Bolstered by beautiful writing from Clarke-Platts, The Flower Girls barrels through a head-spinning selection of emotions, and by the time the finale comes - perhaps a little anti-climactic, but still darkly satisfying - it's almost a relief to put the book down and take a breather. Because, trust me, there's little chance of you putting it down any earlier than that!

The Lower Girls-Not for the faint-hearted. A chilling thought-provoking story. Gripping and disturbing and not a subject that everyone can handle. The death/murder of a child is never a good subject. One can not help finding comparisons with the real-life murder of Jamie Bulger. An uncomfortable read, but well-written nonetheless.

I really struggled with this book. I found the premise interesting, and the bleak nature of the weather trapping everyone at the hotel at the beginning really drew me in. However, I was not able to form a connection with any of the characters and had no sympathy or real feelings towards any of them. I also found the repeated referencing of real cases of child killings distasteful. The occasional reference would have made sense as the police and press would have made comparisons, but I felt that this was overdone and the amount was unnecessary.

Although I quickly worked out what had really happened in 1997, I had definitely not worked out what was going to happen at the end of the book. In fact, I found that it came so far out of left field that it left me wondering what on earth had just happened.

I wouldn't usually comment on formatting when I have received an ARC for review, as I would assume that these were errors that would be picked up during the final edit. However, there was a note at the end of the book about the choice of font used. I am not sure if it was therefore a deliberate choice to choose a font that jumped around from upper to lower case, or if it is simply that the special font chosen doesn't translate well to Kindle. Either way, I found it quite jarring and difficult to read.

Wow, that was a rather sick story line!

Its rather grim: two girls 10 & 6 involved in the disappearance of a toddler who is then found with her head bashed in. The eldest girl spends the next 18 years in prison, whilst the youngest has a new identity.

Years later when the youngest, now.in her early 20s is staying at a hotel, another young girl goes missing and her real identity is exposed, which turns i to a media frenzy as the older sister is asking for parole.

Despite the grim story line, I read it all, and liked the twist at the end.

I received this book from netgalley in return for a honest review.

I had no idea what this book was about before I started it and I was shocked! Two young sisters are out playing on hot summer's day and they decide to abduct a toddler who dies. The 10 year old is put in prison but the 6 year old is too young and her parents have their identity changed and move away, leaving their sister/daughter in prison and never visiting her.

The younger sister Rosie claims she doesn't remember what happened on the day the baby went missing and her memories are buried deep inside of her.
Until another child goes missing many years later whilst she's staying at a hotel with her boyfriend, her true identity is discovered and things start to open up for her

It was an interesting and disturbing read getting the reader to look at uncomfortable issues. Is it nature or nurture? However, nothing or nobody is at it seems and they were quite a few unsavoury characters throughout this book and an ending I didn't see coming!

Although I enjoyed this novel, in many ways it was a disturbing read. It's the story of Laurel and Rosie, two small sisters (one aged 10, one aged 6) who killed a 2 year old. The story is picked up two decades later, when the younger of the two sisters, Rosie, is staying at a hotel when a little girl goes missing. Although Rosie has been given a new identity, she is identified as being one of the original 'Flower Girls' as she and her sister had been coined by the press. The story mainly centres on Rosie (or Hazel as she is now known). Rosie was too young to stand trial and has maintained her innocence throughout her life, her sister meanwhile, who was found guilty of murder, has been imprisoned ever since the event. The reader also gets to meet Laurel and from the outset I felt that she was the sister who perhaps deserved the readers sympathy more. Although perhaps in some ways the reader can anticipate what's coming in the story there's a twist at the end that I hadn't anticipated!

The Flower Girls will be your next addictive crime novel. Laurel and Rosie are sisters. They were accused of torturing and killing a young girl. Only Laurel was convicted of the crime. Now, 19 years later, another girl goes missing and it brings the past back up for Rosie. A gripping, twisty novel ensues. Be sure to pick up The Flower Girls today!

I have been wanting to read this for ages and finally got some time to read it! Hurray. This story is brilliantly written, fast paced.

The Flower Girls is a story about two young sisters at the time and a murder, but what actually happened that day? Were they too young to be held responsible? Innocent? Guilty? This story flicks from the past incident in 1997 to the present but is clearly stated so the reader is not confused.

Chapter one alone is bound to drag the reader in and get their attention, well it did for me. I actually learnt a lot about the law and judicial system for what happens if a child is accused of a crime. Shocking. This book is one that will be hard to forget.

