Secrets Will Out..
Fast paced and glamorous locked room mystery come dysfunctional domestic drama where secrets and lies may inevitably out. With a well drawn cast of eclectic characters, a claustrophobic and nicely executed plot and a firm sense of place, this is both an immersive and compelling read laced with menace and drenched in a closed in atmosphere.

This book exceeded my expectations with a wealthy family's drama, deep rooted family secrets and rich people behaving however they want. This book kept my attention from the first chapter, and I devoured it in its entirety. I also loved that I could not guess the ending - there were so many twists and turns that kept my attention. I cannot wait to read more from Anna Sophia McLoughlin.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for this thrilling ARC!

I DNF this book. The premise sounded intriguing but the writing style and approach didn’t resonate with me. I found the characters to be unlikeable - and while sometimes that can be compelling, it just wasn’t the kind of book that I’d like to be reading right now.

2.75 stars

This is pitched as "Succession" meets "Saltburn", and with how fun "Saltburn" was it makes me wonder if "Succession" is boring. The premise was there, but the execution was lacking on this one for me. First off, I'm not sure why it's set in 2004, which feels like a weird thing to critique, but the whole time I kept waiting on something to make that make sense as a setting choice and it didn't happen. I guess because of the reality TV culture? But I feel like that's still relevant today, so. Anyway, Maya Miller got famous from reality TV and has now married into a super-rich aristocratic family, the Sterlings. Then, the young heiress to the Sterling family fortune is found murdered while Maya and her new husband are on their honeymoon, and they're called to the family compound for the reading of the will. When Maya is named the sole inheritor despite never meeting the heiress, the estate gets locked down so they can try to figure out what happened.

I'll be honest the twists in this were dumb to me, one of them was literally just someone forgot something, and then another was so absolutely ridiculous I couldn't get over it. No middle of the road twists here. There was some bouncing around in time between the present and Maya's past, and also some chapters from the heiress's diary, and those were the most interesting part. Overall, though, the setting was cool and the idea was fun, but it fell flat for me.

3.5 stars rounded up. This book sounded like it would be a fun, fizzy kind of thriller featuring a cast of rich people and a whole lot of backstabbing. And it was. I liked it overall, even though I didn't really like or care about any of the characters. It was entertaining and twisty. It also felt a bit flat. It is what it claims to be though and works well if you're in the mood for that.

I read an ARC of this book from NetGalley. All comments are my own.

This one had all the ingredients for a juicy thriller—reality TV drama, royalty-adjacent billionaires, murder, and secrets locked behind estate walls—but it never quite came together for me. I *wanted* to be hooked, but despite trying both the audiobook and print version, it just didn’t fully click.

That said, I *did* enjoy the overall concept and the twists that emerged—there were definitely moments of “wait, what?” that made it worth continuing. Maya as a character is compelling on paper: a party girl turned prime suspect trying to outwit a powerful family. But somehow, the execution felt a bit flat or overly drawn out. Still, I could easily see this working as a beach read—something light, dramatic, and escapist for poolside lounging.

If you’re looking for something twisty with a *Succession* meets *Knives Out* vibe, this might do the trick—but for me, it didn’t rise above the rest of the pack.

Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for the arc of this one in exchange for an honest review!

Unfortunately, this book was not for me. I just felt a bit bored overall. I don’t think this book was horrible but it didn’t really offer anything new or exciting to me.

The writing was just a bit bland as well and I was left wanting something more.

I hope others love this one.

This book was good! I liked it but didn’t love it. I definitely see potential in it and look forward to seeing what else the author does.

Rich people behaving badly is an all too real and yet captivating thriller trope and A Girl Like Us takes this to a new level.

The Sterling family heiress is murdered and names Maya, the newest member of the family by marriage, the new heiress in her will. Having never met the previous heiress, Maya is immediately under suspicion and thrust into a deadly dance to unearth long buried secrets.

This book was so twisted and clever! It gets a little slow in the middle but then the action picks up right to the end. A locked room thriller set in the Sterling family estate, A Girl Like Us is full of secrets, lies and betrayal that will have your head spinning.

A locked room mystery where the room is literally on lock down to keep the high profile suspects away from the media storm around them AND to cut them off from the outside. Our FMC has to navigate this isolation while she tries to figure out where this situation is going while also dropping her own culpability on the reader throughout.

This story certainly held plenty of tangled webs and little surprises with the setting adding to the twisted plot. Unfortunately it didn’t take long to become frustrated with the protagonist. Her rags to riches allure was insufficient against her depressing inner monologue. There were also characters I wanted so much more time with or that almost didn’t get enough time to understand for the plot. The pacing suffered because we were in her head instead of following the huge developments.

If you like twisty mysteries that are heavy on character, this one may be for you, I just couldn’t get into this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy. These opinions are my own.

A Girl Like Us is an engaging thriller that keeps you hooked with its complex, often unlikable characters. The story pulls you into a world of rich, out-of-touch people, each with their own messy secrets. The tension builds nicely throughout, and you’re always guessing what’s going to happen next. Overall, it's a really fun, twisty read with characters you love to hate.

