Loved this one from start to finish. A total delight. Kept me guessing and there are some really great characters here. I was surprised by the ending and yet it makes total sense.

Patty and her daughter Rose Gold are all they’ve got. Rose Gold’s childhood was full of illness, vomiting until her teeth rot, head shaved to hide the clumps falling out, and sometimes confined to a wheelchair. When Rose Gold grew up, she realized her childhood was not normal and testified in court, sending her mom to prison. When Patty gets out, she finds her darling Rose Gold is a different person. There are so many twists and turns in this page-turner!

Darling Rose Gold will be the book everyone is talking about in 2020! Seriously this book is so twisted and disturbing and I loved every single page.. Darling Rose Gold is about Rose Gold and Patty Watts. Patty suffers from Munchhausen by Proxy and this causes her to mistreat Rose Gold her entire life. Patty is sent to prison for aggravated child abuse due to poisoning and starving Rose Gold. after Rose Gold testifies against her mother at the trial. The story begins as Patty is being released from prison and Rose Gold actually agrees to take her mother in to live with her. - Say what!!???
The story is told from alternating POVs, between Rose Gold and her mother Patty. While reading, you'll be trying to figure out who is manipulating who and also you will question the reliability of both characters. Did Rose Gold really forgive her mother and intend for their relationship to have a fresh start? Or is she all about revenge? Was Patty really innocent all along? Does Patty forgive Rose Gold for putting her behind bars? There are so many questions the reader will have and it will keep you turning pages. The writing was amazing and I could not predict the outcome of any of it! This is an absolutely amazing debut novel. It is a story of obsession, revenge and dysfunctional family relationships. You will definitely want to add this to your TBR and pick it up whenever it is released on March 17, 2020. Stephanie Wrobel will be an author I intend to look forward to. I hope she will write another book as amazing as this one!

wow now that was a messed up book and I loved it! I couldn’t believe these characters Rose Gold or Patty. The lengths they would go to get revenge😖 This was one of those stories you just couldn’t look away, I had to keep going to see what they would do next! The twist too😨A good twist just made the book even better!!! 4.5⭐️ coming March 2020

Darling Rose Gold is the first novel by Stephanie Wrobel. As you can read above, Rose Gold's childhood was one of doctor offices and illness. Throughout eighteen years she was being poisoned by her mom, Patty, in order for Patty to take care of her. After Rose Gold figures this out she sends her mom to prison to serve five years. With Patty demanding she is innocent, Rose Gold testifies against her which puts the key in the lock. During the time that Patty is in prison, Rose Gold attempts to figure herself out without her mom. In the last year of Patty's sentence Rose Gold reconnects and when Patty is released Rose Gold agrees to take her in until she is back on her feet. By that time, Rose Gold has a child, Adam, that Patty is able to help take care of. However, stuff starts happening that makes Patty think that Rose Gold is against her. The question is what is truly going on? Is Patty actually innocent? Is Rose Gold against her?

This novel reminded me of Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn, it leaves you on your toes trying to figure out who the crazy person really is.

I really enjoyed this novel, it is well written and is something i would love to reread in the next few years. I give this novel ⭐⭐⭐⭐✫ (4.5 stars). I took off half a star because of one part in the ending, i don't want to give anything away but I hoped it wouldn't be the case.

If you enjoyed Sharp Objects then i think you would really enjoy this novel!

Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel
Release Date: March 17, 2020
Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for providing me with a digital advanced copy.

When the blurb said this was Sharp Objects meets My Lovely Wife I immediately requested it. Because come on, why wouldn't I? Those have been two of the more memorable books for me since I love some twisted psych you out type books. This book met those expectations and more. I admit at first I was thinking of the Netflix movie and all that out with the similar storyline of the girl this happened to in real life, but this book is so so much better than true life! How the author accomplished that I am in awe. It's a mother versus daughter book with both being so crazy you wonder through most of the book, who will win the title of craziest!

Five years ago Rose's mother was sent to prison for child abuse. One of the sickest kinds, Munchausen by Proxy. Now her release date is coming around and wait for it...Rose wants to get back in touch with her mother. They want to repair this relationship, or do they really? Who is the predator and who is the prey this time? Split between both their POV and neither one very reliable you are on for a wild ride of a book. How will this end? Does Rose really want to make up or does she want her mother to pay? You HAVE to read it to find out and I am telling you.... YOU HAVE TO READ THIS.

