Rose Gold spent her entire childhood in some kind of medical agony, either in the hospital or at home, with a feeding tube and a wheelchair always present. She was allergic to so many things it was nearly impossible to keep an accurate count, and even with the feeding tube, she was malnourished, and her hair fell out in huge clumps. After she turned eighteen, Rose Gold decided to take charge of her life, and her mother Patty was arrested and charged with aggravated child abuse. Patty’s conviction meant Rose Gold was free to follow her own path, and she got a job, met her birth father, and then was crushed when he decided he and his family didn’t want a relationship with her.

Patty had always tried to be the perfect mother, sacrificing everything for Rose Gold. She cared for her during her many illnesses, mopped up the vomit, bathed and fed and cradled her daughter, doing whatever she could do to relieve Rose Gold’s pain and discomfort. The fact that she used ipecac to sicken Rose Gold, just a few times, shouldn’t count against her, should it?

There’s a lot of vindictive behaviors in this book, from Patty to be sure, but also from Rose Gold. Her deeply set need to have others pay for her early life of trauma was a continued theme throughout the storyline. I expected a master set-up, but not quite the way it all played out. The story read well, I’m familiar with the case it was loosely based on, and I appreciated a different take on the Munchhausen’s by Proxy diagnosis.

Sooo creepy!!! But I loved it!! This is a deliciously wicked thriller that was a pure delight to read in spite of the serious subject matter. Rose Gold's mother Patty is being released from prison after being convicted of abusing her daughter. According to Patty, Rose Gold suffered from a myriad of mysterious illnesses her whole life, necessitating endless hospital stays, homeschooling and ultimately even a wheelchair.

Alternating perspectives between Rose Gold and Patty, the author cleverly gives the reader insight into Patty's motives and Rose Gold's current life. Mother and daughter seem to have come to an uneasy truce now that Patty is out in the real world. But was Rose Gold really sick when she was young? Or did her own mother cause her child's illnesses, just to grab attention?

"On that day of my trial, and for many years after, my daughter was lost. But in the end, I was right: all the vicious people in the world couldn’t keep us apart. She found her way back to me. This time, dear girl, I promise not to let you go."

This is a fast-paced, clever story that had me guessing all the way to the end. I felt sympathy for Rose Gold, who was trying very hard to live a normal adult life, and not be seen just as a victim. There are a few glimpses into what might be a dark side, but who would be entirely normal after being subjected to Patty's abuse? The author did a wonderful job of showing us Patty's point of view as well. I am wary of calling a book with such serious subject matter entertaining, but this book certainly surprised me with its fascinating cast of characters. Was Patty pure evil? Or was she simply acting in her daughter's best interests?

"Riddle me this: if I spent almost two decades abusing my daughter, why did she offer to pick me up today?"

I really enjoyed this dark and clever thriller and highly recommend it! The plot is fast paced and held my attention which is hard to do these days. Hats off to the author for this very well-researched and unusual story!

‘Darling Rose Gold’ by Stephanie Wrobel

Munchausen Syndrome By Proxy portrayed at its very best served in a plate of twisted revenge! Imagine living your 18 years of life in and out of hospitals only to find out that it was your very own mother who is taking care of you and loving you at the same time is also making you sick where you end up with a feeding tube, being in a wheelchair and in-and-out of hospitals all throughout your life.

Wrobel wrote an amazing revenge story you will not see coming full of twists and turns you will feel good about. The characters were written so well in their point of views and just enough cookie crumbs left in this brilliant suspenseful thrill of a read! This is one that I will continue to recommend for the amazing writing and great plot twists!

I realize a lot of people compare this book with the real-life story of Gypsy Rose Blanchard. The abuse is the same but the aftermath is quite different. Rose Gold's mother, Patty, faked a lot of, if not all of, Rose Gold's illnesses. Rose Gold testified against her mother in court resulting in a 5-year prison sentence. Patty still doesn't take full responsibility for what she's done, even after she's released from prison and moves in with her daughter. Rose Gold is a sympathetic character at first, but then you begin to realize she's just as demented as her mother. I really enjoyed the ending - just wish it was just stretched out a bit more.

