Stephanie Wrobel

Roman

Darling Rose Gold

A dark, shocking, bestselling thriller debut about a mother and daughter—and the lengths to which a daughter will go to find independence. “Nobody wants to hear the truth from a liar.” For the first eighteen years of her life, Rose Gold Watts believed she was seriously ill. She was allergic to everything, used a wheelchair, and practically lived at the hospital. Neighbors did all they could, holding fundraisers and offering shoulders to cry on, but no matter how many doctors, tests, or surgeries, no one could figure out what was wrong with her. Turns out her mom, Patty Watts, was just a really good liar. After serving five years in prison, Patty gets out with nowhere to go and begs her daughter to take her in. The entire community is shocked when Rose Gold says yes. Patty insists all she wants is to reconcile their differences. She says she’s forgiven Rose Gold for turning her in and testifying against her. But Rose Gold knows her mother. Patty Watts always settles a score. Unfortunately for Patty, Rose Gold is no longer her weak little darling… And she’s waited such a long time for her mother to come home.

Lamia Hajani

Man, I was hoping to love this one but it’s just fine. The story is clearly taken almost entirely from the real story of Gypsy Rose Blanchard (even the name is partly taken). However it’s basically just a revisionist history of if justice had had its course instead. The characters are unlikable as hell. Story is ok. Rating is closer to a 2.5 but it is a debut novel and I don’t want to rate too low due to that.

"In her compulsive, sharply-drawn debut, Stephanie Wrobel peels back the layers of the most complicated of mother-daughter relationships. For the first eighteen years of her life, Rose Gold Watts believed she was seriously ill. She was allergic to everything, used a wheelchair and practically lived at the hospital. Neighbors did all they could, holding fundraisers and offering shoulders to cry on, but no matter how many doctors, tests, or surgeries, no one could figure out what was wrong with Rose Gold. Turns out her mom, Patty Watts, was just a really good liar. After serving five years in prison, Patty gets out with nowhere to go and begs her daughter to take her in. The entire community is shocked when Rose Gold says yes. Patty insists all she wants is to reconcile their differences. She says she's forgiven Rose Gold for turning her in and testifying against her. But Rose Gold knows her mother. Patty Watts always settles a score. Unfortunately for Patty, Rose Gold is no longer her weak little darling... And she's waited such a long time for her mother to come home"--

Rebecca Self 

Sarahi Flores

This book shook me. It left me with a sense of “WTF” and I don’t know if it’s in a good way or bad. This book totally reminds me of the case of Claudine Blanchard and Gypsy Rose. However this story takes a different turn and it was pretty insane.

Rose Gold seems like a girl who just wants to be loved. And even though she’s trying to move forward after her mom, Patty, who was sentenced to jail, she is still struggling on how to move past of being the victim. I did feel sorry for her but at some point it weird how she was acting and behaving.

Patty of course sees no problem what she done with her daughter. You can say she’s in denial even though she was found guilty and was sentenced in jail. She’s definitely delusional. Always on the move and thinking what needs to be done despite she was already known for seeking unnecessary medical treatments.

overall this story is a good one. Left me wanting more and of course it left me surprised with how it ended.  I give this book 4 out of 5 stars. It’s a fast pace novel and of course if you haven’t seen the series, The Act, on Hulu the. You should! I wonder if that’s how the author found the inspiration to write this story. 🤔

Lisa Merriam

Luna

i do think it was a consciously shitty thing to not mention the baby (and subsequent graphic abuse of a baby) and eating disorders in any synopsis or marketing for this book, but other than that this fucking slapped. i have never been more entertained or satisfied by a thriller before and i think the characterization was absolutely amazing

