A Girl Like Us by Anna Sophia McLoughlin is a gripping, high-society thriller set in the early 2000s, following Maya Miller—a former reality TV star who finds herself entangled in murder, secrets, and betrayal after marrying into the powerful Sterling family. When the family heiress is found dead and Maya is named both the successor and the prime suspect, she must uncover dark family secrets to clear her name. With a fast-paced plot, sharp twists, and a glamorous yet eerie atmosphere, and locked room mysteries.

This book just honestly wasn’t for me. I keep doing this to myself. The thriller that revolves around an inheritance, big mansion, rich and messy families just isn’t for me. I wish that it was, but I get bored because they all feel the same for me. I will say that this one kept me going better than others just because there were new levels too it that weren’t to cliche in this genre. That said, it felt too similar to others for me to truly enjoy it. Granted, if that is your thing then you will love this. There are a lot of twists and turns, some predictable and some not so it will still keep you on your toes!

This book is like the former television show, “Dynasty” on steroids. The entire Sterling family is ruthless, and full of liars. Will the real Arianna stand up, boy was I surprised……Buried people and secrets that should be, but are ready to be revealed. Fortunes, murder are just the beginning of the story. It took me a few months to finish this book, it held my interest when reading, but was easy for me to put aside for anther.
Many Thanks to NetGalley for this book in exchange for my honest critique.
I gave this book, 3.5 stars, but didn’t feel I should round up to 4 stars, so 3 stars

**A Girl Like Us** by Anna Sophie Mcloughlin delivers a sharp, cynical portrait of deeply flawed characters that will remind readers of the deliciously toxic dynamics in HBO's Succession. Mcloughlin crafts a world where every character is morally compromised, yet somehow keeps you turning pages to see how far they'll fall.

The novel's greatest strength is its unflinching commitment to making no one likeable—everyone's motivations feel genuinely selfish rather than conveniently noble. However, the book suffers from noticeable repetition in its middle chapters, with key plot points rehashed unnecessarily, occasionally stalling the narrative momentum.

Fortunately, Mcloughlin saves her best for last. The final act delivers a genuinely surprising twist that recontextualizes much of what came before and will have you wanting to immediately flip back to catch the clues you missed.

Despite its structural flaws, *A Girl Like Us* succeeds as a darkly entertaining examination of privilege and moral bankruptcy. If you enjoyed the Roy family dynamics, you'll find plenty to savor here.

**Rating: 3/5 stars**

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ — Honest, heartfelt, and inspiring
Girls Like Us by Anna Sophia McLoughlin offers a raw and powerful look at friendship, identity, and overcoming challenges. The author’s voice feels authentic and relatable, making the story both moving and uplifting. The pacing kept me engaged throughout, and the characters’ journeys were portrayed with sensitivity and strength. A thoughtful read that stays with you long after the last page.

A rich and powerful family with the secrets spilling and the twists twisting. I binge read this because it was impossible to put down. It reads like a juicy soap opera and suspense thriller all rolled into one. Would make a great Netflix series! I was casting it in my head while reading. All in all a fun and thrilling read that I highly recommend!

Thanks for the opportunity to read!

What an absolute ROLLER COASTER. While it wasn't the best thriller/mystery book that I've ever read, this book has actually ended up pretty high on my list. The family dynamics were intense and kept me on my toes. The whole mystery about why Arianna ended up leaving everything to Maya and the deception was just so clever and well thought out. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time and wondering how Maya would clear her name when everyone suspects her of plotting the whole thing in order to get her hands on the family fortune.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark, Anna Sophia McLoughlin, and NetGalley for the eARC of this book. This is my honest review.

𝕋ℍℝ𝕀𝕃𝕃𝔼ℝ 𝔹𝕆𝕆𝕂 𝔽𝔼𝔸𝕋𝕌ℝ𝔼

Special thanks to @sourcebookslandmarked @annasophiamcloughlin & @netgalley for the #gifted eARC.
This one is sure to be a great read, I mean it is a locked room mystery, which are my favs!
I mean look at this cover 👀. Its stunning and pulls you in! I can't wait to read this one soon!.

