Published: March 17, 2020
Publisher: Berkley
Pages: 320
Genre: Psychological thriller
Rating: 5/5
This insidious story follows a dual timeline with dual mother and daughter narrators. Rose Gold begins her story right after her mother, Patty, has been convicted of child abuse for poisoning Rose Gold to gain sympathy and attention for taking care of a sick child. Patty’s story picks up on her last day of prison as she waits for Rose Gold to pick her up. Immediately, the reader is confronted with the question of what would motivate Rose Gold to continue to be in her mother’s life and why is she the one who volunteers to take her in?
This story is obviously inspired by the infamous Gyspy Rose Blanchard case but Wrobel does an incredible job of turning an already hideous and familiar story into one even more devious. The pacing and formatting were perfectly crafted to build the story up to a cunning finale. Rose Gold is trying to make a life for herself after being kept in a bubble by her mother for her entire life and this juxtaposition of her in the past versus how she is around Patty five years later kept me captivated. There is such a gap between those two timelines and as we get closer to merging them together I was floored by the depths that Wrobel takes the story.
It was interesting, to say the least, being in Patty’s head. She has such a warped way of looking at the world that I almost enjoyed reading her narrative because I wanted to see what she would be thinking/doing next. I really liked that Wrobel used Patty to tell the story in the present day because it not only helped give a complete story but it also made Rose Gold’s parts more impactful and suspenseful.
If you are looking for something to read during the upcoming spooky season then I highly recommend this sinister psychological thriller. I went into it thinking it was just a contemporary and I was pleasantly surprised that it was so much more. I am blown away that this is Wrobel’s debut novel and I am eagerly anticipating what she comes up with next.
Books With Cassie 
This sounds just up my alley! I was thinking if Gypsy in your first paragraph! I’m adding it to my wishlist now
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I’ve read and really enjoyed this but I had no idea it was “obviously inspired by the infamous Gyspy Rose Blanchard case.” I’ll have to look that up!
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I probably shouldn’t have said obviously since not everyone is interested in true crime and it wouldn’t be obvious! I will be more mindful of that in the future 🙂 There is a show on Hulu inspired by Gypsy Rose Blanchard as well called The Act if you are interested!
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