The Broken Girls was quite unlike most of the suspense/thrillers I've read lately. Maybe it was the combination of ghost story, missing girl, past murder, present day events that all so intricately tied together before my very eyes that left me impressed. So many aspects just fit together like puzzle pieces without being obvious or expected. Very well written!

"Mary Hand, Mary Hand, dead and buried under land.... Faster, faster. Don't let her catch you. She'll say she wants to be your friend...."

What a bloody brilliant story! The Broken Girls by Simone St. James is a creepy, chilling, and BOLD ghost story. Oh my gosh... I absolutely loved how Simone created a mystery within a paranormal/ghost story. I have read previous novels where authors have tried to create a paranormal feel to the mystery/thriller and it failed miserably but wow... I am utterly impressed with Simone's talent.

What can I say about this novel? Plain and simple... READ it!

Idlewild Hall is a boarding school for girls that are troublemakers or as you can say the "leftovers". Idlewild is located in Vermont and is rumored to be haunted by a woman in a black veiled dress.
Katie, Sonia, Cece, and Roberta are roommates at Idlewild Hall who bond over this mysterious lady in black and the strange things that start happening at Idlewild until Sonia mysteriously vanishes without a trace in 1950.

20 years later journalist Fiona Sheridan can't stop thinking about her older sister's death. Twenty years ago, Fiona's sister's body was found lying in the field of Idlewild Hall. Her sister's boyfriend has been found guilty and is serving time in prison. But, Fiona can't let her sister's case go and something isn't adding up.

Is the death of her sister somehow linked to the missing girl Sonia in 1950? What secrets are being hidden about Idlewild Hall? Is Vermont hiding something more sinister about these mysterious girls that keep going missing?

Simone does an amazing job with characterization and depth of illustration in this novel. I could not get enough of the beautiful writing and details in this creepy and chilling ghost story. I highly recommend this novel!

Overall, 4.5 stars for this addicting read. Thank you to Netgalley and Berkley for an advanced arc in exchange for an honest review.

Expected publication date: 3/20/18.

This certainly was the perfect book to read just before Halloween! The story takes place over two time periods in the same-ish location, in 1950 at a girl's boarding school and 2014 in the same small Vermont town the now-abandoned school resides within. In the present we follow Fiona, who has been obsessed with the details of her sister's murder twenty years previously and whose body was found at the abandoned school, whereas in the past we follow a group of "broken" (50s terminolofy for delinquent, borne of wedlock, or disturbed) young girls living their lives at a school that may be haunted by a ghost.
I always find that in these types of past/present stories, one period jumps out as the far more interesting story and overshadows both the characters and events in the other period. And that was no different for me here; the story of the girls, their pasts, and the ghost came brilliantly off the page. All I wanted was to keep reading their story. Each jump to the present brought with it a sudden lag in pacing and a drag at having to read about Fiona, who never interested me with her story, her boyfriend, or her self-made plight. I felt nothing but irritation because with each scene she's in, someone always describes her as her father's daughter (specifically, "Malcolm Sheridan's daughter"). In. Every. Scene. The father plays a pretty small role in the book, and the reader is really just told as a backstory that he was a journalist of some local renown "back in the day".
I was strictly middle of the road with my feelings about this book, but the last 100 pages or so once the stories merge, saved it from being a full on pass to a timely book to read around the Fall holidays.
I think much of this book could have been tighter, and it would have been far more interesting to focus more on the 50s at the school as well as the ghost, but in any event, at least it had a satisfying ending.

I had not read a Simone St. James' title before, thus I was attracted simply to the plot description, rather than the publicity describing it as a breakout genre title. A well-crafted story, The Broken Girls featured well-developed, complex characters; believable plot development; and a nice melding of mystery, romance, and the supernatural.

I'm not big into creepy/scary ghost stories, but this one had me hooked! I pushed through my terror to the end just to find out what happened!

A nice thrilling read for a winter's night. This book is a bit spooky with the abandoned girls' home. Recommended

I was fascinated by this novel from the very first page and found myself lost in it early on. This is one of those books that will make you want to forget everything else except the novel and stay up late reading so you can find answers.

Every once in a while I am lucky enough as a reader to come across one of those rare authors that can pull me out of the daily life and world I live in and transport me somewhere else so well that I feel like I've become part of the world they created. That happened here and I am so excited to see what other people think about this novel. I highly recommend it.

