*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for my honest review*

A great thriller - I would recommend it!

I finally got around to reading this and Holy crap. Every few chapters there was a twist. I never knew who was guilty, who was implicated next, and I was genuinely shook at the ending.

Great book! Had you wanting more great story great characters! Well done! I will be letting people know about this book and recommending it .

The title and cover were the first things that drew my attention, and the actual story did not disappoint me. I loved the mystery that was at the centre of the plot and i was glued to the pages to find out what happened next. There was so much tension and plot twists and it was hard to keep up sometimes! I’m excited to read more from this author in the future.

"The oldest secrets are the deadliest.
Sarah Hopewell had it all—popular student, loving sister, her parents’ favorite child. Until, weeks before her high school graduation, Sarah vanished from her San Francisco home. An infamous serial killer was convicted of her murder. Justice was served. Or was it?
Fifteen years later, Sarah’s younger sister embarks on a dangerous mission to finally confront her beloved sister’s killer. But as she begins uncovering secrets that threaten to tear her world apart, the bodies of young women start turning up in Golden Gate Park. All of them have dark hair and blue eyes. All of them look just like Sarah".
This book had so many twist and turns, great characters, their are some uncomfortable spots in the story but not to explicit. Fast paced, kept attention through the entire story, First time author, would love to read more of her books.
Thanks to Charles Fort Press, Netgalley, and the author in an exchange for an honest review.
Published April 18, 2003

Phew! A Sorrow called Sarah is an intense, twisted book to say the least. Many times I thought I knew where this was headed but right up until the last sentence I was so wrong! That ending so twisted and honestly a bit outlandish but so compelling. And a tad bit confusing too. I can't help but think how one individuals actions affected the whole family even years on. But what I couldn't grasp was how disassociated the ending turned out to be. However, this book is unique and the plot is gripping. I was very interested in knowing the details of the case that drew me in - the disappearance of Sarah Hopewell but it was from different POVs. There was no closure for me in that aspect. But all things considering this was a page turner and I enjoyed the story!

Thank you NetGalley, Booksgosocial & Charlotte Roddy for this arc!

A fast paced and thrilling read that I read in one sitting, I didn't want to put it down. It was twisty and unpredictable, I loved it

Book Review:
Title: A Sorrow Called Sarah
Author: Charlotte Roddy
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/4 stars

I can't believe this is a debut novel! Well done! This book had me hooked! That's a great accomplishment for a new author! Very suspenseful and so many twists... but good ones! These twists make it hard to put the book down!

Sarah Hopewell vanished when she was weeks away from graduating. Her body was never found, but serial killer Bradley Stanfeld was convicted of her alleged murder. Sarah's sister, who was only 13 years old at the time of her disappearance, isn't convinced that her case is truly closed. Especially when the bodies of multiple women start turning up locally. And they all resemble Sarah. Stanfeld might not, in fact, be responsible for the disappearance of Sarah, but he might know who really is. An incredible psychological thriller!

Published: April 18th, 2023

Thank you, @netgalley, and @booksgosocialgroup for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

fast paced thriller that i couldn't put down

thanks to the publisher and netgalley for the copy for review

Sarah was a bright young woman who was viciously murdered right before her high school graduation. A serial killer was convicted for her murder, but her younger sister isn't convinced that the police caught the right person. When more girls who look just like Sarah start to disappear, she is determined to uncover the truth once and for all.

I liked this book! It's a great psychological thriller that will keep you on your toes. I recommended you give this a try if you like crime/serial killer thrillers!

Oh hell. The twists and turns in this book gave me whiplash! This is a tension filled thriller that did not let up. Will be following Charlotte Roddy closely to see what she churns our next. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review,

Almost a 5-star read, "A Sorrow Called Sarah" had me hooked from the start. Charlotte Roddy's psychological thriller had a twisted plot with unexpected twists. However, the ending felt unbelievably weird and didn't quite work for me.

The abundance of characters occasionally became confusing, but the protagonist's strained relationships were relatable. While the suspense was maintained, the resolution was off the wall and left me puzzled.

Despite this, I still recommend "A Sorrow Called Sarah" to fans of this genre. The writing was excellent, and most of the twists were well-executed. I look forward to the author's future works.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this book. This one started out a little slow but really picked up about 25% through. The story was suspenseful but I couldn't quite connect with the lead character.

Sarah disappeared as a teenager. Her younger sister struggled with the fact that Sarah was never found, so decided to get answers. During her search, her world is turned upside down as she begins to untangle the web that surrounds Sarah and the truth of what was really going on around her that she was shielded from her entire life.

The story does involve some topics that were tough to read, specifically, due to the ages of the characters at the time the events occurred. However, the events sets the second half of the book up for the domino reaction that comes after, which continues to keep you guessing until the very last page.

Chapters were short and quick to read but kept the story interesting. The storyline had many layers to keep you guessing, but not overly complicated to the point of forgetting details or characters.

If you’re looking for a book that is completely unexpected, this one checks that box, for sure!

