Helpful Score: 3
I loved this ghost story by Simone St. James. She did an excellent job slipping back and forth in the story from Vermont 2014 to Vermont 1950. Idlewild Hall is a place for the girls whom no one wantsâthe troublemakers, the illegitimate, the too smart for their own good. There are rumors that the place is haunted and some girls have disappeared. Journalist Fiona Sheridan cannot stop revisiting the events surrounding her older sister's death at Idlewild Hall. When Fiona discovers that Idlewild Hall is being restored, a shocking discovery links the loss of her sister to secrets that were meant to stay hidden in the past. I can't wait to read more by St. James as this book is quite eery.
Helpful Score: 3
5 star read!
This is my fav Simone St. James book. It was simply fantastic. Chock full of thrilling scenes, historic and paranormal moments. The transition between the past and present was smooth and very nicely done. The book had a great ending. I really enjoyed reading this.
Highly recommend!
This is my fav Simone St. James book. It was simply fantastic. Chock full of thrilling scenes, historic and paranormal moments. The transition between the past and present was smooth and very nicely done. The book had a great ending. I really enjoyed reading this.
Highly recommend!
Helpful Score: 3
The Broken Girls by Simone St. James is a dual time-line novel (2014/1950). In Barrons, Vermont at 3 a.m. Fiona Sheridan is back on Old Barrons Road near Idlewild Hall where her sister's body was found twenty years ago. Everyone tells her it is time to move on, but Fiona has unanswered questions. Tim Christopher, her sister's boyfriend, was convicted of the murder and is in prison serving his sentence. When Fiona finds out that Idlewild Hall has been purchased and is being renovated to turn it back into a girl's boarding school, she decides to write (freelance journalist) an article about it. While touring the school with Anthony Eden, son of the new owner, a body of a teenage girl is discovered in the old well. Who is she and how did she end up there? Fiona dives into the past to discover what happened to this poor girl. If she happens to turn up information in her sister's case, all the better.
In 1950 Idlewild Hall is a girl's boarding school for troubled girls (too independent, rebellious, illegitimate, traumatized, unwanted). CeCe, Sonia, Katie and Roberta room together and, as they get to know each other, become close friends. The lessons are boring, the teachers are rigid, and the luxuries are few. The school is rumored to be haunted by Mary Hand and one room seems to be more sinister than the others. Then one of the girls disappears-never seen again. What is going on at Idlewild Hall? Will Fiona get the answers she seeks?
I had trouble wading through The Broken Girls. I believe the author had too many ideas and, instead of picking, she put them all into this one story (murder, 1800s ghost, modern killer, a girl from a concentration camp and so much more). I found the pace to be very slow which made the book seem twice as long. I found the book disjointed with abrupt transitions. It jumps around faster than a Mexican jumping bean. Fiona Sheridan was not a likeable main character. She came across as obsessed and unsympathetic (I kept hoping the killer would make her the next victim). Much of her sections are devoted to her endless questions and speculation (it was repetitious). I found the story from the 1950s to be more fascinating than the Fiona's. The author could have done a book just on the four girls story (and kept Fiona out of it). There are a couple of interesting moments in the book, but I mostly found the story to be predictable (mystery readers will have no problem predicting how the book will turn out). I wanted to feel the suspense and the scare factor, but I did not. I do want to warn readers that there is foul language in the book. I realize I am in the minority regarding my feelings on The Broken Girls. That is the beauty of books. Every reader has a different perspective. If you want to see if The Broken Girls is for you, download a sample from your favorite retailer.
In 1950 Idlewild Hall is a girl's boarding school for troubled girls (too independent, rebellious, illegitimate, traumatized, unwanted). CeCe, Sonia, Katie and Roberta room together and, as they get to know each other, become close friends. The lessons are boring, the teachers are rigid, and the luxuries are few. The school is rumored to be haunted by Mary Hand and one room seems to be more sinister than the others. Then one of the girls disappears-never seen again. What is going on at Idlewild Hall? Will Fiona get the answers she seeks?
I had trouble wading through The Broken Girls. I believe the author had too many ideas and, instead of picking, she put them all into this one story (murder, 1800s ghost, modern killer, a girl from a concentration camp and so much more). I found the pace to be very slow which made the book seem twice as long. I found the book disjointed with abrupt transitions. It jumps around faster than a Mexican jumping bean. Fiona Sheridan was not a likeable main character. She came across as obsessed and unsympathetic (I kept hoping the killer would make her the next victim). Much of her sections are devoted to her endless questions and speculation (it was repetitious). I found the story from the 1950s to be more fascinating than the Fiona's. The author could have done a book just on the four girls story (and kept Fiona out of it). There are a couple of interesting moments in the book, but I mostly found the story to be predictable (mystery readers will have no problem predicting how the book will turn out). I wanted to feel the suspense and the scare factor, but I did not. I do want to warn readers that there is foul language in the book. I realize I am in the minority regarding my feelings on The Broken Girls. That is the beauty of books. Every reader has a different perspective. If you want to see if The Broken Girls is for you, download a sample from your favorite retailer.
