First line: The sun vanished below the horizon as the girl crested the rise of Old Barrons Road.

Summary: In 1950, Idlewild Hall is a boarding school for troubled girls. A group of four girls build a friendship through their hardships and the fear of what is presiding at the school. In 2014, Fiona is still mourning the death of her sister whose body was found on the Idlewild grounds. When Fiona, a journalist, learns that Idlewild is being restored she decides to write a story about the place that holds so many feelings for her. As she continues to dig into the rundown school, she finds more than she bargained for.

Highlights: Very creepy. I got chills as I was reading. I liked the flashing back and forth between the present and the past but also between each of the Idlewild girls. It gave the story more depth and the reader more understanding of the mystery. Plus the addition of the history of the time. We forget that in our recent history places like Idlewild existed. A place to leave your unwanted daughters or daughters who do not fit into the social norms. St. James knows how to make a mystery good with a little paranormal twist. Moreover, it is not cheesy at all! I have to admit I am a little afraid of Mary Hand, the ghostly figure of the story.

Lowlights: Not a thing.

FYI: Check out Simone St. James’ other novels!

The Broken Girls was a great read for me. It had all the creepiness and suspense that I look for when I am reading a thriller of any kind. It centers around an old abandoned boarding school, the Idlewood Hall. There have been rumors circulating about this school for years and now that school in under renovations, it has brought up some awful memories for Fiona Sherifan. Her sister was found murdered not that far from the school 20 years ago. Fiona being the journalist she is, she puts her skills to work, trying to figure out who is behind the renovations, who is funding it, and mostly why.

The story is told from two different timelines, and from the past timeline, it is sad to say but it this school seemed to be the place where parents and other family sent their “unwanted” girls when they didn’t know what else to do with them. The girls are all very different, but have a special bond with each other. I enjoyed getting to know a little about each of the girls. As the story unfolds, secrets are unearthed from the past, and the clue start to link to the murder of Fiona’s sister. Fioan’s wastes no time, trying to it it all together too. There are some bone chilling moments, espeically when it came to the legend of Mary Hand. *shivers*

From the gothic atmosphere, the eerie Idlewood Hall combined will all the recovered secrets and tale, it all made for a suspenseful ghostly read.

Five remarkable stars!!

This story is unlike any I've read in quite a long while. It kept me on the edge of my seat and i didn't want to put it down.

The timeline jumps from the 1950s to 2014, so you have to pay attention to chapter changes or you'll get lost.

I loved how this wasn't just a ghost story or just a whodunit. I really enjoyed the suspense and thrills this story invoked while still letting you try to figure out who was behind everything.

Grab a copy and style in for a terrifyingly suspenseful, yet enjoyable story.

Thank you so much to Berkley Publishing for providing my free copy - all opinions are my own.

I absolutely LOVE this book!! It is haunting, atmospheric, suspenseful, and brilliantly written. I literally could not put it down!

In Barrons, Vermont 1950, four friends, Katie, Cece, Sonia, and Roberta, are roommates at a dismal, repressive boarding school for troubled girls called Idlewild Hall. The girls are inseparable but one day, suddenly, one goes missing. Did she runaway or was she murdered? Flash forward to 2014, a journalist, Fiona Sheridan learns that the abandoned boarding school is being restored and reopened. This is significant to her because it is where her sister was found murdered on the school grounds twenty years ago. Fiona never felt right about the outcome of the investigation so she digs into the past for answers. The more she finds out, the more dangerous things become.

I really enjoyed the complex structure of the book: dual storylines with chapters that alternate between past and present from Fiona’s and the four roommates’ perspectives. The author does an excellent job of this as both storylines come together seamlessly in the end. If you’re a skeptic of the supernatural element, don’t be because it is perfectly written into the story. Also, I really appreciate any book that includes real-life historical facts - it unequivocally added to my overall reading experience!

I’m telling you this book is outstanding! It has a fantastic plot and is filled with unique and relatable characters that have a tremendous amount of depth and courage. I loved both storylines, learning about the secrets of the past, and the eerie, creepy ghost! This glorious book captivated me from start to finish so I highly recommend you read it!