A dark, shocking, and unputdownable thriller debut about a mother and daughter—and the lengths to which a daughter will go to find independence. “Nobody wants to hear the truth from a liar.” For the first eighteen years of her life, Rose Gold Watts believed she was seriously ill. She was allergic to everything, used a wheelchair, and practically lived at the hospital. Neighbors did all they could, holding fundraisers and offering shoulders to cry on, but no matter how many doctors, tests, or surgeries, no one could figure out what was wrong with Rose Gold. Turns out her mom, Patty Watts, was just a really good liar. After serving five years in prison, Patty gets out with nowhere to go and begs her daughter to take her in. The entire community is shocked when Rose Gold says yes. Patty insists all she wants is to reconcile their differences. She says she's forgiven Rose Gold for turning her in and testifying against her. But Rose Gold knows her mother. Patty Watts always settles a score. Unfortunately for Patty, Rose Gold is no longer her weak little darling... And she's waited such a long time for her mother to come home.

sydney 

Elodia

*3.5

A great revenge story. The POV were too similar and I’d forget who was narrating. The characters were unlikeable, even Rose Gold, but that’s one thing I liked about it I was never rooting for anyone.

Megan Leprich

I picked this up based off the cover alone, I know, bad to do, and honestly didn’t read the synopsis until I started the book. I had no idea it was based loosely off of Gypsyrose and everything that happened in her life. The outcome is different in this book and of course the book is not the exact same as what happened to that girl but still just as cringeworthy and messed up. 

There were points in this book I wanted to stop reading, not due to the authors writing style but due to what was happening to the girl. Munchausen by proxy is one of those diseases that honestly freaks me out but makes me mad at the same time because of what it entails. The author did an amazing job of representing it and holy moly, the plot twists, I wasn’t ready for those. 

A couple of times throughout the book I couldn’t decide if I disliked Rose Gold or Patty more. Both of them were extremely messed up in the head but I know Rose Gold’s insanity was due to her mom and I had to keep reminding myself that she couldn’t help the way she acted. 

The only reason I’m giving it 3 stars is because it did tend to run on at certain points and I was getting bored reading it. Then it would pick back up and I would be devouring it. Overall not a bad read, just maybe don’t go into it blind like I did.

Lacey

Holy freaking crap.... this book! 

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC for review purposes. 

This book had me ready to go on a ride in the first few chapters and I wanted to binge it. I knew that I was in for a delicious treat, so I chose to savour it. 

This book gives me Gypsy Rose Blanchard vibes. Darling Rose Gold is the twisted tale of Rose Gold Watts and her manipulative mother, Patty. 

This is a book that I won’t go into detail because it’s best to go into this without knowing too much. Just when I thought I had this book figured out, the author threw so many twists that left me going “WTF?”

So many characters that were messy and it left me wanting more.

If you love a book full of unlikeable characters and seriously questionable morals – Darling Rose Gold is the book for you. The story delves into a case of Munchausen’s by proxy – a syndrome in which someone intentionally causes harm or ill-health to another, typically because they gain attention and pity from the circumstances. If you are a true crime buff like me then your first recognition with this syndrome would be the case of Dee Dee and Gypsy Blanchard.

My love for true crime and fascination with the possible thought processes within situations like this may be why I loved the book so much. But overall, I think Wrobel wove an interesting and engaging narrative.

There is a sense of uncomfortableness that Wrobel weaves throughout this book’s narrative. And while I think this may be one of the reasons this book has generated such mixed reviews, I personally loved it.

Wrobel creates a feeling of guessing, forcing the reader to feel unsure how to view the characters and their actions. Something that is truly in line with real-life true crime stories. Stories do not necessarily need a black and white, right and wrong style of narrative. Darling Rose Gold did an excellent job of developing something that is incredibly grey and will stoke your emotions accordingly.

Darling Rose Gold is written both from the perspective of Rose Gold and her mother, Patty. Hence, we have two narrators, giving both main characters incredibly distinct voices. Both narrators do a fantastic job of portraying the sense of grey moral of both main characters and I honestly can find no faults at all.

The audio for this story was engaging and super easy to fall into.

Thank you to Libro.FM and the publisher for providing me an audiobook copy in exchange for an honest review!

Sharon Steinman

Thanks Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book before it's released. I really enjoyed this book. Even when it was over I still wanted another chapter. 

I would highly recommend reading this if you like suspense and thrillers. There was a good plot twist in the book which I didn't guess on my own. 

