This is what I call a deep, dark, wildly interesting read! Captures you from the very beginning, taking you from past to present in a flash. Details the fragile bond between mothers and daughters and how revenge is a choice you have to make!!

This book is a page turner! It has twist and turns and is extremely disturbing but in a creepy, good way. You read it while the daughter, Rose Gold, and the mother, Patty, narrate their thoughts and find out what happened in the past to have Patty put in jail, things that take place while she is in jail, and then once she is released from jail the story unfolds even more. This dysfunctional family is crazy! If you love psychological thrillers like The Silent Patient...you are gonna want to read this one. It had me hooked from the beginning to the very last page! Posted on Instagram @carolinehoppereads and on Goodreads.

I liked this book a lot more than I initially thought I would. If you're reading this statement and scratching your head at that statement, I understand. That's because the topic matter of the book isn't exactly one that you'd expect to like.

The plot of the book centers around a young woman named (just as the title alludes) Rose Gold. She's been through a lot in her young life, thanks to her crazy mom, Patty Watts who suffers from Munchausen syndrome by proxy. The story is told through the view points of both Rose Gold and Patty, with Rose Gold's narration taking place over the course of a few years and Patty's being in the present. When the story begins, Rose Gold is picking Patty up from her five year prison stint where she was sent after being found guilty of abusing her daughter. So, the reader is immediately thrown into the craziness from the beginning because WHY would Rose Gold even be talking to Patty after what she did to her?!

And this is where I'll leave the plot synopsis so as not to ruin the story for you. But, I will say that this was an easy read and one that I plowed through because I just couldn't believe the craziness of it all and just had to find out what happened next. I can totally see this book being made into a movie because it's that insane kind of good. What a debut novel to come out with! I definitely look forward to reading more books by Stephanie Wrobel.

I will be sharing this book with my social media followers (over 10,000 on Twitter!) and sharing this review on my blog, TheArtofBery.com, as well. Thank you so much for allowing me to read it in advance! xo

This was a surprise. I wasn't sure I wanted to read this seeing the subject matter but it sucked me right in and made it hard to put down. It was sad to see the trauma heaped on Rose Gold. But really interesting to see the thought process behind it. Don't want to give anything away but the surprise ending was very good.

Dark and entertaining!
Rose Gold took the stand five years ago to put her mother away for eighteen years of child abuse. Now Patty is being released and the two are trying to reconnect. Rose Gold is allowing Patty to come live with her, and her infant son, Adam in their small town.
The story is told with alternating POV’s between Patty Watts and her daughter Rose Gold. Both are manipulative and unlikeable characters- the reader is constantly questioning the reliability of both narrators.
This is a thriller/family drama but much of it reads like a creepy YA book which I really liked. Not a big fan of the ending, it seemed a bit rushed to me- I would have liked an epilogue or a glimpse 10 years later. This would make a really good Netflix series in my opinion.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC.

HOT DAYMN! My first 5 star read of 2020 and book I can't shut up about!
I knew I was gonna love this one from the very first page!
If it weren't for the need to sleep or care for a baby and my kids, I seriously would have blew through this in one sitting!

I'm still at a loss for words cause I'm currently hungover from this one. It's hard for me to fully articulate my thoughts without giving away any spoilers. But I will say this: if I wasn't feeling sorry for these characters, I was hating them and loved every moment of it! It took cray cray to a whole other level.

This was an incredible debut! I cannot wait to see what Stephanie Wrobel brews up next!

"Once upon a time, they said, a wicked mother gave birth to a daughter. The daughter appeared to be very sick...for 18 years, no doctor could figure out what was wrong with her." The daughter was rescued and it turns out that the mother had been behind the many ailments all along. "The mother had to be punished."

Rose Gold Watts was 18 years old when her mother went to prison for aggravated child abuse. Freed from the torment of constant illness, Rose Gold has to make a life for herself. Unfortunately, she's not emotionally equipped to do so having been controlled by her mother, Patty, for so long. Unable to form new, sustaining and meaningful relationships, Rose Gold can't help but be angry. But now, 5 years have passed and "Poisonous Patty" is due for release. And Rose Gold has offered to pick her up.
NO SPOILERS.

What a story! Though the central conflict is the mother-daughter relationship, it is complicated by the Munchausen Syndrome by proxy element. There are themes of childhood abuse, abandonment, revenge and mental instability. Told in the alternating viewpoints of both Rose Gold and Patty, the narrative also flips back and forward in time. The book was impossible to put down so I read it over a couple of hours in one sitting. I anticipated that there would be twists and turns and knew there would be a dramatic conclusion although I wasn't sure what form it would take. Honestly, I didn't like either of the two main characters but I could definitely empathize with how each of the women became who they were. The writing was excellent and it is a very impressive debut in the psychological fiction category.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for this e-book ARC to read, review and recommend.

