What a nasty little tale, in the best sense of the phrase! Elizabeth Stash has only ever cared for one thing in her life: her ancestral home, Pipits. But when her lovely and lovable sister Gloria -- one of the loathed "beloveds" -- inherits the mansion, Elizabeth enters a tailspin of malice, mayhem, and murder. It's an uncomfortable book to read. Elizabeth's poisonous nature (both figurative and literal) 
 and unceasing contempt make her one of the most unsympathetic narrators in contemporary literature. This, however, is part of what keeps the reader hooked. As Elizabeth spirals into insanity, she takes us along into the darkest recesses of human desire and greed. A true study on the horrors of sociopathy.

This is different for sure. The main character is quite obviously mad so it was interesting to read from her point of view. She devolved quickly after a big lead up in the first 3/4 of the book. 

Advanced copy from netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Oof, I do not have many good things to say about The Beloveds so I am sorry in advance. If you are looking to see a good review of this book, you are not going to see it from me. I just want to throw out that I know writing a book is very hard work, and I could never write one myself, so this isn't a reflection on the author. This book was just not a good fit for me. 

First of all, I did completely adore this cover though. It is beautiful and is what drew me to the book before I even knew what it was about. 

For being contemporary, this book just had an old feel to it. I wouldn't have been surprised if it would have been set in the 50s or 60s. I don't know if it was the writing or what it was, but it just felt like it was set in a different time period for some reason. I didn't mind that of course, but I'm interested to see if anyone else will have that same vibe from this book.

I will say that this book was incredibly detailed without seeming too detailed, if that makes sense. I didn't feel overpowered by detail, but rather it made me feel completely immersed in the story. 

The premise of this book seemed great. A jealous older sister determined to get back the house that she felt entitled to? Sign me up! Unfortunately, I just didn't really think much of anything happened during The Beloveds. It started out good enough, but I soon lost interest and found myself really bored. This book was not hard for me to put down even in the last 30% of the ARC when shit was getting crazy, I just still wasn't engaged. Full disclosure, I pretty much skimmed the last 50% of this book because I just was NOT into it. 

I've read and loved plenty of other psychological thrillers (The Last Mrs. Parrish, The Couple Next Door, The Girl on the Train, and The Good Daughter to name a few), but this one somehow fell flat for me. Parts of it were creepy, especially Betty's "relationship" with Pipits, but I got really sick of the "I'm enraged at my sister because she got the house, but I am the one entitled to it" theme. Also, I thought this book was supposed to be about Betty getting Pipits (aka "House") back, then she literally does practically nothing except whine and act jealous for half the book. 

I think it would have helped if there would have been other perspectives in this book, instead of everything through Betty's eyes. I felt like she did a lot of bitching and moaning in this book. That is the best way for me to describe how I felt about Betty and the way she acted the entire book. She was just so nasty and bad-tempered. I suppose that was the point, but I couldn't handle it for the entire book. 

The drama with Betty's drinking and the stuff with her apartment neighbors at the end kind of lost me as well. More of Betty showing her true colors and that she wasn't right in the head, but I didn't care for it and was just ready for the book to be over. 

Final Thought: While I wouldn't recommend this, I just don't think I was the intended audience. This is more of a slow burn, character driven, jealous/rather crazy sister, takes a long time to see action type of book. I guess the best thing to say is if you are ok with what I have said above you should still check it out. The majority of people have been liking this one, and I am the oddball out at the moment.

It takes a bold author and editor to tell a story from a true antihero's POV. We were captivated! The writing is stupendous, and the atmosphere...total perfecting. We hope we can introduce this book to our subscribers!

Maureen Lindley’s THE BELOVED’S ranks right up there with other psychological thrillers like Gillian Flynn’s GONE GIRL and Patricia Highsmith’s TALENTED MR. RIPLEY.  Like the protagonists in both of those books, Lindley’s Elizabeth Stash’s is consumed with insidious machinations when it comes to her profound dislike for her younger sister Gloria as well as her obsession with Pipits, the family manse.

From early childhood, Elizabeth/Betty saw her sister as one of the “beloveds” who possessed not only beauty, charm and good fortune but also the adoration of their mother and later in life the love of the man Elizabeth had assumed was hers.

Overwhelmed with treacherous thoughts and a penchant for large amounts of gin, Elizabeth becomes one of those characters readers love to hate as she plots to take what she perceives  is rightfully hers from whoever and whatever stands in her way.  Just one third into this novel and I was fascinated by her the inner dialogs of Elizabeth as well as her warped view of the world around her as she dismisses any friendship or love proffered to her by others.  Her treatment of old friends is atrocious and her relationship with her older husband Bert abysmal, as she considers his presence in her life as nothing more than  that of a piece of luggage she can check and remove from storage at her whim.

Her sense of entitlement is staggering and the lengths to which she will go to achieve her ends boggles the mind.  One wonders at her ability to mask her psychotic behavior to the point of deceiving her psych-analyst sister, a woman who, herself, appears to have a Pollyanna complex.

The characters and images of THE BELOVEDS emerge with seeming ease from Lindley’s sub-conscious as she takes us on a journey into the mind of a sociopath.

what a divine tale this is.

Fabulously written with an amazing characters.

If you love creepy then this is for you. Sibling rivalry has never looked so sinister and Betty and Gloria's relationship is simply devilish 

Gloria has everything that should have been Bettys. and when Betty decides she wants whats rightfully hers...she sets out to get It. 

I loved this book..

I was captured by this book straight away, The story is told in first person and the events are realistic enough they could have actually happened. , although that is really creepy! I don't know if her diagnosis is real or dreamed up by this author, but Betty should have stayed in that asylum. Mental illness and jealousy push her to some extremes. .

I was captured by this book straight away, because this girl sounds like a nut case! The story is told in first person and the events are realistic enough they could have actually happened. I like that this book is so close to reality, although that is really creepy! I don't know if her diagnosis is real or dreamed up by this author, but Betty should have stayed in that asylum. Mental illness and jealousy push her to some extremes. The only negative thing I can say is that the chapters were a bit long winded in my opinion.

Betty Stash hates her little sister, Gloria. It was obvious from the moment she was born that Gloria was the child her mother truly loved. Gloria who always smiled, who was always happy. The only thing Betty loves is the family estate, she believes it loves her too, and that it speaks to her. As the eldest, surely the house will someday belong to her. But it is Gloria and her husband who inherit the house and Betty is incandescent with rage, though she tires to hide it. She insinuates herself into the lives of Gloria, her husband and Gloria’s unborn child and readers just know something bad is going to happen. Betty is truly a loathsome character (I had a really hard time with the animal cruelty), but I think I would have enjoyed the book a little more if Lindley had made Betty sympathetic in even some small way. Still, Lindley gets point for the eerily ominous ending