This is going to be a hard review to write because I think it is best going into this book without much knowledge - like I did. I hadn't really read even the synopsis before picking it up, just saw the cover all over the place and was intrigued.

A book that has a focus on a mother daughter duo who don't have the best relationship due to their rocky past. Patty is the mother and at the beginning of this story she is getting released from prison where she was guilty of endangering her own child as she made her sick her whole life. Rose Gold is there to greet her mother as she leaves prison and is ready to start this new chapter with her life . . .

This is one of those books where you just can't trust any of the characters and for me that isn't something I completely love. I don't mind when you can't trust one, but when you can't trust any that makes for a hard story to read as you just can't believe anything that anyone as saying as complete fact.

I am intrigued with how a parent could want to have a sick child to get attention partly due to the tv show, The Politician. The look at Munchausen by proxy disease made me keep reading this book because I am so fascinated by a parent who could find comfort or joy or something from the attention that a sick child could get, I am not a parent, but this really fascinates me.

This book was interesting, but I wouldn't be quick to recommend it to just any reader.

Wow! Darling Rose Gold had me 100% engaged from page one. I know this is not the first time an author has tackled victims of Münchausen syndrome by proxy but Wrobel still manages to keep our interest to the very page. I loved seeing both sides of the story but most of all how our pasts play such a part in our future. Rosé Gold is a devastating character and I felt like I could picture her and her brittleness. Patty is the mother you love to hate and shows how mentally ill one is when poisoning their own child. Such a fantastic debut.

First I would like to thank Netgalley for the electronic copy of Darling Rose Gold for an honest review. I enjoyed this book for the quick read that it was and the interesting subject matter, however, the book as a whole fell flat.

I really enjoyed the alternating points of view. They added great perspective and were from different time periods allowing you to truly understand Rose Gold's upbringing, abuse, and the new world she has created for herself.

I didn't enjoy getting to know the characters and not one of them was likable. While everyone has flaws and is not perfect, this book did a great job of only highlighting the flaws and issues of each character and did not provide any redeeming qualities. I found myself rooting for the demise of everyone and on the side of no one.

Overall, I would still recommend this book to read as it was a very interesting read and highlights an all to real mental health problem.

Fits well with the current trend for revenge stories, as well as the increasing awareness of domestic abuse.
The dual narrative grips you as you are not sure if both are unreliable narrators, or if we can at least trust Rose Gold.

3.5 stars. Fast paced and twisty novel. This is a revenge story between two characters with emotional and psychological issues due to abuse. Even though it is fiction, that may be a barrier to enjoying this book for some readers.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the digital advanced reader copy of this book.

Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel first caught my attention because of the stunning cover, which is seriously gorgeous! Then I read the blurb, and since I'm absolutely fascinated by both Munchausen syndrome and Munchausen syndrome by proxy, I knew I had to read this book. For those who are unaware, Munchausen syndrome is a mental disorder in which a person repeatedly and deliberately acts as if he or she has a physical or mental illness when he or she is not really sick. Munchausen syndrome by proxy is a psychological disorder marked by attention-seeking behavior by a caregiver through those who are in their care.

Darling Rose Gold is a slow-burn psychological suspense novel told in dual POV and alternating timelines. It's quite an ambitious feat, but the author handled it spectacularly well. First, we have the mother, Patty, who is in the present. Recently released from prison, Patty is seeking refuge with her daughter, who is a new mom to son, Adam. Next, we have the daughter, Rose Gold, who is in the past--five years prior to the first chapter, when Rose Gold was just eighteen years old. Over the course of the novel, Rose Gold's chapters slowly move into the present time.

Right from the first chapter, I was hooked! What I appreciated most was the unreliable characters and narrators. There are several well-developed characters, and everyone seems a bit unhinged. It is established early on that both the mother and daughter have different recollections of Rose Gold's childhood and upbringing. Patty does not believe she abused her daughter, but Rose Gold is confident she did, even going as far as to testify against her mother at her trial. What makes this such a compelling read is that it is up to the reader to discover the truth as the pages turn. Keep in mind, there is an explosive finale, where the truth is revealed.

Overall, Darling Rose Gold is a quick, excellent read, and I highly recommend it. I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley. This is my honest, unbiased review.

Obviously this story was inspired by true events. And while I did enjoy it as a thriller, the fact that Rose Gold kidnapped a baby to use in her revenge plot was a big no for me. After learning that, my opinion of this book went way down.
I thought it had good potential, but the writing also seemed a bit immature. And I really didn't like the ending. Very disappointed.

Well, this was underwhelming. I’ve seen so many great reviews for Darling Rose Gold and I was so hyped to read it, but it ended up falling far short of my expectations.