Helpful Score: 1
This is not my favorite story by this author.
This one takes place in Vermont, alternating chapters between 1950 and 2014. Girls who were troublemakers, illegitimate, rebellious, not wanted, etc. were sent to Idlewild Hall Boarding School. Present time, Fiona, a journalist never had closure to her sister's death years earlier and decided to investigate.
I laboriously read through a mystery, a ghost story and the lives of the girls. I had trouble interfacing with all the characters and it seems "I'm the only one not loving this book"!
I did enjoy parts of this story and the ending was predictable but satisfactory.
This one takes place in Vermont, alternating chapters between 1950 and 2014. Girls who were troublemakers, illegitimate, rebellious, not wanted, etc. were sent to Idlewild Hall Boarding School. Present time, Fiona, a journalist never had closure to her sister's death years earlier and decided to investigate.
I laboriously read through a mystery, a ghost story and the lives of the girls. I had trouble interfacing with all the characters and it seems "I'm the only one not loving this book"!
I did enjoy parts of this story and the ending was predictable but satisfactory.
Helpful Score: 1
Received this as a Book of the Month selection, ahead of its publication date.
Story takes place over 2 time periods, with several points of view, with several mystery story lines. I'm happy to say that I didn't solve the mystery before the reveal, which made the whole book much more enjoyable than others I've read recently.
Story takes place over 2 time periods, with several points of view, with several mystery story lines. I'm happy to say that I didn't solve the mystery before the reveal, which made the whole book much more enjoyable than others I've read recently.
Helpful Score: 1
I won an advance copy of this book (it was released on 3/20). I thought this was a great book, with an unusual plot and an ending you may not be expecting.
This book moves from four roomates at a boarding school in Vermont, 1940 to a journalist whose sister was found murdered on the abandoned grounds of this school in Vermont, 2014. The author does a great job of seamlessly moving from 1950 to 2014 and back again. She artfully gives a background on each character in the book as the story emerges. Easy, fast read, which I like!
This book moves from four roomates at a boarding school in Vermont, 1940 to a journalist whose sister was found murdered on the abandoned grounds of this school in Vermont, 2014. The author does a great job of seamlessly moving from 1950 to 2014 and back again. She artfully gives a background on each character in the book as the story emerges. Easy, fast read, which I like!
Helpful Score: 1
This was another good murder mystery/horror story from St. James. I recently read her The Sun Down Motel which I also enjoyed. St. James uses a similar story telling device in both novels in that she tells the story from two different time periods. In Broken Girls, the story is told from the perspective of four girls at a remote boarding school in Vermont in 1950 and also from a current perspective at the same location in 2014. The main protagonist of the story is Fiona Sheridan whose sister was murdered 20 years earlier in 1994. Her body was found in an overgrown field on the site of the abandoned girls' boarding school, Idlewild Hall. Her sister's killer and ex-boyfriend was arrested for the crime and has been in prison since then. But Fiona has some doubts about whether he was actually guilty of the crime. Back in 1950, four girls are fast friends at Idlewild but otherwise they all loathe the place with its strict rules and run-down conditions. Only girls that no one wants are sent there. And then there's this specter that haunts the grounds named Mary Hand who supposedly died before Idlewild was built and whose dead baby is buried in the garden there. One of the four friends is also a refugee from Europe who spent time in a Nazi concentration camp which makes for another interesting part of the storyline.
I really enjoyed this one. The Idlewild school could have come out of a gothic novel by one of the Bronte Sisters and made for a compelling backdrop to the story. The Nazi angle also added to it along with the frightening ghost of Mary Hand. This is the third novel I have read by St. James and I'll be on the lookout for more.
I really enjoyed this one. The Idlewild school could have come out of a gothic novel by one of the Bronte Sisters and made for a compelling backdrop to the story. The Nazi angle also added to it along with the frightening ghost of Mary Hand. This is the third novel I have read by St. James and I'll be on the lookout for more.
I give this one a solid 3 stars. Like most of Simone St James' books that I've read, Broken Girls gets a 5 for atmosphere and setting. She knows how to set a scene. And she knows how to give you the creepy-crawls. She also is very good at backstory. Unfortunately, all that doesn't totally make up for the plot lines and reveals that are pretty easy to spot from a mile away. It's a good book. But I figured everything out a couple hundred pages in and there wasn't anything left for me after that. Same can be said for Lost Among The Living. I'll read anything else she writes. If you like Historical Gothic Mysteries I recommend this book. If you're looking for a challenge, keep looking.
Alternating timelines are not my favorite literary technique, and I was more interested in Fiona's story, at least at first. But as I read on, both timelines became more intriguing. It's one of those books where you would have done something, and then the characters actually do it. So that was satisfying. The last 25 pages or so are especially satisfying and St. James knows how to leave her readers content.
I'm not usually a fan of a 'ghost story' but this was so well written and compelling, I could not put it down.
Very attention grabbing, holds you entirely engrossed in the story.