𝙎𝙔𝙉𝙊𝙋𝙎𝙄𝙎
It's 2004 and former reality TV star and party girl Maya Miller has just married the most eligible bachelor on the planet: Colin Sterling, of the globally famous Sterling family whose history of aristocratic titles and land holdings rival a British royal and whose media empire is comparable to the Murdochs. To some, Maya represents the American dream. To others, a gold digger. But when Colin's cousin Arianna, the heiress to the family's immense fortune, is found murdered, Maya is thrust into the spotlight: first as she is revealed to be the next heiress to the fortune, and then as the prime suspect.
Swiftly, the entire Sterling family goes into lockdown at Silver House, the family's ancestral estate in the English countryside. They're told it's for their own safety—but Maya becomes convinced that it's not to keep threats out, but to keep secrets in. Now, she has no choice but to find and expose the truth hidden within the Sterling family, and why Arianna, a girl she had never met, chose her to take her place. But Maya has secrets of her own. And she knows that in order to survive the Sterlings, she'll have to beat them at their own game.


𝙋𝙐𝘽 𝘿𝘼𝙔:
Feb 11, 2025

ℚ𝕆𝕋𝔻❓️⁉️❓️ What's a subgenre/trope you could do without in your books?

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#mysteryandthrills #thrillersandsuspense #thrillerfriendsunite #thrillerlover #thrilleraddict #thrillerjunkie #thrillergirlie #bookbuzz #sourcebookspartner #sourcebookslandmark #netgalley #agirllikeus #annasophiamcloughlin
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I rarely can read a book in one sitting, but I almost made it with this one. A Girl Like Us was such a compelling thriller that I could barely put it down.

At 405 pages, A Girl Like Us was a little longer than I normally like for a thriller, but even at that length, it maintained a very fast pace and had me turning pages quickly.

This story centers around a very rich and powerful family, a family that our main character Maya Miller has just married into. On the way back from her wedding and honeymoon her and her new husband discover that "the" heiress to the family fortune has been murdered. They are flown to the families' private estate and placed in lockdown. Maya soon learns that she has been named the new family heiress and what follows is a tense story of family secrets, betrayal, and murder as Maya tries to understand why a young woman she never met would name her as the new heiress.

This was a bit of a twisty thriller, but I definitely had a sense of what those twists would turn out to be. The how we got to those reveals was filled with suspense, though, which considering I saw the twists coming helped make this story so unputdownable.

This story is an interesting look into the lives of the rich and powerful, lives that don't at all seem real, what the quest for more money and power can do to people, and what lengths those who have it will go to keep it. I am the type to want a happily ever after, to want to see justice for those that have been wronged, and those who are guilty to answer for what they have done. But, I have come to notice in stories like these, dealing with the rich and powerful, there is a different kind of justice. So, I find these endings leave me accepting that is probably how the story has to end, but never entirely being satisfied.

Overall, though, this was a solid, fast-paced, unputdownable thriller.

I picked up A Girl Like Us because the cover caught my eye. I tend to be drawn to pretty colors, and the word "thriller" instantly sold me. I was excited to start it right away, but other books took over my reading schedule. I finally got around to it in July, through the audiobook version, and honestly, I’m glad I waited for the right mindset. This book deserves full focus.
The story follows Maya Miller, a famous actress and successful entrepreneur who recently married into the wealthy and mysterious Sterling family. Just days into her honeymoon, she and her husband are urgently summoned to the family estate in London. Maya barely knows her in-laws, and when she arrives, she is met with cold shoulders and strange tension.
She soon discovers that Adrianna Sterling, the family heiress, has died under suspicious circumstances. The narrative moves between Maya in the present and Adrianna in the past. Adrianna's chapters reveal her time in a facility for troubled daughters, her fascination with Maya on television, and her memories of a girl named Jessica.
What unfolds is a layered, twisty mystery filled with hidden tapes, secret rooms, cryptic family members, and a legacy built on secrets. Maya is quickly caught in a web of questions, inheritance, and a past she never expected to be part of. There are so many moments where the story shifts and unravels in unexpected ways. I genuinely had no idea what was going on until close to the end, and the twist behind the title was incredibly satisfying.
Maya is a strong and clever protagonist. Her background taught her not to trust easily and to always be prepared, which becomes essential as the mystery deepens. She is determined, observant, and not afraid to question what others overlook.
This book was eerie, messy in the right way, and full of surprises. I stayed invested the whole time, and I’m still thinking about some of the reveals. This was a solid 4.5-star read for me.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Uneven pacing and a protagonist I didn't particularly care for. I've read the author's YA books, so I was intrigued by her adult debut, but I found myself uninterested and unmoved. There are so many rich people mysteries now - why should I care about yours> You need to make me care, and, alas, I found myself unmotivated by the mystery or the drama within this book.