The story is told through alternate POVs from Patty in the present and Rose Gold in the past. I have to say I found Patty’s chapters much more interesting. I felt like Rose Gold’s were all backstory and really seemed to drag. It covers her life during the years her mother was in prison and I thought it could have been shortened. There were some important things that came back in to play later, but so much of it was just needless detail and I found myself pretty bored. In Patty’s chapters I felt like the story was at least moving forward.

Both characters were kind of crazy and unapologetically awful, which was kind of fun. I was actually hoping for them to act even more devious than they did, though. I felt that the story followed a very cliched path and anybody who has read this genre before will be able to see what’s going to happen from miles away.

Overall, Darling Rose Gold was not really for me. There was some fun characterization, but for the most part it was really predictable and seemed to drag a lot. I didn’t find out until after I was done reading that this story is apparently very heavily inspired by the real life case of Gypsy Rose Blanchard and her mother Dee Dee. I had never heard of the case before, but looked it up and there are a lot of similarities (like, a lot) with this book. While this book wasn’t for me, I have seen a lot of other really great reviews, so it may still be worth checking out.

Overall Rating (out of 5): 2.5 Stars

Wow, what a wild ride. I finished this last night & I’m still like, mindblown. Totally cuckoo characters but in the BEST WAY. MBP is so fascinating to me and I flew through this one. Dual POV & past/present chapters make this such a twisty story! I would definitely check it out.

Darling Rose Gold is a difficult book to read. There are a few things I have a hard time with reading about: animal or child abuse and mother/daughter relationships. Obviously, this book is a lot of both. I was fully aware what I was getting into – it’s all right there in the synopsis – so it wasn’t quite as bad as I would have expected. It also helped that the book is so compelling it was easy to get pulled into the story without it affecting me too much.

What I loved so much about this book is how human Wrobel made all the characters. It would have been easy to make one a victim or survivor and one an obvious villain, but both Patty and Rose Gold have so many shades of grey. It made for a much more interesting story. It also made the ending very hard to predict, which I’m a huge fan of, especially in thrillers. Wrobel clues the reader into the fact that not everything is as it seems, but, until the very end, it’s not clear just how much Patty and Rose Gold are playing each other, and who is the better actor. I did not see the ending coming, and I definitely liked it that way.

I usually pick up thrillers because they’re exciting, fun reads, and Darling Rose Gold totally fit the bill. This book is an absolutely wild ride, and I was sucked in from the first page. There were twists I didn’t see coming (though, admittedly, my knowledge of the Gypsy Rose Blanchard case might have caused me to anticipate that this book would follow the true story more closely than it did, which I’m not mad about). Overall, I found this Darling Rose Gold to be a really great thriller.

Rose Gold's mother, Patty, was just released from prison. Her crime? She abused Rose Gold throughout her childhood by poisoning her with ipecac. Rose Gold testified against her and made sure Patty went to prison. And now that Patty is out of prison, Rose Gold has seemed to have changed her tune. She allows Patty to stay at her house after her release. What is Rose Gold thinking? Rose Gold's motives might be different than what Patty and her neighbors suspect. Because Rose Gold wants revenge.

Ok, so this is another one of those books that I didn't love, but I think teens will really enjoy. It's definitely a captivating read. After I got about half way through, I raced to the end. That said, the end was exactly what I thought it would be - folks who have read these sorts of psychological thrillers will see the twists before they arrive. Both Rose Gold and Patty are terrible (and while most reviews treat this as a spoiler, it's pretty obvious from the start) and really just need help? There's definitely a part of me that really just wanted the book to end and for the characters to get help for their mental illnesses.

This book was basically a Gillian Flynn novel for teens. It wasn't necessarily my thing - I like watching psychological thrillers, but don't always enjoy reading them - it's a hit or miss genre for me. That said, I think teens or someone who loves the genre would really love it. 2.5 stars.

Thanks to Berkeley and Netgalley for the free eARC which I received in exchange for an unbiased review. Darling Rose Gold is avaialable now.

For 18 years, Rose Gold Watts believed that she was seriously ill, until an internet search told her that her mother was poisoning and starving her to gain attention. She testified against her mother in court, and “Poisonous Patty” Watts went to prison for five years. Patty is about to be released from prison and with nowhere to go, asks Rose Gold if she can stay with her. Rose Gold reluctantly agrees, since she now has a child of her own and fears what Patty may do go him. Patty always gets revenge on those who wronged her, but Rose Gold is no longer a helpless child and has her own brand of revenge in mind. As the saying goes, revenge is a dish best served cold.

Great psychological fiction! Both Patty and Rose Gold have had years to think about revenge, and the pacing of the story really ratchets up the tension as the reader watches Patty and Rose Gold circle around each other like a pair of jungle cats. They have a lot more in common than they think: neither one is likable; both are highly manipulative; both women are unreliable narrators telling their own version of the truth. Fascinating yet disturbing and twisted, this is definitely like a train wreck: you just can’t look away. Once you start this book, it’s really hard to put it down.