Dark, complex and plenty of unlikeable characters to hate on...

Munchausen syndrome by proxy is such a fascinating and disturbing disorder. There are many real-life cases that have made headlines. I'm not familiar with the details of any of them, but have seen news reports.

The mommy from hell in this one is Patty Watts. She has been released from prison after five years for abusing her daughter, Rose-Gold Watts. They have decided to move in together and see how it goes....Rose Gold has a forgiving heart.

Alternating POV from Patty and Rose-Gold take us into their disturbed thoughts and motivations. All the creepy vibes.

I didn't know who to believe or trust. Both narrators seemed unreliable and crazy as hell . I definitely had an uncomfortable feeling while reading.

Patty vs. Rose-Gold .... read it to find out who holds the cards now.

I don't even know where to begin with "Darling Rose Gold". Rare is the book that has no characters the reader likes, enjoys, relates to, or has empathy for. This one qualifies. Ooooops. I nearly forgot . . . Rose Gold's younger half sister is an innocent and likable young girl.
In this case, finding nearly all the characters distasteful is not a bad thing. Stephanie Wrobel has written a very interesting novel. She weaves a believable story through ups and downs and through countless schemes and motives from the despicable characters.
I gave the book four stars because it really is an interesting book. Yes, there are crazy characters. But through all the unpleasantness, we find a compelling story that is very well crafted.
I just hope in Ms. Wrobel's next book (and I do hope there is a next book) I can find a character I like!

I was drawn to this book because of the title to begin with. I'm not a fan of rose gold the metal, so why this caught my attention I have no idea.
I love stories of the underdog who goes out and gets revenge, so this was the perfect read. What a mother!

I liked this book, just didn't love it (Maybe a 3.5 for me). It is super dark, and looks at Munchausen by Proxy from an interesting angle. While most books/shows/movies about this topic dive into the mind of parent who harms the child and explores the damage it does to that child to the time it's happening, what's an even more interesting question is, "How do those kids go on to lead normal lives after all of those years of psychological conditioning and trauma?"

Thinking that children of Munchausen parents would want revenge is a natural progression and certainly gives this book lots of forward momentum. However the downside is that makes both Rose Gold and her mother pretty unlikeable characters, which affected my enjoyment of the book, (particularly towards the end when it becomes clear how Adam will play into this story--a twist I honestly didn't see coming.)

These two characters are super messed up people. While the reader may be tempted to root for Rose Gold to come out on top simply because of her upbringing, it's hard to cheer for ANYONE who is being awful to an innocent bystander, no matter how traumatic their past.

Thanks to the author and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Patty is being released from prison after only a few years and she's going home with her daughter Rose Gold, the victim of over a decade of abuse through Munchhausen by proxy and the reason she was in prison in the first place. Told through alternating mother-daughter perspectives, Patty's portion covers present-day while Rose Gold narrates life during her mother's imprisonment and shows us how she's become her own unique brand of twisted.

Rose Gold was raised thinking she had a list of medical problems. Her mother took her from doctor to doctor getting her false diagnosed. The town had several fundraisers and Patty took money from family and friends for Rose Golds care.

Rose Gold finally realized her mom was poisoning her and eventually Patty went to jail. Five years pass and Patty is getting out of prison.

Will Rose Gold forgive her?

Great read. I highly suggest this book.

Only loosely based on the Gypsy Rose Blanchard case (& with a much more satisfying ending!)

** Trigger warning for child abuse and suicide. This review contains vague spoilers. **

“Most people don’t like holding on to anger. They feel it crushing and consuming them, so they let it go. They try to forget the ways they’ve been wronged.

“But some of us cannot forget and will never forgive. We keep our axes sharp, ready to grind. We hold pleas for mercy between our teeth like jawbreakers.

“They say a grudge is a heavy thing to carry.

“Good thing we’re extra strong.”

For most of her first eighteen years, Rose Gold Watts was in and out of the hospital, battling a plethora of health problems. Constantly nauseous and unable to eat, she was weak and thin – skeletal, even, weighing just seventy pounds at the age of eighteen. Since her stomach couldn’t tolerate regular foods, Rose Gold got most of her nutrition from a feeding tube that the doctors put in at her mother Patty’s request. Patty insisted on shaving Rose Gold’s head, claiming that her hair would otherwise fall out in clumps, or grow in unevenly. Rose Gold had her own wig collection by the time she was a teenager, along with a wheelchair for those days when she was feeling too unsteady to get around on her own. She suffered from sleep apnea and had a mouth full of yellow, rotten teeth, thanks to the havoc all that bile wrought on her enamel.