Not only did the author manage to make the main character interesting and three dimensional, but all of her side characters were fantastic and individual as well. This book has that kind of creepy, chill about the shoulders feeling to it, without being so overtly paranormal that it makes you roll your eyes. I love the way she handled switching between the past and the present and how she chose to overlap them. This is a fantastic book and I encourage everyone to read it.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher provided through Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

In 1994 Vermont, Deb Sheridan was strangled and dumped in the middle of the former sports field on the abandoned grounds of Idlewild Hall (a former girls' boarding school which was closed and abandoned since 1979) on Old Barrons Road. She was twenty then. Her boyfriend, Tim Christopher, had spent twenty years in the prison for the crime though he'd claimed he was innocent. Fiona, Deb's younger sister was seventeen then and the murder had torn the family apart. Despite twenty years have passed and Tim was put behind bars, Fiona who is now a journalist with Lively Vermont, still harbours doubts about the truth surrounding Deb's death since no footprints or tire tracks were found and there was no logical way how Tim could dump Deb's body without leaving any traces. Her curiosity is further sparked when someone is restoring the abandoned Idlewild Hall. Who is the new owner and what's the motive for this restoration project? Fiona Sheridan is keen to find out, after all it is near the site where her elder sister's body was found.

In 1950, Katie Winthrop, Roberta Greene, CeCe Frank and Sonia Gallipeau are students of Idlewild boarding school. Most students are enrolled there for a reason and they aren't entirely good - they are either sent there for misbehaviours, complicated family issues or no one wants them. Nevertheless, the four girls bonded quickly regardless of their personality differences or their personal baggage. They are the Idlewild girls who aren't intimidated by talks and rumours except for one thing - they are all scared of Mary Hand; a specter who is believed to haunt the Idlewild ground and that her baby was buried in the school's garden. As they live in fear surrounding Mary Hand's rumours, it was until Sonia's disappearance that allowed the other three girls to set their fear aside to look for the truth regarding their missing friend. What really happened to Sonia?

These two different incidents in two different timeline doesn't seem to have any connection but they do in a way, as Fiona found out towards the end as she searches the truth surrounding Deb's death and then stumbled upon a truth of the past along the way. There are many dark sides to this story - the creepiness of Mary Hand and her hauntings, the horror of the Nazi and the women's concentration camps back in the 1940s (this is Sonia's story but I'd leave it to you to find out yourself) and finally, the evil minds of the human beings who'd do anything for their own benefits.

Simone St. James excels in not only the storytelling part but also skillfully connecting the two events and made this both a creepy and suspenseful read as a whole. Needless to say, the book held my attention throughout my reading journey and I'm glad to say I've discovered a new author to add to my to-read list. A must-read for fans of gothic and mystery genres.

This one was truly stunning. In this, there are so many mysteries all tied to one abandoned boarding school. The main character's sister was found murdered on the grounds. A body is found in an old well. And there is a ghost. What really happened to all 3 of these girls? They lived decades apart and their only link is a piece of land in rural Vermont. It is historical fiction and mystery and a little bit of horror (there is a ghost, after all) all wrapped into one incredibly engaging story. I definitely recommend it.

The Broken Girls by Simone St. James

This is a story of a school haunted by a young woman. The story of a young woman haunted by the death of her sister. A story of loss. The girls of Idlewild were strays, discarded and removed from their family. Fiona missed the sister taken from her 20 years earlier, found in the field of the discarded and boarded up school. But Fiona keeps returning to the murder of her sister, to Idlewild. This leads her to the truth behind her sister’s murder and the murder of a young girl from 60 years ago whose life was discarded with few people left to remember her.

It took this book a while to gain steam. I enjoyed the second half of this novel a lot more than I enjoyed the first half. The narrative of the story goes back and forth from 1950 to 2014. The readers meet four young women that went to school and lived at Idlewild in 1950, a school haunted by the ghost of a young woman. The readers also meet Fiona, the journalist whose sister’s body was found in a field on the abandoned Idlewild property. Too much of the first half of this book went into the history of all these characters with very little action. I was interested and somewhat intrigued but not at all invested in this story. Then St. James dropped clues to what might have happened and the entire tone of the novel shifted. After that I couldn't put it down and began to really enjoy the story. The characters gained so much more depth and the time spent building the plot finally started to pay off.

It’s great that I happened to read this story in October right before Halloween, the perfect time to read a ghost story. St. James crafted a story that was genuinely eerie at times. Overall, this was a good book. St. James created a story that concluded well even after having a slow start. I'm not a huge fan of her writing style. At times her descriptions were a bit overdone and the narrative dragged but I liked how everything pulled together.