I love the cover art! The plot for Darling Rose Gold sounds a lot like the story of Dee Dee Blanchard and her daughter Gypsy Rose. Hulu recently did an original series called The Act which was based on Dee Dee and Gypsy Rose.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an e-ARC in return for a review.

Yes!
This was quite the page turner. Wrobel spun a story that kept me wondering how it was going to all come together. This was quite the ride. Highly recommend.

When I read the synopsis for this book, I was intrigued. I assumed it was a retelling of the famous case that deals with the same issues as in the book and I thought it would be pretty cool to see the ins and outs of a story such as this. 

Rose Gold Watts has been abused at the hands of her mother, Patty. She grew up thinking she was deathly ill and was told she had a multitude of issues wrong with her. Of course, like the real story, her mother had been poisoning her for most of her life and Rose really wasn't ill at all. The characters of Rose and Patty were okay. I didn't connect well with either of them because both weren't that likable, to be honest. 

"You deserve every rotten thing you got." 

The story itself was suspenseful and I could see reasoning for Rose's actions. At its basic level, this book deals with mental illness and how it links to child abuse. Rose's actions were just as bad as Patty's but I don't think she ever saw it that way. At times, I felt Rose was justified due to the horrific abuse she suffered at the hands of Patty, but other times I was conflicted. I wanted it all to be over and I wanted to keep reading to see what would happen. 

“Most people font like holding on to anger. They feel it crushing and consuming them, so they let it go. They try to forget the ways they’ve been wronged.
But some of us cannot forget and will never forgive. We keep our axes sharp, ready to grind. We hold pleas for mercy between our teeth like jawbreakers.
They say a grudge is a heavy thing to carry.
Good thing we’re extra strong.”

Overall, I enjoyed this book but warn people to remind themselves that it's fiction. At times I felt sorry for Patty because I knew she was just as messed up as she made her daughter, but other times I wanted to hate her and felt just as angry as Rose. Rose, sadly was just as crazy as her mother at it really put light on just how messed up a mentally incapable parent can make you. The book was good and very thought provoking so I give it 4-stars 

Thank you so very much to Berkley via Netgalley for the free advanced reader's copy. The views and opinions expressed here are solely my own and are in no way a representation of the views and opinions of the author, publisher, and/or distributor.

“It was easier to manipulate someone if they didn’t perceive you as a threat.”
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Thank you so much to Berkley and NetGalley for an advanced gifted copy for review!
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Wow! What a dang thrilling ride! This book is messed up and disturbing on so many levels; Wrobel does a fantastic job in creeping the reader out and also totally going into the minds of these insane characters - which in itself brings a profound creep factor. Wrobel kept me at the edge of my seat trying to figure out what was going to happen in the end. I don't know a ton about Munchausen by Proxy - just from what I've seen on Grey's or read about in the news/other books, but I feel like this book did an excellent job at giving an in-depth look at how Munchausen looks in the brain of someone who has it.
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The evils in the characters were subtle and well-developed. The evolution of Rose Gold was done masterfully by highlighting her inner thoughts and how her perspective of the world changed over time. Anyone would be messed up after being continually poisoned for years and years by their own mother, but Rose Gold's response to what happened to her was pure evil. As a reader, I liked this thought-provoking premise that the author included. Do I feel bad for Rose Gold for the abuse she endured? Of course! But she's just as evil as her mother - so how far does the sympathy extend?
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This is a really quick read and I would recommend for fans of Gillian Flynn or people who like psychological, well-written thrillers!

Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for my copy to review.


When I read the synopsis of this book I immediately thought of Gypsy Rose and Dee Dee and yeah that's basically what you get with some major things changed around. I kinda had some high expectations for this book but I was kinda let down I guess. It starts out with Patty getting out of prison wanting to reconnect with Rose Gold but Rose Gold has other plans in store. The book started out strong for me then about the halfway mark I just started losing interest. I felt like it was just dragging on and on. I honestly would skip over some stuff and still knew what was going on. I had most figured out before I even got to it. This story at times made me feel so weird and uncomfortable. Stephanie Wrobels writing is great it's just this book didnt do it for me. The writing is why I gave it 2 stars.

This book was not what I expected it to be. It is almost a study in mental health. Neither of the MCs is very likable. You feel bad for them on some level for different reasons. But at the same time you don't agree with or support their decisions.

I went into this book expecting a story about Munchausen by Proxy (MSBP). MSBP is a mental health syndrome where a person fakes or causes an illness in another person and receives attention and praise as the person's caregiver. The ill person is typically a child or elderly person that is vulnerable to the caregiver. It is typical for people with MSBP to go to prison for their abuse instead of receiving mental health counseling that is needed. That is what happens in this story.

