“Darling Rose Gold”....is one of the new psychological thriller *It* books. We have them every year. Excitement for the newest thrilling-thriller.
“Rose Gold Darling”, won’t be released until March of 2020....but the early reviews were expressing ‘suspense-entertainment’ with words such as “dark, shocking, creepy, and unputdownable.
Being curious - I jumped on the OMG wagon.

My first dislike: ( as in a pet peeve dislike)....I’m not a fan of the ‘name’, “Rose Gold”. I’d never want to be called ‘Rose Gold’ any more than I would Dick.
The first creepy thing about this book is in the title.
Rose Gold ( fiction character), was very similar to the name Gypsy Rose
( the real character)
I wondered how in the world debut author, Stephanie Wrobel, could sleep at night, not acknowledging her inspiration for this book? Not a word about the true story.

As for the word ‘Darling’, in the Books’s title....
don’t get your hopes up. The youngest character, ( a two year old), was not even allowed to be a ‘darling’.

The small town was not darling either.
‘Deadwick’ is a small dreary town with old wretched houses and yards littered with knee-high weeds, spare tires, and fast food wrappers.

Rose Gold purchased a dreary house in Deadwick just three months before Patty was released from prison. HER MOTHER’S CHILDHOOD home!

Rose Gold picked Patty up from prison the day she was released. Never mind that it was Rose Gold’s testimony that sent Patty to prison in the first place.
Never mind that Rose Gold brought Patty home to live with her and baby Adam.
And.

There were no baby photos of 2 year old Adam in the house anywhere.

Many reasons to be suspicious — however I guessed the ending the very first day that Patty was released from prison... within the first 10 minutes of reading this novel - when I knew immediately the only character I felt protective of was about was baby Adam.

This book is similar in theme...(munchausen by proxy), to the true story of Gypsy Rose and Dee Dee Blanchard, story.
....(there is an HBO documentary called “Mommy Dead and Dearest”).
I didn’t see any mention or plot-inspiration- reference from the author in this book.
Is the author an innocent victim or villain for not acknowledging Gypsy Rose and Dee Dee?
It bothered me.

As Rose Gold was touching and kissing baby Adam,
Patty noticed -on her first day out of prison- that Rose Gold cared more about the baby than her.
Patty says to herself: “We’ll have to fix that”.
Creepy was just getting started.
Creepy continues....
Painted on the ceiling in one of the rooms in the house were two giant lifelike ‘eyes’.

This story is about revenge, retaliation, with plenty of lies and manipulation.

Alternating points of view from Rose Gold and Patty...
I honestly wasn’t on the edge of my seat -
I saw the lies miles away - I saw ending twist ‘sooo’ early.

Personally I would’ve preferred a more in-depth character study of manipulation, control, and feelings of fear,....the fragility of turbulence that ‘lack-of-trust’, causes in relationships —rather then a purely suspense revenge driven plot.

I am reminded, however, just how dangerous & harrowing - some families can be.....and how profoundly disturbing a survivors tale can be.

WOW!! Darling Rose Gold is an intense psychological thriller that will have you on the edge of your chair.

Nicknamed Poisonous Patty, Patty is sentenced to prison for five years for child abuse. Patty thought she was giving her daughter the loving childhood she never had but she was oblivious to the fact that she was abusing her daughter. Now while her mom is in jail, her daughter, Rose Gold, a young adult, is trying to live and adjust in the real world without her mother. The world can be a cruel place. The story is told from Rose Gold and Patty’s perspectives. When Patty gets out of prison, Rose Gold lets her come live with her. Has Rose Gold learned of Patty’s deceptive ways; is she going to repeat her past?

Wrobel’s debut novel will have you hooked from the very beginning! I would recommend this book to anyone who loves psychological thrillers. Wrobel has a great voice and really brings the characters to life.

Thank you to netgalley, Berkley Publishing Group and the author, Stephanie Wrobel for the advance copy in exchange for my review.
This book is crazy! Crazy good. In the beginning I really wasn't sure I would like it. It seemed to drag at times but in the end it all made sense. Crazy mother, crazy daughter. Not sure which one is worse. The apple didn't fall far from the tree for sure.