It reminded me a bit of the War of the Roses in a strange way.

Chantale

This book sounded like it was going to be amazing but unfortunately, I just thought this book was ok. I mean this book was predictable and the story was just meh. 

Darling Rose Gold is not one I will be reading again in the future.

Geneviève Rouleau

Disclaimer : I received this ARC through Netgalley, all thoughts are my own*

I won't get into the synopsis, since you can read that here. But first, I'll just mention that I was expecting this book to be more about Rose Gold during her childhood, instead of the aftermath with flashbacks to her childhood. But really, that's my own fault, because I didn't read the whole synopsis before requesting this ARC 😂

I was definitely intrigued by the whole story; there's so much mystery about Rose Gold's whole past. The chapters go back and forth, alternating between the MC's present thoughts, her childhood, as well as her mother's POV (Patty). The POVs switches were well done and kept me on the edge of my seat. They weren't overdone or confusing. 

Even though some twists were predictable at times, I had trouble putting this book down. I just wanted to know if Rose Gold would get her revenge 😅 I was a bit disturbed by her mental instability, but then I realised.. It's oddly refreshing to read about this imperfect, deeply flawed MC with her own load of issues. It's definitely more relatable. And it's actually scary how this story doesn't seem so far-fetched, that it could actually be plausible. That's how well the author spun her plot. 

I also loved reading about Patty's childhood, to better understand what lead her to poisoning her own child. I always enjoy learning more about the villain's side of the story. It doesn't excuse her actions, but it demonstrates how her own abusive childhood deeply affected her for the rest of her life.

I really appreciated the author's writing style. It's fluent, no nonsense, and there are no spelling mistakes, which is kinda my pet peeve ahahah! Overall, I enjoyed this book. I didn't feel mind blown, but definitely captivated. 3.5⭐ for me.

Stefie 

Jessica 

Blog | Twitter | Instagram | Tik Tok | You can find my review here.


  As always, a copy of this book was provided by the publisher or author in exchange for my honest review. This does not effect my opinion in any way.


Months have passed since I first read Darling Rose Gold. But, let me be blunt really quick: I haven't stopped thinking about it since. A part of me was almost hesitant in picking it up, because I was so hooked by the synopsis I was concerned that I was hyping myself up only to be let down. This could not be farther from the truth--Darling Rose Gold left me hypnotized, chilled and completely cloaked by its intrigue.

If there is one thing you need to know about Darling Rose Gold is that it's wildly entertaining, purely addictive and the perfect suspense to curl up and sip a warm beverage with. Already, this is one of my favourite releases of 2020.

Which, I'm sure, is no surprise.

Described as a little bit of Gillian Flynn's Sharp Objects, aka my favourite standalone novel of all-time, and a ripped from the headlines spin on the DeeDee and Gypsy Rose Blanchard case, it's easy to see why my true crime and thriller loving self NEEDED this book.

In so many ways, Darling Rose Gold feels a bit like a call-back to the tone of books like Dangerous Girls by Abigail Haas. Of course, the similarities only lay in premise (inspired by real, ripped from the headlines cases) and atmosphere.

While Darling Rose Gold was clearly inspired by some real life events, but for the most part the story is entirely its own. In the case of Darling Rose Gold, there's this eerie and tense atmosphere to it that makes the novel build up on its own. It is bleak, slow-burning, and full of suspense. Darling Rose Gold keeps readers on the edge of their seat with an almost blindly unsettled feeling stirring within.

What makes this story most striking is in the way it builds. Stephanie Wrobel messes with your head a bit by unraveling the central storylines; Darling Rose Gold is somehow both tantalizingly slow and destructively fast. There's this brutal quality to the way that Wrobel tells the story and I found myself reaching for page tabs to annotate quite a few portions of the novel.

Wrobel's writing is the sort of prose that gets under your skin and makes a home out of your unease. If you love a good suspense, Darling Rose Gold needs to be at the top of your TBR this spring. But, beware: it is a highly addictive read.

Darling Rose Gold Roman

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