This story is amazing if you want to uncover a mystery, join the dots, and like to be spooked. You really fall for the characters in this story, they are all so different but Simone paints a picture with words that help you understand them.The Broken Girls is broken up into the happenings of Barron, Vermont in 1950 and 2014. The parts of the past (the 1950's) is the story of 4 friends (Katie, Cece, Roberta, and Sonia) who are living at a boarding school called Idlewild Hall. Idlewild is "home" to broken girls. Idlewild is marred by something sinister that stalks the girls, breaking them down by their true nightmares. Haunted and isolated, little by little the girls uncover truths about themselves and the idea of something existing beyond their means... to intensify the claim one of the four disappears. In 2014, we get the "present day" point of view from Fiona Sheridan, who grew up in Barron, Vermont. A place she considers home but Barron is tragedy-ridden after the murder of her sister which happened at Idlewood. Now a journalist in her 30's, Fiona unwilling to let the past go, goes to Idlewild Hall after she hears that an unknown benefactor is renovating the forsaken place into a new school. This action brings up old history, haunts, and past questions that carry on to present day.

What a marvelous and unexpected on-the-edge-of-your-seat kind of read! Simon St. James's "The Broken Girls" is set in Barrons, Vermont, during two different time periods and ultimately merging into one storyline.

1950- In a generation of people affected by the aftermath of World War II and the beginning of the Cold War, there is a boarding school in rural Vermont called Idlewild Hall. This all girls boarding school is home to many of society's "degenerates", trouble-makers, family secrets, and broken girls. A group of outcasts, Katie, CeCe, Sonia, and Roberta are the best of friends, forging their time at Idlewild with their own sisterhood, showing each other that they can handle anything life throws at them, as long as they have each other.

2014- After decades of Idlewild Hall being shutdown, a mysterious buyer decides to reopen the boarding school under suspicious circumstances. Journalist Fiona Sheridan decides to pick up the story because it is near and dear to her heart. Idlewild's operations ceased after her sister was tragically murdered by the facility owner's son. Why is Idlewild being restored? Why now, after all this time? And... who or what is looming over the property? As time progresses, secrets start unraveling at the seams. Not everything in Barrons is what it seems.

"The Broken Girls" really kept me engaged from the moment the storyline was established. It was my first read by Simone St. James and I will definitely be interested in seeing what else she has in her pocket in the future. Usually I don't like stories that follow two or more different timelines, as I feel like it becomes an over-zealous attempt at creating an in depth story, but St. James really has a good handle on weaving in the past to the present here. Slowly, each puzzle piece locks in for an epic conclusion. Thank you Netgalley and Berkley Publishing Group for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

CeCe, Katie, Sofia, and Roberta -- Four roommates with nothing in common except being unwanted by their families -- bond over their pain at the Idlewild Hall boarding school during the early 1950s. Chased by a ghost that seems to know their darkest secrets and feeling pressured to conform to a society that struggles to understand their individuality, the four "broken" girls do their best to hold each other together.

Decades later, Idlewild Hall is closed down, the halls empty of the young girls who used to roam its grounds. Journalist Fiona Sheridan finds herself emotionally tethered to the property, unable to let go of her murdered sister who was found on Idlewild Hall's sports field years earlier. When a mysterious benefactor purchases the land with plans to restore the school, Fiona is drawn to the circumstances surrounding her sister's death, the unknown motivations for restoring the school, and the body of a girl found in the property's well.

St. James pieces together this piece of thrilling historical/contemporary fiction story with a great deal of creativity and suspense. Each character speaks with a voice filled with honesty, pain, and strength that readers cannot help but admire them as individuals who all seem part of a larger whole. While I believe this book is considered "adult", I feel this would be appreciated by YA fans as well.

I have reviewed this book for ReaderToReader.com where it will remain on site indefinitely. If there are any questions or concerns, please contact Vickie Denney at: Vickie@ReaderToReader.com.

"The Broken Girls"
By Simone St. James
Berkley Publishing


Mystery/Thriller -- Release Date: March 20, 2018


ReaderToReader.com review for NetGalley download



Idlewild Hall in Vermont housed a boarding school for delinquent, illegitimate, and unwanted girls. In 1950 four roommates Katie, CeCe, Roberta, and Sonia, each with different pasts were close friends who shared their fears and problems. A legend rumored the ghost of a woman named Mary Hand stalked the campus, and some claimed to have actually seen her.

One weekend, Sonia, who managed to escape from a Nazi prison camp visits her elderly relatives but never returns. She hoped they would keep her so she could get out of Idlewild, but her friends suspect she was killed. Was Mary Hand involved?

Her suitcase is discovered on school land with all her belongings. Because she is an orphan, no one in authority worried about her disappearance, and after a few days, the search is called off.

