Wow, did I love this! Definitely inspired by the Gypsy Rose Blanchard case, which totally appeals to me. It's twisted, it's fast paced, and you don't know who to root for, if anyone.

Either Rose Gold or her mother Patty Watts is lying. Or, maybe both of them are. Either Rose Gold or her mother Patty Watts is planning revenge. Or, maybe both of them are. Darling Rose Gold is an emotional roller coaster ride slinging you from side to side as you feel sorry first for Rose and then Patty as they each try to fulfill their obsessive need to feel loved and be needed.

Rose Gold Watts is a woman whose childhood was stolen from her by her master manipulator of an abusive mother, Patty Watts. Convinced her whole life that she was chronically ill, Rose Gold helped send her mother to prison for aggravated child abuse five years ago after finding out that she was ill because Patty was poisoning her. When Patty is released from prison and shows no intention of reforming her nasty ways, <i>Darling Rose Gold</i> has a plan to ensure that Patty will never underestimate her daughter again. Fans of domestic and psychological thrillers will love this suspenseful novel full of twists and turns, that puts a microscope on human relationships and the many complications that can arise when people give action to their darkest thoughts and most intense imaginations of vengeance.

A very impressive debut novel! Wrobel skillfully creates not one but two complex characters and draws the reader into their web of interdependency, toxic relationships and troubling behavior. Wrobel writes a compelling tale with alternating narrators (mother and daughter) that draws the reader into their stories and fascinates and repels in equal measure. Although I found the ending to be a little unbelievable, I still enjoyed this suspenseful story of a very twisted family and look forward to reading more from this very talented author.

This isn’t a bad book. It’s skillfully written and the story is decently entertaining. There are enough twists and turns to keep you entertained throughout.

But. And of course there’s a but. This is a book based on real life cases and it doesn’t read as a book about Munchausen by Proxy, it reads as a book about Gypsy Rose Blanchard. And she is a real person who has my complete sympathy even when she did something awful. So the entire time I am reading this, it feels like this is hurting a real person, that this portrayal of Rose Gold isn’t just “ooh is she a reliable narrator? Are we rooting for her or no?”, this is more like rubbernecking and speculating on the life of a real person who went through hell.

This is definitely a ‘your mileage might vary’ situation. It felt like too much to me, a young mother who is touchy about stuff like this, but plot wise there’s lots here that is different from the Blanchard case, from the very beginning the abuse is discovered, Rose Gold doesn’t do what Gypsy Rose did. I don’t know enough other cases to see what was being pulled from elsewhere and what was true fiction. So truthfully, I think a lot would have been helped by changing the main character’s name. Having Rose in there keeps the connection fresh in the reader’s mind instead of letting them get absorbed in the story. Having it in the title as well, it feels like it is marketing aimed at getting true crime fans interested because we know the Blanchard case. I have read lots of other “ripped from the headlines” types of books but maybe because I feel so motherly protective over this poor girl, this one just didn’t sit right.

The problem may have just been my expectations. I thought this was a sort of revenge thriller and I went in gunning for that, but the book kept detailing bad things that happened to Rose Gold (and the nasty streak she has for retaliation) as though trying to convince me that she should get revenge, but I was already there, baby! I had the shovel to help her hide the body and everything. I think the author was doing something more subtle with regards to showing Rose Gold's bad childhood and bad circumstances and showing Patty's and asking us to explore which of them, if either, we make excuses for. When Rose Gold lies and hurts people it felt much more understandable than when Patty does, and it is worth looking at why and what would cross the line for me as far as a sympathetic character goes. But, at the end of the day, I didn't really want that subtlety. Because of the real case, I came into this knowing whose side I was on and I just wanted some cathartic fictional revenge.

There were some really good points about motherhood in here, about when to let go and how difficult it is to not have your children maintain the baby level of dependence on you and what do mother and child owe each other, but I would have preferred to explore these ideas in a book more generically about Munchausen by proxy.

If you could get revenge against everybody that wronged you and, you couldn't get caught
would you go though with it? I'm still conflicted because , rose gold is a complicated person and at times it's hard to like her or think of her as a savior or heroine. The way that she does get revenge was brilliant. ,but does that really make her better or did it really resolve anything..... truly a nature verses nurture debate . With both parents being awful, how can you excuse nobody basically being a good person in her life. I'm still digesting all of these things after reading. Very chilling read!
If your fan is investigation discovery and oxygen and True Crime Mysteries even though this is fiction this will be a great read.

Rose Gold is a damaged child who becomes a vengeful adult. Or does she? Her mother, Patty was also a damaged child who became a vengeful adult. Or did she? Darling Rose Gold tells two intertwined stories - that of Rose Gold who was starved by Patty until she was sixteen years old, and Patty, who insists that Rose Gold was a sick child who needed her care. Because of Rose Gold's testimony, Patty is sent to jail for abuse. While she is incarcerated, Rose Gold discovers other ways in which her mother deceived her. She hatches a plot to get revenge on Rose Gold and put her away for ever. But Patty has her own plans for dealing with Rose Gold. Stephanie Wrobel has crafted an interesting view at a twisted, inter-dependent relationship and how it poisons bot participants.

I expected to read a novel that had some valid analysis of Munchausen by proxy, but instead it is a novel of mother daughter conflict and revenge ratcheted up to the Nth degree.

Rose Gold has been victimized by her mother who is released from prison after serving her sentence for the abuse her daughter suffered. When it is her child, Rose Gold, who picks her up from prison we see a tale of calculated vengeance.

I just couldn’t find any sympathy for the characters, nor did I see the author seek any motivation on either side. I certainly cannot recommend it since this had potential, but fell flat.

Thank you Netgalley.

Rose Gold grew up believing she was desperately ill, wheelchair bound, allergic to everything and spending most of her time in the hospital. But in reality, it was Rose’s mother Grace was making her sick, Rose was perfectly healthy, she wanted attention and sympathy for herself. After the ugly truth came out, Patty spent 5 years in jail. Now she’s out and has nowhere to go, shockingly, Rose takes her in. This mother and daughter are far from done with her each other. Shocking, exciting and hard to put down