From the blurb, I knew this was about a child whose mother went to prison for this and was being released. I thought it was about how Rose Gold grew strong while her mother was away and would not be susceptible to her mother's mental health issues after she was released. This was not that story. It is not about growth or overcoming abuse. This is a story about mental health issues passed down through generations of abuse and revenge.

Rose Gold is not a mentally healthy person. The abuse her mother put her through left her without a basis for creating healthy relationships and feeling spurned by everyone. People were not always kind to her and she had no healthy way to deal with this. It was sad to read.

This story may have been inspired by Gypsy Rose Blanchard and her mother Dee Dee, but it is not their story. I struggled for a while trying to make the stories coincide and so it took me a while to be ok with this book. In order to enjoy this story, you need to put the real people out of your mind. You really need to read it as a fictional account of completely made-up characters. Once I was able to do that, I was able to enjoy it more.

Overall, there was very little thriller aspect to the story, though there was some feeling of "what will happen?" I felt the emotional, mental health part of the story more deeply.

Rating: 8.5/10

Thanks to Penguin Random House Audio, the author, and the narrators for a listening copy of Darling Rose Gold for review consideration. This did not influence my thoughts or opinions.

Darling Rose Gold is an unsettling, completely engrossing thriller debut. This is 2020’s The Silent Patient; a psychological trip sure to keep you guessing until the very end. Wrobel has definitely made her mark on the genre.

As soon as I saw The Washington Post state “If you enjoyed The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides, read Darling Rose Gold.”, I just knew I had to pick this one up. TSP was one of my favorite thrillers of 2019 and led the charge in regards to thrillers becoming a topper on my book genre sundae. While there are a ton out there, more and more being published every day, there are special ones like DRG that just stand out from the rest of the pack.

I’m not going to assume you know what munchausen syndrome is, but here is a brief definition: Munchausen syndrome is a factitious disorder, a mental disorder in which a person repeatedly and deliberately acts as if he or she has a physical or mental illness when he or she is not really sick. Munchausen syndrome is considered a mental illness because it is associated with severe emotional difficulties [WebMD May 20, 2018.]

The majority of DRG is devoted to Patty and Rose Gold’s relationship, which is one of the most toxic mother-daughter relationships I have seen since reading John Marr’s What Lies Between Us (which I guess wasn’t that long ago LOL). It is sort of like the relationship between Eddie Kaspbrak and his mother in Stephen King’s IT, but at least he was able to find ways out of the house and socialize. I couldn’t imagine having such an overbearing mother, even if she had my best interests in mind. Love her to death, but leave me some breathing room.

The story itself is told in an interesting fashion as we see Rose Gold prior to Patty’s prison stay, during the five (5) year sentence, and in the present once Patty is back in the picture. We are also given perspective into the mind of Patty during her reunion and stay with her daughter. While the picture of Patty is being painted as this terrible mother who starved her daughter, there are glimpses where you actually feel bad for her. She only wants what is best for her daughter, but too bad that leads to worse than poor health and a multitude of hospital visits. It was also very interesting that Rose Gold took in her mother after the horrible childhood she was given, but it all clicks as the story progresses.

That may have been one of the best climaxes I have ever seen. Props to Wrobel for writing such a surprising ending; one that I never saw coming, even though I thought I had it figured out. I also want to give a shoutout to the narrators: Megan Dodds & Jill Winternitz. They truly brought these characters to life, especially the inner crazy they both carry on the daily.

All in all, check it out. Simple as that.

Darling Rose Gold is a domestic suspense novel about a twisted mother-daughter relationship. I enjoyed this one. I liked the two timelines. One timeline was told through Rose Gold's point of view and the other timeline was Patty's, the mother. I loved the suspense of waiting for the two timelines to intersect & to find out everything that had gone on. My issue with the book is why choose such a close main character's name to a similar well known true crime? I don't think this novel was based on Gypsy Rose's life although I can see similarities. I found one article in which an interviewer asked - Was it intentional that the real-life Gypsy Rose and the fictional Rose Gold have similar names? Stephanie Wrobel answered “No. I don’t know whether it was in my subconscious, but that character name came to me quite early.” I think using a two worded name with Rose being one of them was a poor choice. It's confusing. It was hard to not envision Gypsy Rose as Rose Gold. The writing and storyline was strong, I feel like the author was using Gypsy Rose to lean on when she didn't need to.

I don't know if I fully know how I feel about this book, but I do know that it had me fully captivated from the first chapter. The author did an amazing job of keeping you on the edge and not knowing who you fully trust, especially as the book went on.

This book goes back and forth in time telling the story of Rose Gold and her mother Patty through her childhood as Patty had everyone convinced of Rose Gold's illnesses and problems, and their life now as Patty is out of prison and in the home of her daughter.

This is a book about revenge and it is certainly creepy, which is why I don't know how I completely feel about it. But in terms of writing and interest it fully kept me interested from the first page to the last.