What a crazy ride Darling Rose Gold was! Years before, Rose Gold helped put her mother in jail for poisoning and starving her. Her mother claims she did none of these things, and in fact, loves her daughter more than anything. But when her mother is released from prison and Rose Gold decides to allow her mother to stay with her, we get to see who they both really are. Told from both perspectives, we see the lengths her mother will go to in order to reclaim control over Rose Gold--and we see the lengths Rose Gold will go to in order to get revenge. I read this book in two days because putting it down was not an option!

While I think this book will be good for some readers, to me the book moved too slowly. I did not finish it so I probably didn't give it a fair chance. The subject of abusive mother-child relationships and the manipulativeness of both mother and daughter will appeal to people who like psychological suspense. I will give it to some of my readers and ask for their opinions.

People have a fascination with Munchausen Syndrome proxy. How could a person do such a thing to someone that they love. To make someone else sick just so you can have other people give you sympathy and tell you what a wonderful person you are for taking care of another person. Last year when The Act premiered, I had a lot of friends who watched and really enjoyed it. I still haven’t watched it, but when Darling Rose Gold began showing up all over social media, I decided to give it a read.

First off, that title. What a fabulous marketing idea. People had The Act, a true story about Gypsy Rose and DeeDee Blanchard, still on their minds. So if they enjoyed that show and they came across Darling Rose Gold, there was a really good chance that they would pick it up.

The story itself was very engaging. Although I knew Rose was trying to get back at her mother, Patty, after a five year prison sentence, I didn’t see all the twists coming. And I really enjoyed how Stephanie Wrobel wrote the scenes of rage and showed how unstable both of the main characters could be. Although some of the scenarios that Rose came up with were kind of far fetched, it was still an enjoyable read. And the way that Wrobel slowly revealed both of the women’s secrets was done exceptionally well. Even when the last page was finished and I was thinking about all the horrible things Rose did, I still felt some sympathy for her.

If you are fascinated by Munchausen Syndrome stories or enjoy reading about twisted mother and daughter relationships, you should definitely give Darling Rose Gold a read.

Upon first hearing about "Darling Rose Gold" I very wrongly assumed it would be a "ripped from the headlines" thriller with nothing new to say. How delightfully wrong I was! DRG surprised me to the end by pitting mother and daughter against each other in a battle of one-upmanship. How far will it go?! Read this satisfying tale of revenge to find out

Overall I would rate this book as “fine.” Which is a tough rating to give, honestly. Usually I love a book or hate it. The premise is loosely but so obviously based on the real story of the teenager who murdered her mother after suffering under her thumb her whole life that it was distracting. I honestly kept waiting for Rose Gold to murder her mom (non spoiler alert - she doesn’t). But the way in which she does take her revenge on her mom is so contrived and ridiculous you can’t take it seriously. And you CERTAINLY can’t root for her by the end of the book. There is zero protagonist and antagonist, even in the truest sense of the words. It was interesting enough to have me finish, but easily forgotten.

A big thanks to author and NetGalley for an advanced copy of the book.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Five Stars

Just finished Darling Rose Gold and what an ending! Yes, the first couple chapters of this book while meeting the characters seems to be a little familiar. I’ve seen the shows and watched the news but with this book you go behind the scenes of Munchausen by Proxy. The way sympathy pours in for you and your family. Trips, gifts and handouts, you learn how easy it becomes getting wrapped up in all that comes your way. Darling Rose Gold takes a surprising turn while learning to adjust in the real world. Rose Gold wants the truth and for the lies to finally stop. While her mother is in jail, the only real constant in her life, she understands why her mother did some of the things she did but she is not getting the whole truth. A mother-daughter bond is strong until it’s not and the truth will set you free.

I really enjoyed this book, but the main characters still have me on edge. Rose Gold was eighteen years old when she discovered her mother, Patty, had been poisoning her all her life. With the help of a neighbor, Rose Gold was able to send her mother to jail, but only for five years. So why Rose Gold volunteers to pick Patty up from jail on her release, and let Patty live with her is the meat of the story. Rose Gold has a beautiful infant grandson, a new job and a house, and is working on getting her horrible teeth, damaged from so many years of illness, wrestled into a semblance of a pretty smile. We are lead to believe that Rose Gold has forgiven her "well-meaning" mother and is ready to start over.

I don't want to give anything away. Suffice to say that Wrobel does an expert job of telling the story of these disturbed women. The story is well paced and details are revealed bit by bit, making for an exciting, suspenseful read. If you like thrillers, suspense, quirky unlikable heroines you will love this story. I'd love to read other works by Stephanie Wrobel (not before bedtime) and am grateful for the opportunity to read the ARC of this one.