Your feelings towards the characters will change throughout especially towards the flower girl sisters. A brilliantly, well thought out, clever and twisted story especially towards the end. I would highly recommend this story and have awarded a well deserved five stars. I enjoyed reading this one, devoured it.

Wow. This book really got me thinking, with the parallels to other child murderers and the debate around rehabilitation, being born or made a monster etc. The story centres on 2 young sisters who stand accusing of killing a 2 year old. The elder sister is 10 and is sent to prison, the younger sister is 6 and under the age of criminal responsibility, so her and her parents start a new life with new identities. When she is older and staying in a hotel with her boyfriend a young child goes missing and she quickly finds herself under suspicion. The story unravels telling us what really happened to the first victim and what has happened to this current missing child. A very somber read that raised some very debatable points.

This is a story where a child goes missing on a cold, wet stormy night and a writer finds out one of the Flower Girls is in the hotel at the time. He believes it was possible she abducted the child like in the case all those years previously along with her sister where the child got killed and if he manipulated her correctly, it could produce a lucrative story for him.

Rosie is not sure what to do. She does not want to be dragged into this case, does not want anything to do with it. She is at her wits end whilst trying to make her escape when bumping into the writer on the stairs and things just go from there.

The book seems very popular and getting a lot of good feed back, I found the story ok but not earth shattering. It might have just been a phrase I was going through. Will try another book by the author.

Laurel and Rosie Bowman are sisters, growing up they are very close until Laurel vomits an horrific crime.

Years later Rosie is away with her partner when a little girl goes missing and the past comes back to haunt her. Another girl missing and with her past she quickly becomes a suspect.

A great book with a fantastic twist you won’t see come.

The Flower Girls. Laurel and Primrose (Rosie), who at ages 10 and 6 murdered 2 year old Kirstie Swann. Laurel as the oldest was convicted and has spent her life in prison - moving from young offenders' when she turned 18, and owing to the nature of the crime and public opinion has been refused parole twice already. Six year old Rosie was deemed too young and was in a state of catatonic shock when the police tried to interview her. Fast forward 19 years, Rosie is now Hazel Archer and on holiday for New Year's Eve, celebrating her 25th birthday with the man she loves and his 14 year old daughter. A young child goes missing and Hazel's identity is revealed and she becomes a suspect. This book is seriously creepy and makes you think. How could this have happened? Is Rosie truly innocent? And what of their parents? Regardless of what Laurel did, Amy is still her mother and she is a ten year old girl. This broke my heart. the father was too weak to go against his wife and visit Laurel, she was hell bent on protecting Rosie. The mother clearly had mental health issues, at the least depression from the earliest accounts. This was a great read, I have only just finished and I can't settle because of how this turned out. What a sad situation, and one which should have been more fully investigated, looking into the family dynamic and why Laurel may have carried out this crime. Horrific and terrifying. #theflowergirls #netgalley

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy. It’s certainly an interesting read, but I found elements of it just too obvious to really work.
Laurel and Primrose are 10 and 6 when they are accused of kidnapping a toddler and killing her. Laurel is found guilty and sentenced to prison. Rosie, being deemed incapable of knowing the criminality of these actions - and saying she can’t recall any details - is not charged with anything and is given a new identity.
Dubbed The Flower Girls, nineteen years pass and people campaign tirelessly to prevent Laurel being released. There is no contact between the sisters and then a curious set of circumstances sets up a spiralling situation.
The details we’re given of the abduction are tough to read. They are unflinchingly detached, and in the nature of the detail bring to mind the James Bulger case.
There’s lots of references to modern-day crimes and it certainly raises interesting questions about the issue of criminality and guilt, and how we deal with children that commit such crimes.
Where the book didn’t quite work for me was in the set-up of the actual sisters and what happened. Some information is deliberately withheld but there are clues from early on that hint firmly at the ‘shock’ revelations we get towards the end. Where it surprised me was with regard to the new relationship forged between Rosie ( in her new identity) and her boyfriend. The ambiguity surrounding details of this relationship is unsettling, and the ending will certainly make you reconsider one or two judgments you make along the way.

This was another book that I had been hearing lots about on social media. I was really excited when I found out it was available on NetGalley. I requested a copy and was lucky enough to be approved nearly straight away.