Oh my goodness, this was quite a book. It was also the author’s MFA thesis. It is the stories (present and past) of Patty and Rose Gold Watts, mother and daughter. Patty has just spent five years in prison for having abused Rose Gold for the first eighteen years of her life. Rose Gold’s testimony was the convicting element of her trial. When Patty is released from prison, Rose Gold is there to pick her up and take her home to the house Patty’s abusive parents had lived in and her older brother had committed suicide in the basement. Then everything really started. I won’t go any further into the plot because of spoilers but will describe the two protagonists as thoroughly diabolical. Thanks to Net Galley and Berkeley for an ARC for an honest review.

I am clearly in the minority on this book, but I have to say I did not really enjoy it it and therefore skimmed through most of it and basically consider it a DNF. I found the characters unlikeable and the writing style just not to my liking.

Darling Rose Gold is a creepy story of a twisted mother/daughter relationship that kept me wondering which one was crazier! I don't want to say too much because I don't want give anything away. Darling Rose Gold is one of my most anticipated 2020 releases and I can't wait for others to read it!

Great book! Fast paced and I could not put it down.

Wrobel did a great job of the characters in this story, the back and worth style between the mother and daughter really pulled this book together.

I look forward to seeing what Wrobel comes out with next!

This book IS AMAZING
.... i have been waiting for this book for over a month now...I LOVED IT...RoseGold, allthough is not a likeable character. neither is her mom, Patty. As i was reading this book i never knew what ditection it was going go in. That was what i loved so much about this book, besides the entire storyline.

This is a difficult novel to rate.
Rose Gold believes for the majority of her life that she is terminally ill. She was in a wheelchair, constantly in and out of the hospital and even had her head shaved since her hair wouldn’t keep falling out in patches. With no real diagnosis Rose Gold eventually comes to the conclusion her mother Patty Watts is to blame. Patty is incarcerated for five years and comes out to her daughter with an infant and a new independence. What has happened during these past five years? How does Patty plan on mending their relationship?
This book kept me on edge and was extremely hard to put down. I felt a lot for the the main characters and was very conflicted by my emotional response which honestly is what I think the author was going going for here. Good book but a little predictable. Overall 3.8/5 stars.

As a child, Rose Gold is thought to be a very sick little girl. Until it's discovered her mother, Patty is poisoning her and making her think that. Keeps her at home away from people and poor Rose isn't allowed to have any friends at all. But one, Alex Stone who she has grown up with but Patty watches over them closely.
"Let's call this whole thing off. I'll drive you home and tuck you into bed, and we'll make up stories about princesses and magic spells in Faraway lands."
"Darling Rose Gold" was well written and kept you on the edge of your seat.

Thank you to publisher and NetGalley for the eARC

I have been waiting for this book forever! Thanks so much to Netgalley and the publisher for this advanced copy.

I have been obsessed with the Gypsy Rose/Dee Dee Blanchard story wince I first heard about it. Munchausens by proxy is a fascinating disorder. When I heard about Darling Rose Gold, I knew I had to read it ASAP.

Told in an alternating dual narrative between Rose Gold and her mother, Darling Rose Gold is the brutal story of a mother’s abuse, her prison sentence, and then the attempted reconciliation after her release. It is sometimes hard to read because it is *so* infuriating to see how Rose Gold is treated, not only by her mother, but her estranged father as well. Just when you think you know how it is all going to play out, the bottom falls out from under you and everything changes.

This was a very quick, entertaining read that I would recommend to any thriller fans out there.

4 solid stars!

This is dark, messed up and amazing! I loved this book. It kept me on the edge of my seat. It gave me shivers. It allowed me to read some really interesting characters and dive into the psyche of terrible people. I am obsessed with this book and so excited to review it on my channel!

This story and it's characters have more layers than the filtering on my selfies.

"Most people don't like holding onto 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."


This is a story about revenge.

Yes, Munchausen by Proxy is a featured aspect of this book, however, at it's heart, this is a tale of retribution.

With alternating POVs, Patty and her daughter, Rose Gold, the reader is tasked with trying to figure out who is manipulating who, all the while questioning the reliability of both narrators.

This is a fast read with a unique plot penned flawlessly by author Stephanie Wrobel.

