I think I found a new sub-genre to obsess over— thrillers disguised as horrors / thrillers with supernatural elements. THE BURNING GIRLS is one such book. In Tudor’s signature slow burn story telling, this book is about a vicar and her daughter settling into a small town of Chapel Croft. The vicar, Jack’s unconventional ways precedes her, but she distracts herself with a mystery around this town’s very own tradition. Is it a tradition to honour or a ceremony to hide the town’s past misdeeds?

The altering POVs and timelines between past and present made the storyline more suspenseful. But some parts felt dragged which derailed the intrigue. That twist at the final few chapters truly elevated the rating of this book. Might not be author’s best, but definitely worth reading if you are into creepy thrillers with rationally religious beliefs. The mother-daughter bonding written into this story is very heartwarming.

Thank you Random House / Ballantine via Netgalley for the arc.

4.5 stars out 5 stars. I really enjoyed this 2022 thriller! It was full of great twists and had an interesting plot. I cannot wait to read more from this author.

I didn't love this as much as I loved the Chalk Man but it was still enjoyable. I am a big fan of C.J. Tudor's writing style so I would be very interested reading anything new by the author.

3.5 stars

I'm glad I enjoyed this book more than the last C.J. Tudor book I read but it still wasn't one of my favorites. I'm going to start off with what I liked:

If there is a religious theme in a thriller or horror book and that plays into the creepy or horrific elements, I'm almost always bound to enjoy it at least somewhat. I think this book handled that really well and it definitely added to the creepy atmosphere.

I also really enjoyed the mother-daughter relationship that was woven into the story. I think it added a lot to the story and was quite meaningful considering the mother was also a single mom. I'm not super big on relationships being explored within books unless they're romantic, but I really enjoyed the dynamic between the two characters.

Lastly the twist at the end shocked me a bit (most twists do because I never see anything coming lol) in a really good way. I really liked the end direction this book took and it bumped my rating uop half a star.

So moving onto the things I didn't enjoy, they're mostly the same types of problems I had with The Other People. C.J. Tudor loves to use multiple perspectives to add "suspense" and "intrigue" but I think it's mostly just confusing. Throughout this, i was really confused because there were so many storylines going on and the author tried to weave them into one story but ended up having a lot of loose ends. And I don't mind loose ends if they're purposefully left for the reader to contemplate or come up with their own conclusions but I can tell that wasn't what was done here. There were some left intentionally at the end but the other ones were just things brought up in the middle of the book, and just never touched on again. I think the main issue is that there is always too much going on and it's hard to keep track of and then all those storylines didn't even merge together into a conclusion.

That being said, I somehow ended up still being bored throughout a lot of this book and the same went for The Other People. I don't understand how a book can have so many storylines going on and still manage to do nothing, say nothing, and be boring for 50% or more of the book. I wish we focused on some of the other storylines more and just did 2-3 instead of the 7+ that was in here. The main ones that were focused on also weren't my favorite and not what I expected going into this book.

I did enjoy aspects of this book and I definitely don't look back on this book with negative feelings, but it was mostly just lackluster with a few things that saved it.

Thank you to Random House Publishing Group, C.J. Tudor, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wow this book was absolutely fantastic! I could not put it down! I just love how Tudor weaves her stories so intricately. Every time I thought I had it figured out, another twist came into play. Loved loved love it!

This book started slowly for me, and I found myself wondering why this book had so much hype, but I pushed on and I quickly realized the hype surrounding this is right. This book will slowly creep up on you, tap you on the shoulder, and grab your attention and give you the creeps all at the same time. Definitely recommend this book to everyone.

Jack Brooks is a vicar that is sent to a small village called Chapel Croft. While she and her daughter are trying to settle in, weird things start happening. Someone is leaving dolls made out of straw at their house. Jack is also getting weird notes. And her daughter is seeing apparitions of 2 girls on fire! What is going on in this small village and who is behind it all?

I really enjoyed this book! This is my first by this author. Everything was answered for me by the end of the book. And some of the twists I didn’t see coming! If you like a good twisted and creepy mystery, this book is for you! Thank you to Netgalley and Ballantine Books for allowing me to read an advanced copy for my honest review.

In alternating POVs, The Burning Girls weaves a dark mystery in a small town. I really enjoyed the two main characters; Reverend Jack Brooks and her daughter Flo, are complimentary to each other and fit the narrative. I was a little concerned that this was going to be a little to religious for my liking but the story didn't go there. Jack is certainly different than most Reverend's but I never felt like she was out of character. The plot did well against the small town setting and all the eeriness came at just the right moment! The burning girls aspect was a cool mix-in and it was interesting to read that burning girls was a real thing (well there's a reference to the Encyclopedia event). I was a little disappointed in the final reveal though, felt like C.J. was taking the cheap way out. If you like slow settling mysteries that aren't detective heavy, this would be a great read!

Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately this book was not really for me. There are many people who loved this book. The author is a fantastic writer, this story just wasn’t one of my favorites. I just didn't care for these characters maybe because the lack of character development.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is an engrossing read that I truly enjoyed. I did find it difficult at times to keep up with the many POV’s and expected the story to be creeper than it was, but that’s probably a good thing. I enjoyed it and would recommend it. Thank you publisher and netgalley for this arc in exchange of an honest review.

Another creepy suspenseful book by CJ Tudor. Do yourself a favor and pick it up!

Thank you to the Publisher and Netgalley for the advanced e-reader copy. All opinions expressed are my own.

3.5 rounded up.

“If you see the burning girls, something bad will befall you.”

I hate to say this because being in the minority is no fun. Overall, I liked but did not love ‘The Burning Girls’. First, the story.

Reverend Jack Brooks took up an assignment that sent to Chapel Croft to replace a vicar who committed suicide. Together with her fourteen-year-old daughter, Flo, they tried to make this new place their home. Right from the beginning, we learned about an incident that took place 500 years ago, where eight Protestant martyrs were burned at stake. Then thirty years ago, two girls, best friends Merry and Joy, disappeared into thin air. What happened to them? Did the vicar really commit suicide?

Reverend Brooks thought she and her daughter could have a brand-new start in Chapel Croft, until she received her welcome gift – an exorcism kit. And then, her daughter started seeing odd apparitions, and even caught an eerie image on her camera when she went out exploring their new place. Soon they’d find out that there was more than met the eye.

The story was told from a few different POVs – Reverend Brooks, her daughter Flo, and a couple more which I won’t reveal as to not spoil the story for you. There were also so many other minor characters, that I almost had a hard time keeping up (I relied heavily on the search tool in my kindle, which made the reading a little tedious). I think because of that, I found it hard to be invested in any of their stories, although I did think Wrigley and Joan were interesting characters.

So why was I not blown away by this book? Well, I really, truly, enjoyed the beginning and how Tudor set the tone – it had all the atmospheric vibes that I liked, and was prepared to be all creeped out by the supernatural, there were descriptions like ‘here lies evil’, words like ‘Satan’ ‘upside-down Christian cross’ and ‘crucifix’, and satanic graffiti, an exorcism kit, it’s hard not to expect something dark lurking between those pages. I thought there’d be some sort of exorcism, or skin-crawling elements, only to find out it wasn’t as dark as I expected it to be. Having that expectation and not getting it, my enjoyment of the book was slightly tainted. So, fault is fully mine.

Tudor writes brilliantly for sure, and I loved the twist at the end. It outshone everything else in the book, which then made me question what was the point of the rest of the story before it? The two mysteries (one about the burning girls, and the other Merry and Joy) were so loosely connected.

Overall, a good read if you set your expectations right.

Catching up on reviews I forgot to finish: This was a book that I was really excited to get, the premise sounded right up my alley but when it came time to read it I was slightly disappointed. It wasn't scary to me and felt more like a predictable chick horror film cast. I know each person's thrill/horror threshold is different and I'm very hard to creep out with books so I don't blame the book or Tudor it just didn't get there for me.

SO good! C.J. Tudor’s The Burning Girls draws you into this historical-supernatural-community secrets-mean girls thriller right away. Tudor weaves multiple threads through this story, which leads to so many endings that it’s a little hard to keep track of them all. It’s an absorbing story, though, and the main character is a complex, resilient figure.

I have loved just about all of CJ Tudor's books, and The Burning Girls is no exception! I really enjoyed this thriller! From hauntings to a dilapidated church to townspeople and their new reverand all carrying tons of secrets, this was a super-fast read with a decent bang ending! I always love stories that have haunted backstories, and this book was exactly that. Loved it!

The Burning Girls by C.J. Tudor took me a bit outside of my comfort zone, as I am generally not a horror fan, but the writing is so compelling that I was swept away. It's a book with some great plot twists amidst an atmospheric setting.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.

The multiple (murder) mysteries intersected very disappointingly for me and I was a bland ending. I wish we could have seen people paying the consequences for their actions instead of just, in a very Catholic manner I suppose, admitting the truth and it going nowhere.

3 1/2 stars

It’s okay. Nothing memorable , like Tudors [book:The Chalk Man|35356382]or [book:The Hiding Place|40091283].

This lacked intensity and the pace was too slow IMHO, but I'm still a huge fan of this author. They all can’t be 5 stars.

ARC provided by NetGalley

I’ve really enjoyed C.J. Tudor’s previous thrillers, and this novel was no exception. Take a quiet village with a creepy history of martyred children, add a new vicar, throw in a twist or three, and you’ve got yourself an engrossing read!

This book started slow to me and I almost DNF it. I don’t like to DNF books, so I continued reading and I am glad I did. It got really interesting and good! I would recommend this book.