My rating is 5 / 5 stars!

I'm sure there will be plenty of people who will enjoy this spooky mystery but it's not the type of story that appeals to me. It is very fast paced and held my attention to the end. Ghostly appearances aside, the story was quite intriguing.

I didn't know what to expect when I started 'The Broken Girls." The prologue left me wondering where the story was going. It didn't more than a few more pages, though, to get me hooked. Simone St. James has done an excellent job of combining the past and present in this ghostly tale of a missing girl, heartbroken friends and a young woman, Fiona, determined to set herself apart from her famous father. The 1950s goings-on at Idlewild Hall, a private school for unwanted girls, lead to the 2014 search for answers. Someone wants to restore the old school, but the skeletons won't stay buried for long, both literally and figuratively. St. James, good job! Add me to your fan list. Excellent novel!

The Broken Girls by Simone St. James is an excellent piece of work, part gothic ghost novel, part modern day thriller, threading three different events that take place at three different times in the same place, together. Freelance journalist Fiona Sheridan regards the ruins of Idlewild Hall as a tragic place where her sister was murdered 20 years earlier, but when someone decides to start restoring the old boarding school she realizes that there is much more hidden in the grounds.

I literally could not put this book down. I love a good ghost story in this genre, and I also love a good thriller. In addition to all that I especially love a good, strong female lead character who follows her instincts and doesn’t back down. Often when I’m reading through a thriller I find myself racing through, skipping paragraphs to get to the end, but The Broken Girls is so well written, you just can’t skip a phrase. I also loved the dual timeline in the novel, it was great to have the perspective from 1950 and from 2014, and it really helped to enhance the eerie ghost storyline. I’m off to get Simone St James’s other books now, because if The Broken Girls is anything to go by I’m in for a huge treat!!

I kept the summary as vague as possible because I don’t want to provide any spoilers – it’s such a smart book that keeps you guessing and really important to live the plot as it unfolds rather than through someone else’s eyes.

The Broken Girls will be published by Berkley Publishing Group on March 20th, 2018. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy!

I really enjoyed this book and it's dual timelines. I really enjoy historical fiction and the story of the 4 roommates at Idlewild School did not disappoint. The ghost of Mary Hand added to the creepiness factor. Fiona's storyline as a journalist covering the renovation and the body that is discovered was nicely done and interesting to read. Although, the ending did not surprise me I found myself saying, just one more chapter, until I had finished the book. I will definitely be going to find other books by St. James to read and will be recommending this to my customers.

Once I started this book, except for refilling my beer glass, grabbing a quick sandwich and catching a few zzzzs, I didn't put it down. Yes, folks, I loved it - and I heartily thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review it.

The story opens in 1950 at Idlewild Hall in Vermont, a boarding school for girls who just don't fit in anywhere else. Four of the school's incorrigibles become unlikely roommates, and they band together to try and make their lives less miserable and deal with rumors that the school is haunted by a mysterious woman named Mary Hand. Then, one of the four leaves for an unexpected weekend visit with relatives and is never seen again.

Now it's 2014, when the long-abandoned school buildings and property are purchased by a buyer who plans to restore the place to its former glory and reopen it as a school. Local freelance writer Fiona Sheridan decides to do a story on the property. Fiona's interest, though, goes beyond the typical historical approach; 20 years ago, her older sister Deb was murdered - her body dumped in a field near the school. Deb's boyfriend was convicted and has been in jail ever since, but Fiona always suspected he might be innocent. Fiona's boyfriend, local cop Jamie, is less than enthusiastic about digging up old bones (so to speak); but her father, a well-known but mostly retired journalist, stands behind her.

As the story progresses, flashback chapters offer details of what was going on in 1950 from the perspective of each of the four roommates, while "here and now" chapters outline Fiona's efforts to gather information for her story. But the more she learns, the more she's sure she still needs to learn - and the more she meets resistance from people who would go to extreme lengths to ensure that what happened in the past stays in the past. Interesting connections turn up, including a tie-in with the Holocaust, and there are more than a few twists (some surprising, others not so much) along the way as well.