I have but one issue with this book. Many aspects of this story are clearly based on the infamous case of Gypsy Rose Blanchard, down to the minutest of details. This turned me off a bit for a number of reasons, one being that I don't think it's ethical to expound on the tragedy that is someone else's life without their explicit consent.


** I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. **

While the story is engaging, it reads solely as suspense. Probably could have done a better job conveying the actual illness of Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy.

Mother/daughter unreliable narrators kept me guessing throughout this intense, creepy novel by Wrobel. Family dysfunction is an understatement for Patty and Rose Gold Watts. The writing was concise, spot-on, and distinct and I look forward to what Wrobel writes next. Highly recommend!

They say, "Revenge is sweet." How true it is in Darling Rose Gold. As I held my breath throughout this book, wondering who would cave first, the ending remained a mystery and very climatic. Read this book. It was amazing.

In a story ripped from the headlines, author Stephanie Wrobel brings to life the effects of Munchausen Syndrome on both the victim and perpetrator in her stunning debut novel, Darling Rose Gold. Clearly inspired by the recent media attention given to the Gypsy Rose and Dee Dee Blanchard case, Darling Rose Gold tells the scintillating story of Patty and Rose Gold Watts. Patty is soon to be released from prison after serving a five year sentence for aggravated child abuse - specifically, she poisoned Rose Gold throughout her childhood, making her appear sick when she really wasn't, and relishing in the attention she received for the fastidious care she provided her ailing daughter. Now Patty is the subject of much unwanted attention, being exposed as the source of her daughter's deathly "illnesses." When Rose Gold picks up her mother the day she is released from prison and agrees to let Patty live with her and her newborn son, the community is shocked, but Patty Watts is not. She knows her daughter to be frail and spineless - she could never say "no" to her doting mother. However, what Patty doesn't know is Rose Gold has spent the past five years getting wise about the world, and let's just say that she hasn't invited her manipulative mother into her home out of the kindness of her poor, weak heart ...

Stephanie Wrobel is an author to keep an eye on in upcoming years, as her first novel, Darling Rose Gold, is a shining debut. Well-written and compelling, it is apparent right away that this page turner is not to be trusted - readers already know that Patty Watts is a deceitful liar, but Rose Gold isn't as innocent as she seems at first glance either. As readers delve deeper into this story of jaw-dropping family secrets and insidious revenge, they learn more about Rose Gold's desires and motives, and what eighteen years at the hand of her mother's abuse did to her psyche. Watching Rose Gold grow from a timid, insecure young girl to the formidable woman she is today is the true delight of this novel, which provides just enough similarities to current events, such as the Dee Dee Blanchard murder, to make it feel familiar to readers, but also puts a fresh spin on Munchausen Syndrome cases, and their perpetrators and victims.

Recommended to those who are looking for something refreshingly different to come out of the domestic suspense genre, and to those who enjoy tense thrillers that pull the wool right over your eyes. Especially recommended to anyone who was shocked and appalled by the story of Gypsy Rose and Dee Dee Blanchard,

I rarely give out five star ratings, but Darling Rose Gold gets one for keeping me thoroughly entertained and captivated throughout the duration of the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Darling Rose Gold is all kinds of dark and twisty-- a stark contrast to the shiny title. Rose Gold spent her childhood in and out of doctors offices, mostly confined to a wheelchair with a shaved head due to hair that kept falling out. But despite the number of doctors visited... not a single one could find the cause for Rose Gold's mystery illness. It turns out, instead of looking for WHAT was making her sick, they should have been asking WHO was making her sick.

This thriller delves into Munchausen syndrome by proxy, betrayal, and revenge. I finished the book in less than 24 heart-pounding hours. Stephanie Wrobel expertly executes plot twist after plot twist, leaving you slightly paranoid and 100% satisfied as you close the book.

Read this if you want to feel better about your own mother/daughter relationship or if you are in the mood for a seriously twisted story of revenge.

First off, kudo to the cover designer because that cover is beautiful. I like the plot and I would definitely recommend it to any thriller fan.

One of the most chilling low key thrillers I have ever read. Too creepy for most words. Scary well written and with a twist I did NOT see coming. Will be a perfect book club book read for libraries.