Not terrible, not great. The first bit with the younger sister and the serial killer had me rolling my eyes and about to DNF - completely formulaic, the charming, snarky psychopath and the victim's relative obliging with tears and fury and asking questions that predictably don't get answered.
After this it shifts gears a little and becomes more readable, although never lifts itself above usual thriller fare. There are some twists that are surprising enough, but none of the characters have been given enough depth or appeal to elicit the emotion that should come with their misdeeds being revealed.
The writing is pedestrian - the main character 'screams', 'almost screams', 'tries to keep from screaming' her words much too often. A character who claims to have been in love with Sarah says "she came onto ME", "she was everything in the world to me", and a solitary tear rolls down his cheek. The sections about the mysterious killer dwelling on his connection with the victims are repellent but, again, not groundbreaking. There are quite a few mistakes in grammar or word choice - i.e. 'jive' instead of 'jibe', but this was from NetGalley so maybe it was uncorrected?
I would still recommend it for a public library purchase because a lot of reviewers here who read thrillers found it worthwhile - I've maybe just read too many at this point.

I've enjoyed navigating through the constant plot twists and the complex relationships of the various characters.

There were so many moments when I thought I knew who it was. Then, a page or two later, I'd change my mind entirely 😅.

While it did take me a few chapters to understand the structure of the storytelling, once I got there, it made the experience a lot more enjoyable.

The only negative I really have is the ending. While It did reveal everything and pieced all the threads together. It did just end... like...is that it? What happened next 🤨 that last chapter could have gone on for a bit longer to leave a real cliffhanger for a sequel.

Overall. A thrilling read with a roller coaster of emotions and plot twists.

Wow!! What a twisty ride that was! I love a book where you find it hard to figure things out. These days reading many thrillers, it gets harder to be surprised? Maybe it’s just me. But this book was everything you want a thriller to be. I was hooked and had no idea what was coming next. Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read this amazing thriller!

I have mixed feelings about this one.

Admittedly, I did have a bit of difficulty getting hooked. The way the story opened sort of threw me off. There wasn’t the typical introduction, we jumped right into the complicated life of the protagonist. Speaking of whom, I couldn’t fully connect with. In my opinion, she lost her temper quite easily and didn’t always provide the best lines.

Despite that, at the 30% mark, I felt the pacing of the story change. And I’m so glad it did.
From that point onwards, the book was so fast paced, with twists and turns everywhere. I didn’t know who to trust and when I thought I had everything figured it out, another twist came knocking.

Do I believe it was a bit too much and things were conveniently being fed to us and the protagonist? Yes. Do I care? Not so much. There are some sordid secrets that start coming to light as the story unfolds (check tw if you’re the kind of reader who needs them), and I’m not sure they were handled one hundred percent correctly. But I was too damn curious to know more. So I read the last stretch of the book like I was running a marathon.

And the ending… wow. I genuinely did not see that coming. I mean, I saw part of it coming but the other half was pure shock.

A twisted book from beginning to end. I don’t think this is for the light of heart, but if you’re looking for an unputdownable thriller, I believe this debut is a great choice.

April has been a really slow reading month for me (some would even call it a s-l-u-m-p 🫣) , but A Sorrow Called Sarah by @charlotteroddy.author was the perfect book to get the reading gears going again ! It’s fast-paced and kept me in my toes ! As a bonus , I loved the flow of the book and the literary style - while you were introduced to each character throughout the whole book , each got their own part that highlighted their interactions with the narrator (brilliant really) . A solid 4 stars !

Thank you @netgalley , @booksgosocialgroup , and @charlotteroddy.author for helping my out of my April slump .

From @goodreads :: The oldest secrets are the deadliest.

Sarah Hopewell had it all—popular student, loving sister, her parents’ favorite child. Until, weeks before her high school graduation, Sarah vanished from her San Francisco home. An infamous serial killer was convicted of her murder. Justice was served. Or was it?

Fifteen years later, Sarah’s younger sister embarks on a dangerous mission to finally confront her beloved sister’s killer. But as she begins uncovering secrets that threaten to tear her world apart, the bodies of young women start turning up in Golden Gate Park. All of them have dark hair and blue eyes.

All of them look just like Sarah…

#readingslump #netgalley #asorrowcalledsarah #booksgosocialgroup #psychologicalthriller #thriller #serialkiller #goodreads #bookstagram #bookreviewer #goodreadschallenge #advancedreaderscopy #ilovebooks

This story centres around the question: why? Why was Sarah Hopewell murdered, and why did Bradley Stanfeld do it (after all, he’s been convicted and in jail), but why does he keep denying killing Sarah, while at the same time admitting to a handful of other murders? And why now, after fifteen years, did he agree to tell Sarah’s younger sister where he left the bodies? Why is the family not talking about Robert, the brother?
A lot of unanswered questions and there are even more secrets. The tension builds up with every page, every twist and turn, everything we learn and even more, everything that we do not know yet. This one would do very well as a mini-series too. I can hardly believe it is a debut and I’m very much looking forward to reading more of this outstanding author.
Thanks to Netgalley and BooksGoSocial for this review copy.