as always with St. James's books, a romance simmering below the surface. I would not necessarily define her books as romances, but for romance lovers, I found the romance here very satisfying. I loved Jaime in this book, and I feel admiration for the man who commits himself to an edgy and at times closed off and wary woman. He is tested more than once but he comes through for Fiona every time. They have nice sexual chemistry here too and their romance interweaves well with the external tensions in the stories.

My one reservation about the book is that the ghost story itself is not as convincingly handled as the other threads. The ghost is important to all the narratives here, as it provides the necessary link among them, but the story behind the existence of the ghost is perhaps a bit flimsy, as is the reason for the ghost's continued existence, and the resolution too of this plot. St. James always includes ghosts in her mysteries, and to my mind nothing tops the ghosts that populated The Other Side of Midnight, still my personal favorite of all her books. Nevertheless, The Broken Girls is a solid and worthy competitor in her growing backlist of novels, and I really enjoyed it and highly recommend it.

I have to be honest, what intrigued me most about this book was the title and cover. That being said, I really enjoyed it, especially the writing style of the author. The characters were well drawn, and I loved the time hops from chapter to chapter and the way the story unfolded bit by bit. The only reason I did not give this one 5 stars is because the paranormal aspect threw me for a loop--but I think a lot of readers will love it. I kind of wish the author would write another book featuring the heroine (who's a reporter) as she's a very memorable character.

3.5 stars
The beginning of this story completely pulled me in...a young girl, alone, on a dark road road near woods...when all of sudden she's no longer alone! What an atmospheric, dramatic start to a story that was just outright creepy in parts. As stated in the blurb, the novel alternates between the girl's boarding school in 1950 and Fiona's life in 2014. Fiona actually has ties to the school as her sister was murdered in the field surrounding the school. The question that has taken over Fiona's life is: what really happened to her sister on the night she was murdered all those years ago? There were no witnesses, no footprints, no evidence at the scene, yet her boyfriend was tried and convicted...did he really kill her or was there a more sinister force behind her death?

Then we have the storyline from 1950 and the four roommates who became best friends until one of them vanishes. For the first half of the book, I was slightly more interested in this storyline as the boarding school was just plain creepy and I really liked the girls; I felt bad for each of them. The author did a fantastic job of creating an atmosphere of gloom, dread, and eeriness. I felt worried for the girls. I was actually much more invested in the girls' story than I was Fiona's, mainly because I found Fiona hard to like or relate to. Things seemed to fall into place a little too easily for her.

I found the first half of the book to be much faster paced than the second half. I'm not sure exactly how or why my reading shifted but it did and I found myself skimming scenes along with losing my ability to "believe" the ghost story. For me, a little ghost goes a long way and in the second half the ghost story became a bit over the top for me. I was surprised by the resolution to the girls' story from 1950, much more so than Fiona's which was resolved way too easily and predictably in my opinion. Overall, this was a stronger first half story for me. If you enjoy atmospheric ghost stories with strong alternating timelines and subtle mysteries then definitely give this a try!

This one was fantastic. The Broken Girls blends several genres making this one even more unique. There is a mix of historical fiction, contemporary, gothic and supernatural among others. There are two storylines - one set in 1950, the other in 2014 - with a mystery at the center of it all. At times, this becomes more like a ghost story than a mystery. There is no other book like The Broken Girls. If you're looking for something different in the mystery/gothic genres, this is the one for you!

Fantastic! I loved this, it was a quick read that sucked me in immediately. I love the blend of contemporary and historical as well as the supernatural and the natural. There was a wonderful creepy atmosphere throughout and the story was engaging and satisfying. I will definitely be reading more from this author.

Idlewild, a boarding school for ‘troubled’ girls, is haunted by the mysterious Mary Hand. Idlewild is isolated from the rest of the world. It houses girls from several different backgrounds. Some are illegitimate children of prominent social figures, others have dealt with traumatic experiences. These girls, along with the teachers, live in fear of the ghost.
Sixty years later, Idlewild has been abandoned and is only a site where kids hang out. A stranger has bought Idlewild for restoration, and Fiona Sheridan wants to do a story about it. For Fiona, Idlewild means more to her than most. It is where the body of her older sister was found.
While touring Idlewild with the owner’s son, the restoration crew discovers another body. Fiona and her policeman boyfriend Jamie, dig into Idlewild’s past to discover who she is and what happened to her.
Town secrets run deep, and it is up to Fiona to bring them to the surface.
The Broken Girls has been the best mystery thriller I’ve read in a long time. I used it as my ‘book on the night stand’ to read before bed and from the beginning I was creeped out. Mary Hand was truly terrifying. At several parts in the book, my heart was pounding in my chest. I haven’t read a book like this in years.
The book goes back and forth between present day and the 1960s. We get a glimpse of life at Idlewild with a group of close knit girls. We know why they are sent to Idlewild, and the experiences each of them have with Mary Hand. We follow Fiona as she tries to put the pieces together and she even has her own experiences with the ghost that haunts the property.
My favorite thing about The Broken Girls (besides the thrill) is the relationships. The close relationship that the girls have with each other is touching. They are in a place they don’t really want to be, but find comfort with each other. Fiona and Jamie’s relationship is unusual in that she’s a journalist and he’s a cop. The two don’t normally mix. But they have an interesting, easy going relationship that is refreshing to read about.

I was lost in the spooky overgrown weedy brushes of the lush coulee with ten of my Traveling Sisters. This was one of our largest group reads that we have done and it was such a great, fun read. I really enjoyed discussing everyone’s thoughts on this one. Interesting with such a large group we ended up in the same coulee but were split into different sides of the coulee.

The Broken Girls is a creepy gothic, suspenseful, supernatural thriller that pulled us deep into the weedy brushes along with this interesting and entertaining story. We all settled in under the sun and soon things started to get a little dark. Our hair started rising as shivers ran up our backs as the wind howled down on us in the coulee.

Simone St. James does a good job creating an interesting atmospheric setting here with the vivid descriptions of Idlewild Hall a creepy, eerie abandoned boarding school that was like a character itself. We all enjoyed exploring the ruins along with Fiona and the eerie feeling it left us. We loved being taken into the past when the school was open to troubled girls and we meet four interesting damaged girls all with their own conflict. We learn their dark and tragic backstories and this became the favorite of the two timelines for us.

Simone St. James does a good job balancing a mystery with the supernatural that surprised some of us with how much we enjoyed the ghost story to this one. Things got really quiet amongst us as we learned of the ghost that haunts the school and at times all that could be heard was the faint sound of “I will survive” playing from the coulee.

Towards the end is where we started to split into different sides of the coulee. For some of the TS, there was just too much going on in this story for them and they felt it didn’t pull together well enough to leave them completely satisfied. For me and the rest of the TS we thought everything tied together well and we were completely satisfied in the end. We highly recommend!

Publication Date: March 20, 2018

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Berkley Publishing Group and Simone St. James for a copy to read and review.

All of our Traveling Sisters Reviews can be found on our sister blog:
http://www.twogirlslostinacouleereading.wordpress.com

A haunting and tragic tale that continues through the decades. A story that is in part ghost story; a love story; a story of true friendship; and one of family ties...the characters are unforgettable whether the four teenagers who are the beginning and are all heroines or the journalist Fiona who has to travel back in time to solve the Idlewood mystery and come to terms with her family history. Incredibly well-written one will not be able to put the book down.