This was such a fun book! We get rich people being evil, family secrets and lies, and even a murder! I enjoyed having unreliable characters. LOVED Arianna’s POV of diary entries!!! There is uneven pacing - there were parts that made you not want to stop reading but there were also slow-paced ones. Dual POV, rich people drama, locked room mystery with twists and turns.

Thank you Sourcebooks Landmark for the #gifted digital copy!

Sometimes danger lies in what you unexpectedly gain. A Girl Like Us is a gripping thriller where Maya Miller unexpectedly inherits a vast family fortune after a murder, making her a prime suspect and the focus of several angry family members who felt they should have inherited. This is a must-read book for anyone who enjoys family drama, locked room mysteries and suspense.

This book is described as Succession meets Saltburn and I think that's a fair assessment. An ultra wealthy family with big secrets and a clear pecking order lock themselves into the family estate after the murder of the heiress to the family fortune. Mysteriously, our main character, an ex-reality tv star that people assume married into the family for the money, is named the new heir in the heiress' will, though the two have never met. Can the main character solve the murder before she is next?

This book was quick-paced, twisty, and fun. If you like to read or watch rich people behaving badly, this is for you.

a great debut novel. it starts off great, but once the story peaks... it starts to stale a bit. imagine a bunch of rich people in a locked room mystery. it gets chaotic and then 'meh'. still worth the read though. this is great work for a debut and this author might be someone to look forward to in the future.

A Girl Like Us was a spectacular read! The story was woven around Maya, who was a reality TV truth teller/light villain. After her reality bubble crashed, she married into an uber wealthy family that had no interest in her, rather they had distain for her as a whole. One shocking secret is revealed and the family now MUST work with Maya. Will she make it out alive or will the family... take care of business?

I don't know what it is, but I absolutely adore a story about rich people behaving poorly. As soon as I saw that this story was likened to Succession, I requested with a ferocity. The story took the most delicious twists and turns, and I could not have expected the ending at all. The pacing was perfect and I ripped through this one in a weekend.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5 stars
Glamour, scandal, and murder collide in this addictive, sharply written thriller set against a backdrop of power and privilege.

Set in 2004, A Girl Like Us by Anna Sophia McLoughlin follows Maya Miller—a former reality TV star and infamous party girl—who seems to have landed the ultimate fairytale ending: marriage to Colin Sterling, the world’s most eligible bachelor and heir to a powerful, aristocratic media dynasty. But when Colin’s cousin Arianna—the glamorous, enigmatic heiress to the Sterling fortune—is found murdered, Maya’s dream life begins to unravel.

McLoughlin masterfully blends high society drama with psychological suspense. The tone is deliciously dark, giving Succession-meets-Gone Girl energy, while exploring themes of class, perception, and the price of reinvention. Maya is a compelling lead—calculated yet vulnerable, aware of the role she’s playing and the eyes constantly watching her. As suspicion circles her, the story becomes both a whodunit and a study in how public opinion can shape truth.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The cover picture is what initially drew me to the book. I do occasionally like a 'rich people problems' kinda story and this book did not disappoint.

All the characters are grey or/and black and it worked perfectly for the story. An insanely wealthy family with members who are toxic, greedy, ruthless and dangerous...a morally good person would not have survived (like we get to see with a certain character) them but Maya Miller, a former reality TV star who has married one of the heirs, has build a life surviving deception and is not afraid to take them head-on.

The twists kept coming at regular intervals. I had my theory about a few things and persons but I wasn't 💯 correct about them.

I think this is the author's debut novel and it was a good one.

I received a digital ARC of the book by the publisher Sourcebooks Landmark and the author Anna Sophia McLoughlin via NetGalley. I had read the book in March but I am still catching up with reviews.

I tore through this thriller! thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. Maya Miller-Sterling is a reality tv star who is just married to a Sterling- think like the Murdoch empire- and when a member of the Sterling family is murdered, she is sequestered on their estate in England with the entire extended family. From there, all kinds of secrets are revealed. I loved the first 85% of this book. The ending for me was too implausible, but lots of thrillers are tbh. I liked Maya a lot as a character, and I think this book translate really well to a streaming mini series. It isn’t a must read, primarily due to the last part. But it is a fun read with a more unique background for the protagonist than other thrillers I have read lately.