This is a chilling story about two sisters who tortured and murdered a two year old girl. However, only  once sister was ever convicted as the other was too young. The youngest sister is given a new identity and lives a whole new life with only a few people knowing about her true identity. A good few years later a 5 year old girl goes missing at a hotel where the youngest sister is staying with her family, and The Flower Girls are about to be headline news once again.

The story and plot were very interesting and thought provoking. While reading the book I kept thinking about similar real life events that have happened. i.e. the murder of James Bulger in 1993.

I thought the author has done a wonderful job of keeping the book simple yet covering important issues such as child abduction in such a subtle way.  While reading through the book you can tell that the author has spent a lot of time in researching the topics and issues covered.

Although there were some interesting and well developed characters, there were some that I found very annoying and took a disliking to them.

About halfway through the book I thought I had worked out what was going to happen but I was so wrong. The ending was shocking and I wasn’t expecting it. This book really had me sitting at the edge of my seat.

I highly recommend this book especially if you’re looking for a gripping page turner, with lots of twists and turns.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing, Raven Books for a copy of this eARC in return for an honest and unbiased review.

The opening chapters in this book are enough to make any mother break out in a cold sweat. The first chapter way back in 1997 is when two sisters Laurel 10 and Primrose/Rosie 6 entice a toddler from the park down an old canal path where the little girl would be found brutally murdered later in the day. In court the sisters were dubbed The Flower Girls. Laurel stood trial for murder while her sister and mum and dad were given new identities and moved far away. Rosie was deemed to be too young to stand trial for murder.
Nineteen years later Laurel is facing another chance, or lack or it, for parole which is strongly objected to by the toddler's family. While Rosie, now Hazel, is celebrating her 25th birthday at a seaside hotel with her fella and his daughter when a five-year old girl goes missing from the hotel. It isn't long before someone sees similarities between Hazel and the child she was. So she decides to bring it all out in the open, tell what she remembered of that day 19 years earlier but swears that she knows nothing of the missing child in present day.
I thought that the author did amazing creating the opening chapter. It is shocking and harrowing showing how devious and cunning the sisters were, especially Laurel to get the toddler to go with them but it isn't graphic. Later in the book some of the injuries are learnt and that really does hit hard but it is written with thought to who will be reading this book. I felt that I connected with the characters in the book like I was supposed to, as my feelings were constantly changing as the story progressed.
There wasn't a massive police influence in the story as it was disclosed more by the sisters than anyone else although other characters did have their own say too. The story goes back and forth between past and present each bringing their own shocks, some a little predictable while others blew me away. A brilliant conclusion.

The flower girls is a psychological thriller of a disturbing nature. Rosie and Laurel are sisters who were very close as children but after the death of a toddler everything changed. Laurel aged 10 was convicted of the murder, as she had no other explanation of what happened and Rosie then 6, was too young to be prosecuted, she couldn't remember anything either, they were dubbed the flower girls by the press so she and her mum and dad went into witness protection and moved away. 20 years later another child is missing and someone spots a flower girl, the detective who is trying to find the missing child wants to believe it's her who has taken the child but she needs proof.
It's a page turner for sure but not all the threads are concluded, the truth about the original crime comes to light at the very end it an ok read but some bits obvious.

Nineteen years ago a two years old girl was brutally murdered by two young girls, sisters Laurel and Rosie Burman who were only 10 years and 6 years old at the time. The press dubbed them The Flower Girls. Laurel, the older girl was convicted of murder and Rosie and the rest of the famiy were given new identities. Hazel (as Rosie is known now) is staying at a hotel in Devon with her partner and his daughter. A young girl, Georgie, goes missing from the hotel and Hazel is suspected of being involved as her past is revealed. This is a gripping storyline flashing between the present day and the past and how everyone has been affected, It is a good psychological thriller, very thought provoking with a complete surprise at the end. A highly recommended read.
Thanks to NetGalley and Raven Books for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Wow a great read. Two sisters are involved in the death of a young girl. Nearly twenty years later another little girl goes missing is history going to repeat itself. I won’t go into the story too much as I don’t want to give anything away but I highly recommend reading this book.

‘Is this what marriage is like? she wonders. A constant balancing act between infatuation and impatience.’

At first glance, it appears as though The Flower Girls is going to be a pretty cut and dry thriller. A girl disappears from a hotel on New Year’s Eve, and when a terrible storms starts raging outside it’s a race against time to try to find her – and the person responsible for abducting her.