Home schooled, Rose Gold had little contact with the outside world; that is, until she convinced Patty to get the internet – “to help with school work” – at the age of sixteen. It was then that she met Phil in a chat room; Phil, who would piece together Rose Gold’s terrible symptoms and unconventional life experiences, and figure out what should have been plain to Rose Gold’s doctors. Namely, that she wasn’t sick at all, but was being poisoned and starved by Patty.

Though DARLING ROSE GOLD is obviously inspired by a recent and rather infamous case of Munchausen syndrome by proxy – the murder of Dee Dee Blanchard by her nineteen-year-old daughter Gypsy Rose, and Gypsy Rose’s online boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn – the story veers from IRL events in some pretty significant ways: Dee Dee was not tried for her crimes; Gypsy Rose’s bio dad and his new wife are not total turds; and the real Gypsy Rose, the one rotting away in jail (unjustly, imho), seems much saner and more well-adjusted than the non-murderous but still stone cold Rose Gold of fiction. Which is all fine and good, as long as you know that from jump street. Otherwise you might find yourself offended on the real Gypsy Rose’s behalf – if only initially, before the story’s twist becomes evident. I know I did.

Darn it, I’m trying my best not to give anything away, but it’s exceedingly difficult to review this book without dropping some spoilers! Even if they’re just of the maddeningly vague variety!

DARLING ROSE GOLD is told in two narratives: past tense, in the weeks and years following “Poisonous Patty’s” trial, from Rose Gold’s perspective; and present day, five years later, when Patty is released from prison and is taken in by Rose Gold, in Patty’s POV. It’s evident pretty early on – from the time they pull into the driveway of Patty’s childhood home; or rather, when she has such an extreme, visceral reaction to it – that Rose Gold has a few tricks up her sleeve. Even so, Wrobel manages to sustain the psychological tension and keep the “will she or won’t she?”/”who’s the real villain here?” suspense throughout the story, escalating things to delicious heights (depths?) with the denouement. This is a much more satisfying tale than its “ripped from the headlines” inspiration.

Rose Gold makes for a compelling protagonist, whether you’re cringing in vicarious embarrassment for her teenage, UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT just-sprung-from-a-bunker awkwardness, or rooting for her to get sweet, sweet revenge on her tormentor. Patty is appropriately frustrating, so much so that it’s hard not to root for her demise; I would’ve liked a few more present-day chapters from her perspective, so we revel in her anguish just a bit longer. And Billy, what a freaking tool. I really hope he was roasted and then summarily cancelled by the masses, otherwise he got off a little too easy, with just a few months of panic and suffering.

Also: I hope Rose Gold is able to get those new teeth she always wanted. I have a serious hang up about teeth, and it’s always the dental stuff that haunts me.

Read it if: you devoured THE ACT, but didn’t want to see Gypsy Rose serve any time for what was clearly a case of self-defense.

Full review to come as pub date gets closer to April 2020.

Thank You to the publisher and Netgalley for the free E-copy to review.

Darling Rose Gold was the child of mentally ill mother. When Patty was let out of prison, Rose Gold was ready to take her in and make her a part of her life.
The book takes a lot of different turns and I think the reader will know where it is heading.
It was a difficult book to read.

I really enjoyed this crazy book. I was so happy to be approved for it on Netgalley. The synopsis really drew me in, and of course that beautiful cover. This is a psychological thriller that keeps you turning pages because you NEED to know what's going on. Who's crazy and who's not? What's true and what isn't? It was a wild ride for sure.

I will rate Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel a solid 5/5 stars. This was a great and I mean great psychological thriller. It truly will leave you thinking and trying to figure out what's going on inside the minds of the two protagonists, Patty Watts and her daughter Rose Gold. Patty Watts was convicted of poisoning her daughter for almost 18 years of her life and was sentenced to a 5 year term in prison. Rose Gold begins to learn how to live and be a healthy adult once her mother is placed behind bars. She gets to try out all types of different foods without her mother constantly convincing her that she is sick or trying to control every single aspect of her life. When Rose Gold turns 16 years old, they get the internet in the home and she finally has an outlet into the real world which sets the pace and theme for the story. The story jumps back and forth between the present, told through Patty's eyes, and the past, told through Rose Gold's eyes.