Definitely a winner for me - highly recommended!

What a beautifully executed ghost story!! I believe, I believe! I love this book. This book is a tad Gothic, supernatural, and heart warming all in one. Awesome read with a satisfying ending. I couldn't put it down.

Fabulously eery, goolishly haunted, and historically accurate and bone chillingly good! Corruption at its worst and a journalist determined as ever to get the facts of her sister's murderer correctly documented was the foundation for this awesome story. Some strange cast of characters that aren't who they seem, and an intense historical account of an old school, along with how a girl from a German prison camp came to live and die there kept Fiona very interested in tying all the strings together. But Fiona isn't the only one searching for answers. someone doesn't want her to find them and will stop at nothing to ensure she doesn't! Simone's story was excellent and very fast paced. Highly recommend! 5 stars!

Idlewild Hall is a very gloomy place, haunted by the ghosts of young Mary Hand and her baby. It’s a school for girls, those girls who no one wants, those broken girls. It’s 1950 and one of the girls from a close knit group has gone missing. Not much effort is made by the police to find her. But her friends are sure they know what happened to her.

Jump to 2014, when journalist Fiona Sheridan is still battling the demons set loose by her sister’s death twenty years ago. The man who did it is in prison but Fiona can’t help but believe there were things about her sister’s death that have never come to light and she compulsively continues to look into it. When she learns that Idlewild Hall is going to be renovated, she knows she must find out why.

This is a compelling, complex ghost story. The ghost of Mary Hand is quite malicious and often sent chills up my spine. But this book is much more than a mere ghost story, spellbinding as it is. It’s also a complex crime story of two separate crimes, a heart wrenching romance between two very likeable characters and a coming of age story of young girls who have known much hardship in their young lives. This is a well-written novel and the tragedies of each of these girls is handled sensitively. I was completely memorized by this book and thought the author pulled it all together at the end just beautifully. It was such a sad story and one that I will long remember.

Recommended.

I have never read a paranormal thriller and I was not sure what to expect. The book moves back and forth between Vermont in the 1950's  and 2014.   Idlewild Hall is a school where girls were sent to be forgotten.  It was shut down decades ago  and is rumored to be haunted but, is suddenly bought by an unknown benefactor who intends to restore it and reopen it.  Fiona Sheridan is a journalist, whose sister died on the property of Idlewild in the 90's.  She cannot let go of the past and decides to write a story on the school, and its history.  What they discover on the property of Idlewild takes the reader on a thrilling mystery and Idlewild slowly gives up its dark secrets.  I loved the mystery and could not put the book down.  The paranormal component wasn't over the top which made it totally readable, believable with just the right amount of fear factor.

The first thing that struck me about this story was the creep factor. I think everyone has an experience where you can just feel something’s not right. Something bad had happened or maybe you feel weird about a building.

That’s the feeling you get within the very first chapters of this book. Whether you believe in spirits or ghosts or not, this is a ghost story. A good one! It creeped me out a few times! But it is also a sad story on many levels too.

Told in chapters of alternating time, you get the story from the girls point of view that live at Idlewild Hall. Their fears, sadness, problems, and their fragile connections. Then we get today’s story. The renovation, after effects of Fiona’s sister’s murder, and Fiona’s diligence to find the truth, no matter the cost.

The author has an amazing talent to craft a story with haunting effects. She gives us a taste of history, a touch of tenuous romance, some great twists full of suspense, and a ending that may surprise you, or not.

The Broken Girls left me with different feelings on many levels. On one hand I hated for the book to end because it was engrossing and just so good. On the other hand, I was anxious to see how the author would wind it up and tie that pretty little bow.

St. James brings mystery suspense to a new level with this book. If you can handle a good mystery that will give you a few creeps, you need to read The Broken Girls. It will stay with you for a while!