Hazel is terrified that the finger of blame will be pointed her way, because she has a secret. Her real name is Rosie, and she’s one of the infamous Flower Girls: the moniker given to her and her sister, Laurel, who was convicted of the brutal murder of a toddler when she was just 10 years old.

Rosie was unable to be tried – as a 6-year-old she was too young to face trial – but even the trauma of seeing what Laurel did to the poor girl caused her to wipe it from her memory, the entire day a completely blank space in her mind.

Hazel’s life is good now. She’s in a long-term relationship with a man called Jonny, who she thinks is preparing to propose. She gets on with his teenage daughter, despite the fact that she’s definitely not old enough to be her mother. She doesn’t want all of that to be ruined.

But when an author staying in the hotel recognises her and forces her to come clean to the investigating officer about her identity, Hazel is catapulted back into the spotlight – and back into Laurel’s life, too.

The Flower Girls is more than just a mystery novel, it’s an exploration of the meaning of family. Laurel is abandoned by her parents and her sister, but their uncle Toby supports her throughout the years, representing her over and over again as he regularly tries – and fails – to get her released from prison. Meanwhile, Hazel finds herself a new family in the form of Jonny and Evie, telling Jonny the truth about her past and feeling pleasantly surprised when he accepts her anyway.

It’s also the perfect starting point for many different moral discussions. Can a child truly be evil? Or held accountable for their actions in a legal sense? Is it more important to examine biological or sociological in these kinds of cases? What exactly constitutes a life sentence? My mind was racing at multiple points while reading The Flower Girls, and I found myself needing to put it down to gather my thoughts into some kind of order. These were topics I’d thought about before but was examining in a completely new light, and I loved the fact that Alice Clark-Platts took a basic idea and elevated it to such heights.

The way the story is told is genius, too. The first half of the book is propelled along at a breakneck speed, as the search for Georgie is extremely time-sensitive. Meanwhile, flashbacks are laced throughout the unfolding events, throwing us back in time to when Hazel was Rosie and the original crime was committed. I was eager to know what happened in both aspects of the plot, and I found myself racing through the present day chapters to dive back into the past, then wanting to get back to the present as quickly as I possibly could.

It’s been a while since I’ve been this captivated by a thriller, as they seem to have become so repetitive and predictable in recent years. Although there were some twists I saw coming throughout The Flower Girls, the ways that they were revealed were fresh and interesting, and there was a big twist that had my jaw dropping open and made me want to reread the entire book with this information in mind (something I’m still considering doing).

I requested The Flower Girls from NetGalley on a whim, because it seemed like the kind of book I’d probably enjoy, but I didn’t have my expectations too high because I was sure it wasn’t going to impress me. I’m pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this story, and I’m planning on going back and exploring some of Alice Clark-Platts previous releases to see if they’re as good as this one.

The Flower Girls is going to be one of the biggest releases of 2019, I can feel it.

I found this book, The Flower Girls by Alice Clark-Platts very hard to get into at first But Then Bang!!!!! I was Hooked!
What a Brilliant Superb book this was. So, I am so glad I did not give up on reading it.

In 1997, On a lovely warm summers day, two little girls Laurel aged 10 & Rosie aged 6 who are sisters, whilst playing out in the summer sun, abducted, tortured and killed a two year old toddler Kirstie Swann. The older girl, Laurel is charged with the murder of Kirstie but younger sister Rosie she was too young to be tried in court and charged if found guilty. They were called The Flower Girls by the press. Rosie went on to lead a normal life with a new identity, but hides and lives with a big secret. of her past

On New Years Eve 19 Years later, Laurel is still in prison. Hazel (Rosie) is staying at a hotel in Devon Cliffs, with her partner and his teenage daughter, when a five year old girl goes missing. It's discovered that Hazel (Rosie) is staying at the hotel.
The Flower Girls is about to hit the headlines all over again.

A lot of things go through your mind whilst reading this book.....

Did Rosie hurt or have anything to do with the Torture and murder of Kirstie Swann?

Has Hazel and her parents visited their daughter/sister Laurel since she was a child or had any contact with her?

Did Hazel have anything to do with the missing little girl that went missing at the hotel?

Then Bang.....OMG.....What a fantastic ending! Didn't see that coming......Brilliant! Brilliant!!!
Highly recommend this Book!

Fantastic 5 star read!

I would like to thank NetGalley, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc (UK & Anz) and the author Alice Clark-Platts for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.