What I enjoyed about this book:
It truly sheds light on Munchausen syndrome. This book and story is so unique because it is the first fictional story that I read of it's kind. I enjoyed reading the story from Patty's warped mind and viewpoint. She truly was an awful character and mother. The twisted thoughts that were in her head were totally inconceivable for a mother towards their child, their only child at that. I am so thankful that she didn't have more than one child.

I also enjoyed reading the story from Rose Gold's point of view, as well. It showed how truly damaged she was mentally from her mother's abuse and control over her life all of those years when she was younger. It showed how she was a victim of her mother's constant manipulation. The book shed some light on Stockholm syndrome and at one point in the story Rose Gold definitely portrayed this.

What I didn't enjoy about this book:
Neither Patty or Rose Gold were likeable characters. I didn't like either one of them, but their twisted minds kept me hooked and intrigued and I just had to continue the story and find out what was going on inside of their minds.

I did not like how Rose Gold tried to manipulate her father and I did not like how her father, Billy, and his family acted all high and mighty around her. They really did not try to include her in their lives or open up to her with welcomed arms. I have been on the receiving end of this type of situation with meeting family members and I could definitely relate to Rose Gold's disappointment and hurt, but she took things way too far with her lies. She turned out to be a little manipulator and liar just like her mother.

I did not like the fact that Patty was so fixated on believing that her daughter was ill. That bothered me to my core. It is a sickness and she was truly mental.

Nonetheless, I really enjoyed this book and it was refreshing to read a story that didn't have the same old theme inside a thriller. I really get tired of reading psychological thrillers which focus on killing someone, a murder mystery, or someone is having an affair with someone else and blah, blah, blahhh… I will highly recommend this book to others just based upon the fact that the storyline is far different than others that are on the market. Be sure to keep your eyes appealed for the twist at the end... While I had suspected something similar... It truly was an amazing ending and very well thought out and put together.

Thank you, NetGalley, the author and the publisher for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Patty Watts, born to be a mother, and loves the smell of hospitals.  The thoughts that go through her mind are not normal.  She likes to step on peoples toes, literally and <i>on purpose</i>.  Her daughter, Rose Gold, likes to hide things.  Her smile, her teeth, and whatever it is that she is so careful to keep locked up in her room.  Obsession, second chances, suffocating relationships, looking at madness as an option.  Is there revenge in the offing, or has one bad mommy nurtured another to fruition?

5 years ago, 23-year-old Rose Gold Watt’s mother, Patty, who has Munchhausen by Proxy, was convicted.For years Rose  suffered from malnutrition and other illnesses due to her mother's abuse but after Patty’s release though Rose Gold lets her mom move in with her Has she finally forgiven her mom or does Rose Gold  have revengeful plans of her own ?

Darling Rose Gold is an extremely dark and twisted psychological thriller .This book was certainly not what I was expecting . It’s filled with terrible characters who have no morals or thoughts for anybody else but in this story it works.Told in Patty and Rose Gold’s POV’s this book was fast-paced, entertaining, and difficult to put down

I would like to thank Berkley Publishing Group & NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and fair review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Patty Watts has maintained her innocence. She did not poison her daughter, Rose Gold. Rose Gold was seriously ill as a child and required extensive doctor visits and medical treatments. Only thing is, Rose Gold wasn't actually sick. Patty served five years for her treatment of Rose Gold and is finally out of prison. It seems mother and daughter have reconciled when Rose Gold allows Patty to live with her upon and start anew. Things may not be as they appear as Patty resents Rose Gold for testifying against her and Rose Gold must face her horrific past.

This was such a thrilling page-turner for me. I am already fascinated by Munchausen By Proxy and was intrigued by how a thriller could be written about this syndrome. Patty and Rose Gold are very complex characters. As the story switched back and forth between their perspectives, you learn more about their pasts and how they developed into their present day characters. While both make very questionable decisions, I found myself sympathizing with them due to their upbringings.

I did predict the twists, but that did not stop me from enjoying the book. Instead, I read faster to try and figure out how this twisted story could ever be resolved. This was one of the best thrillers I've read in a while and I definitely recommend it!