PS.. Maybe not one to read before bed….

One of the coolest thriller/mystery story lines I have read in a quite a while and to top it off, it had an even cooler twist. And to top THAT off, the cover fits in perfectly with the story line.

I wanted to start out by saying that the author did a fantastic job at creating such a “spooky” atmosphere for the reader. Both past and present, I was creeped out. And for this storyline- that was much needed. It set the entire theme for both of the timelines and it was executed perfectly.

With me saying that, the dual timeline in the story was MUCH needed and much appreciated (ya girl is thankful). The structure of it worked so well that I was completely enthralled with all of the characters involve, past and present. If I was reading about the 1950’s I was happy. If I was reading in 2014, I was happy too. It was a complete win-win for me.

The pacing of the book was superb. It kept me hooked the entire time and constantly turning the pages. With all of the questions I had building up in my head, I was given all of the answers. Like the author herself just knew it would need to be done that way.

The story as a whole was clever and very bone chilling. Haunting and captivating. I’m very glad to know that out there in a pool full of “Gone Girl” and “The Woman on the Train” (or whatever it was called) comparison books, The Broken Girls was WAY more than all of those books. It restored my faith in the thriller/suspense genre.

I really enjoyed this thriller. Sometimes, books that bounce back and forth between different time periods can be frustrating, but this one did a nice job. I was completely invested in all the characters and the mysteries surrounding the Idlewild School. I say mysteries rather than mystery because it really felt like there wasn't any real connection between the mystery from 1950, the one from 1994, and the difficulties of our main character's investigation in 2014 other than the setting of the school itself. Sometimes, this seemed a little odd--as did the introduction of some characters and plot devices seemingly out of nowhere. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the book as a whole.

I love books that are based in Vermont. It's nice to be able to envision where the scene is actually taking place because you've been there before.

Fiona has never gotten over her sister's death. The event that forever changed the dynamics of her family. The one item that keeps plaguing her is Idlewild Hall, where her sister's body was found.

Once she hears that the place is being restored, Fiona starts investigating in earnest. Not only trying to piece together what happened the night of her sister's death, but also the mysteries that seem to be popping up since the restoration started.

An engaging story that goes between present and past. Showing the life of the girls that lived in Idlewild Hall and what one sister will do to get to the truth concerning the one she loves.

This book totally won me over in a completely unexpected way. I wasn't sure about it since I knew there was a ghost element to the story and I'm not huge on paranormal stories. However, my friend Jennifer told me I absolutely had to read this, and since we always tend to agree, I gave it a shot. I ended up being glad I did as the story totally gripped me and while the ghost story was part of the story, it was done in a way that felt organic to the story. I am always drawn to stories told in dual timelines and I really enjoyed how everything came together and I was surprised by the twists that were revealed.

What a good book! I enjoyed the characters and time moving back forth between the past and present. Satisfying read.

The Broken Girls is 2/3 psychological suspense and 1/3 ghost story, which, I’ll admit, is not my favorite genre. In fact, it would have worked just as well without the “ghost” parts, but it does add a creepiness to the storyline that might not have been there otherwise. It’s set in small-town Vermont, where a girl’s boarding school has sat empty for decades. Journalist Fiona Sheridan is somewhat obsessed with its locale, as this is where her sister’s murdered body was dumped 20 years ago. Fiona was 17 at the time, and the murder tore her family apart and seems to have kept her in limbo ever since, even though her sister’s boyfriend was tried and convicted of the murder. She keeps her police officer boyfriend at arm’s length, and when she learns that someone is renovating the old school she thinks it would be a good idea for her to investigate and write a story about it. Flashing back and forth between this timeline and the 1950’s, we learn that the girls at the school were all afraid of the ghost of Mary Hand, and that one of them, Sophia, is about to be murdered as well. Through her research on the school, Fiona discovers some clues to Sophia’s murder, and unearths some new information about her sister’s death as well. This book will suck you in, and the final dénouement is riveting, with or without the ghosts.