I recently had the pleasure of reading this, and I have to say, it exceeded my expectations in so many ways. From the very first page, I was hooked by the engaging style and the intriguing characters. The author does an excellent job of building a world that feels both immersive and believable, making it easy to get lost in the story. The plot was full of twists and turns that kept me on the edge of my seat. Just when I thought I had it figured out, the story would surprise me with something unexpected. I highly recommend this and all their work.

More of a 4.5 star rating.

I loved this! It did start off a bit slow to me, but by the 20% mark, I was hooked.

I’m a sucker for locked room thrillers and this was SO good.

With tons of twists and and tension, this was one of the best slow burn thrillers I’ve read this year.

Thanks to NetGalley & publisher for this ARC.

📸 Former TV Reality Star
📸 Married into Powerful Wealthy Family
📸 Family Drama
📸 A Murder

Packed with family secrets and a slow-burn unraveling, this one had an interesting premise. While I felt a bit disinterested in the middle of the story, the ultimate twist made up for the read. (The last 10% is where the big kicks come in.) If you liked The Inheritance by Trisha Sakhlecha you may like this one.

Maya grew up rough but gets a break on a reality tv show. She ends up marrying a Sterling, a super powerful and wealthy family. When a family member turns up dead, all the relatives are made to report to the family estate for safety. While there Maya learns she’s been named the new heiress of the empire - and that doesn’t set well with any of the family members! With her life in the balance and a murderer at large, things get crazy quick. A fun fast paced read!

This was super interesting, with so many secrets to uncover and twists I didn't see coming. It's definitely worth a read if you like secret family drama and mysteries.

It's an interesting thriller with psychological twists. The storyline is exciting, and the characters are unreliable and mostly selfish. I couldn't understand the plot at first, but after halfway through, it picked up speed, and one after another, secrets and lies came out from all sides. It felt a little confusing sometimes with the alternative point of view, but the ending is quite good with shocking revelations. Recommended for twisted mystery fans. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC.

4.5 rounded up.
Thank you to Sourcebooks for an advance copy of A Girl Like Us.

Set in 2004, Maya Miller has done it all - she is a former reality star who has pulled herself up and become something from nothing, and has just performed her grandest trick yet - bagging one of the wealthiest men from one of the most affluent families in the world - Colin Sterling.  While Colin simply adores her, there are those of the Sterling clan who see Maya as nothing more than a gold digger looking for security for her and their baby.  So when they leave their honeymoon and are told that the sole heiress to the fortune, Arianna, has been murdered…in the very city that their wedding/honeymoon was…suspicion quickly turns to Maya.

The entire family goes into lockdown at the family’s British estate and accusations start flying. Under the guise of ‘safety of the family,’ no one is permitted to leave which raises concern for Maya. Why is the entire family forced to stay together? Is it to keep threats out or to keep secrets from getting out? Even worse - Maya gains further scrutiny when the will is read and Arianna has named Maya the new heiress to the Sterling wealth. The big problem - Maya has never met Arianna and this paints the newest member of the family in a very. Guilty. Light. 

That synopsis felt all over the place, but that’s okay. I want it that way. This book is slow burn chaos. You can’t figure out who to trust, you can’t find a single character you like, and you can’t stop reading until the wild conclusion.

There were a lot of twists in this one, some I saw coming and some that shocked the hell out of me.

This has been described as Succession x Saltburn and I can’t say I fully agree, but it’s not completely off-base. It’s absolutely rich people behaving badly with an entire cast of unhinged af characters, but without the business-heavy plot that Sucession has.

My one downside is that I think it was a tad too long. This is a slow slow slow burn plot, don’t expect to be biting your nails on the edge of your seat. This is a sit and stew in it and ponder about what happens until we jump out and scare you ride.  Had it been maybe 30-50 pages shorter, I think it would attract and stun a wider audience…however, I thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to Anna’s sophomore book!

WOW!! After previously writing young adult novels, A GIRL LIKE US is Anna’s debut into adult fiction with the mystery/thriller genre and she enters with a deliciously twisty show-stopping BANG! There are twists and turns that escalate into even bigger reveals and stunning deceptions that leave the mind racing and spinning to analyze them. McLoughlin also dazzles and layers with a modern fresh spin of pop culture and reality television infused into the story, complete with tabloid frenzy, rich storied generational families, and love triangles. For readers who are now hooked after finishing the book, good news awaits — the author is thinking about a sequel, as well as also being in the process of working on another novel. I for one can’t wait to see what comes next from the pen of this new-to-me author that hooked me with A GIRL LIKE US!

I feel like marketing as "Succession meets Saltburn" might have set my hopes too high for this. I just didn't find myself all that engaged, I really didn't like the protagonist, so couldn't really root for her but also she wasn't the type that you loved to hate either, just kinda ... uninteresting. There were a lot of twists but I kinda just struggled to care?