Very good book! I enjoyed reading about the mother/daughter relationship. I did not figure out the ending until it was revealed. I will watch for more from this author!

Thank you to the author and publisher for providing me with an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The one thing that really stood out to me while I was reading this book was the creepy vibes that just permeated this story. Every now and then there would just be something that would remind you how messed up these characters are! This is a fairly straightforward kind of thriller and the reveals that you get along the way aren't particularly shocking, but something about these characters and this story just pulls you in and makes you read just to find out what happens next.

The way that this book reveals the secrets surrounding these two characters was really satisfying, because you would get the present situation through Patty but the past through Rose Gold, and then eventually those two timelines meet up and you finally see Rose Gold's thinking after Patty is released from prison and just everything falls into place.

There are a lot of people who have complicated relationships with their mothers, but this book just takes that to a whole other level. I've never read a thriller that included Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSBP) which surprises me because of how messed up and creepy that can be! It worked so well with this story and these characters. MSBP is a mental disorder where someone creates an artificial illness in someone under their care, usually through some type of poison, so that they can get praise from others for their nursing skills or generosity/willingness to care for someone who is ill.

Reading from the perspective of these characters makes you feel weird and grossed out because of their thoughts and personalities, and that's really what sold me on this book. If this book sounds at all interesting to you I highly recommend picking it up because I don't think it will disappoint.

This was a fast and interesting read! The back and forth kept me hanging on and wanting to find out what happened next. I also really enjoyed the surprise twist at the end!

Rose Gold has been poisoned by her mom Patty for years. What will happen to Rose Gold when Patty goes to prison? Will she continue to be a victim or will she start standing up for herself?

While this book started off slow I needed to find out what happened and the end flew by. While it was not a book I loved I do have friends that I will be recommending it to.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review this book.

Munchausen's by proxy is a mental disorder where an individual induces physical symptoms in another individual (often by poisoning) so that they can take care of them and receive adulation and praise from others for their generosity and nursing skills. Munchausen's is when the individual does it to themselves (which is different from malingering in that a malingerer tends to only feign illness and is doing so to escape having to do something else, or for legal purposes, like to milk a lawsuit) We learned a lot about these disorders in my Abnormal Psychology courses-- one example that stayed with me was a mother who smeared feces on her baby's eyes to induce chronic eye infections. It's pretty chilling and I've never really been able to wrap my head around the people who do this stuff to themselves or others.

Rose Gold's mother did exactly this to her for years, poisoning her with ipecac syrup to induce symptoms that she called a "chromosomal disorder." Now Rose Gold is all grown up, but her teeth are rotten, she still has some lingering physical and mental trauma, and she's really, really upset at her mom. As one would be. You can't help but feel pity for Rose Gold, who has never had a normal childhood. Her mother abused her her whole life and called it "care" and her father is out of the picture. She's been abused, bullied, and mocked by other children, and her only friend, Alex, is a classic "mean girl."

Patty, on the other hand, is also pretty messed up. She definitely seems to have some kind of personality disorder; her utter self-absorption and inability to acknowledge wrong-doing is extremely pathological. Under that brassy confidence, however, is a women who is needy for praise and adulation, who has been abused herself as a child and only wants to be a "good mother." Reading her POV is like having your hands slathered in oil and being unable to rinse them off. She sticks to you and makes you feel disgusting, and even when you try to cast her out, her presence lingers.

Both of these women are truly despicable people. Their POVs alternate, and Rose Gold's skip around through time while Patty's are always in the present. Seeing their dysfunction and their toxic dynamic is like watching a train wreck happen in real time. You know that no matter how it ends, it isn't going to be good-- it's only a matter of how many people they take down with them. Major props to the author for researching Munchausen's. In her afterword, she mentions that she read a lot of articles and books about the disorder, and the extra effort shows. I've even read some of the books she mentioned.

Quite often, in the X meets Y comparisons in blurbs, I find myself rolling my eyes. Here, though, I do actually feel that the Gillian Flynn comparison is on point. ROSE GOLD is a bit more predictable than Gillian Flynn's books, but it's got a great twist and the characterization of these two obviously demented women was really well done. I despised them both and found them fascinating.

Also, if you're interested in another (fictional) story about Munchausen's, I'd recommend watching Glass House: The Good Mother. It's a pretty terrible movie but it was my first introduction to Munchausen's by proxy and I found the cheesy, over-acted drama of it fascinating to watch.

Thanks to Netgalley/the publisher for the review copy!

4 out of 5 stars

A mother who treats her daughter in unthinkable ways - and a daughter that delivers a fitting (but just as unthinkable) revenge. My wife and I used this as a read aloud book, and we were both totally hooked from start to finish.