The story segues to the present with journalist Fiona Sheridan being drawn to the old site which long since closed down. Twenty years ago, Fiona's older sister's brutally murdered body had been found on the grounds. Now someone has purchased the property with plans to renovate. Fiona's curiosity is piqued and though her sister's murderer is incarcerated, she believes something is amiss about her case and new discoveries at the old institution.

This novel is actually two-in-one tales of the 1950s along with recent discoveries that related to back then. Intense research includes World War II atrocities. Though there are a few disparities, this highly engrossing tale is entertaining. The juxtaposition between the past and current time blend well together to offer a cohesive and educational read which is mind-boggling.

I’m now a new fan of Simone St. James! This is the first be of hers I’ve read & I loved it. It’s a good old fashion ghost story & a real page turner!

Vermont, 1950. There's a place for the girls whom no one wants--the troublemakers, the illegitimate, the too smart for their own good. It's called Idlewild Hall. And in the small town where it's located, there are rumors that the boarding school is haunted. Four roommates bond over their whispered fears, their budding friendship blossoming--until one of them mysteriously disappears. . . .

Vermont, 2014. As much as she's tried, journalist Fiona Sheridan cannot stop revisiting the events surrounding her older sister's death. Twenty years ago, her body was found lying in the overgrown fields near the ruins of Idlewild Hall. And though her sister's boyfriend was tried and convicted of murder, Fiona can't shake the suspicion that something was never right about the case.

When Fiona discovers that Idlewild Hall is being restored by an anonymous benefactor, she decides to write a story about it. But a shocking discovery during the renovations will link the loss of her sister to secrets that were meant to stay hidden in the past--and a voice that won't be silenced. .

My thoughts
Five stars all the way
I loved it, loved how it kept me pulled into the story and how it kept going back and forth between the 1950 and 2014 .this is a must read.
Thinks NetGalley for giving me a chance at reading what turned out to be a great book

Another excellent haunting mystery from author Simone St. James. Set in Vermont, this novel travels between the present day and 1950. The 1950s story follows a group of troubled girls who reside at the boarding school, Idlewild, and the haunting of the school by Mary Hand. Fast forward to the present day and the story of Fiona, a journalist, whose sister was found murdered on the grounds of Idlewild back in the 1980s. When the old school is purchased and is slated for repairs, Fiona senses a story and. when a skeleton is found on the grounds during the renovation, she decides to investigate the lives of the girls who resided at the school and discover why one of them was murdered. A good addition to any library with patrons who enjoy mysteries with a supernatural bent.

This was a very entertaining story with several storylines. The author skillfully weaved Holocaust history, 1950's problematic social norms and modern-day sleuthing into an intriguing tale. When freelance journalist Fiona starts digging into the story of the restoration of a reportedly haunted girls' school, she finds disturbing connections to her sister's murder and the murders of other girls on the property. The most disturbing part: the murders took place over the past century. Good read, read it in one day.

Told in two separate timelines, The Broken Girls first introduces us to four friends and classmates at the daunting Idlewild Hall, a school for unwanted and delinquent girls.  Set in 1950, we're almost immediately thrown into a mystery, first with the omniscient ghost of Mary Hand, then the disappearance of one of the four friends.

Then, we're launched into 2014 and the world of the journalist, Fiona Sheridan, whose sister was found murdered on the grounds of Idlewild Hall 20 years previously. To say she has an unhealthy obsession with Idlewild would be an understatement, so when she learns that someone has bought the old school and renovations have begun, she feels compelled to cover the story.

When the body of a girl is found in the old well on the day of her walk-through with the mysterious new owner's son, Fiona's fascination only deepens. She resolves to solve the mystery of the young Holocaust survivor's life and death.

Simone St. James has created some marvelously rich characters, each with their own tangled history and flaws, and manages to jump between the two timelines with ease. While the blending of paranormal, murder mystery and unhealthy doses of bigotry, cover-up, and conspiracy, could well have fallen flat, Ms. St James blends it all perfectly. Even the specter of Mary Hand manages to deepen the story,  inextricably tying both timelines together, affecting everyone she comes in contact with according to their own fears and inner demons.

The conclusion, when it comes, is one hit after the other, yet it doesn't feel rushed and even if you've managed to figure out most of the ending, there's still bound to be a couple of surprises you didn't see coming.

Seriously. Add The Broken Girls to your TBR pile and preorder it now. You won't regret it!

This book is an unexpected surprise and treat! It both chilled me and left me wanting more. I enjoyed reading every second of it and didn't want to put it down for even a second!