Darling Rose Gold is the thrilling tale of a mother with Munchausen syndrome by proxy (MSBP) and the lasting effect it had on both her life and her daughter's. Rose Gold Watts was the victim of her mother's MSBP and she spent her entire life believing she was sick due to a chromosomal abnormality. Turns out her mother had made it all up. All her mother, Patty Watts, did was lie, lie, lie. After gaining access to the internet (and the outside world) Rose Gold realized the shattering truth that her mother was poisoning her to make her sick. Fast forward and Patty Watts is getting out of prison after serving 5 years for her crimes. Shockingly Rose Gold is the one who is picking her mother up, her new baby in tow. The community is understandably stunned by this, but Darling Rose Gold is done being the passive daughter that her mother deceived for all those years....

This book was just... wow. At first I struggled with what I thought about it. I just kind of sat and stared into oblivion for a while after finishing it. After processing for a few minutes, I realized that this book achieved exactly what it was meant to. It made me mad. It made me think. I couldn't put this book down. I needed to know what the end of this standoff between mother and daughter would hold. From the start we are setup for a grand ending and it definitely did not disappoint. I loved the way we shifted between present day and the flashbacks and it read seamlessly without giving me whiplash. These are not likeable characters, but they are characters that make evoke lots of feelings in the reader. At some points I cheered for Rose Gold, I wanted better for her, but it was evident that the years of abuse had a severe effect on Rose Gold's mental health. Overall, Darling Rose Gold was gripping, shocking, and thought-provoking. I highly recommend this thriller. I couldn't put it down.

Originally posted on Cloud Lake Literary’s website. Link posted.

Stephanie Wrobel’s debut novel Darling Rose Gold  has come into the world during a very uncertain time, but that hasn’t stopped it from becoming an instant hit. Wrobel has taken two perspectives and intertwined them to create a hauntingly chilling story about an extreme mother-daughter relationship filled with manipulation and deception. Darling Rose Gold shows just how far the love between a mother and daughter can go, and how dangerous that can be.

Patty has always been a doting mother willing to do anything to make sure that her darling Rose Gold is looked after and healthy. Which is why Patty can’t seem to understand why Rose Gold has turned on her after all she’s done for her. You see, Rose Gold grew up to be a very (constantly) sick child, leaving Rose Gold to realize that perhaps things are not as they seem. Patty ends up in jail for aggravated child abuse against her daughter and Rose Gold takes it upon herself to find out why her mother did what she did.

Wrobel’s main theme in Darling Rose Gold is the twisted relationship between Patty and Rose Gold. Patty believes that everything she’s done for Rose Gold has been out of love, to take care of her sick daughter and nurse her back to health. To expand on the mother-daughter relationship, Wrobel takes things further by giving the reader background information on Patty’s childhood and how she grew up. There has been much trauma in Patty’s life that she has not fully coped with and because of that the reader can see that there is some intergenerational trauma between Patty’s past and her relationship with Rose Gold. While Patty isn’t necessarily a good person, it is easy for the reader to see where some of her issues come from and Wrobel does a wonderful job giving the reader plenty of background so that they can make sense of the cruel actions that Patty commits. Patty and Rose Gold can both be unlikeable characters in different aspects which works really well within the story. The two of them together create a toxic environment where they feed off one another. Wrobel does an excellent job creating two characters that are both very different and yet very similar to each other.

Wrobel has created a fascinating piece of art that is bound to shock readers while keeping them entertained until the very end. Darling Rose Gold is incredibly well written and because of that, I am excited to see what Wrobel writes next. The prose is lovely and the story flows nicely which makes for an easy and enjoyable read. If you are a fan of Lisa Jewell and Gillian Flynn, or if you enjoy a great thriller, then do yourself a favour and grab a copy of Darling Rose Gold, you won’t be disappointed.

Written by Stephanie Wrobel — Teenager Rose Gold Watts has spent much of her life in a wheelchair. She’s been in and out of hospital, had more tests than you can shake a stick at, and is cared for by her loving mother Patty.

She knows her mother loves her and is grateful for the care and attention she receives from Patty. But when they finally get a computer, an innocent late night conversation in a chat room sends Rose Gold’s world crashing down. Who knew turkey and broccoli didn’t taste like maple syrup? Not Rose Gold, that’s for certain. And as she begins to explore her mother’s overweening protectiveness, Rose Gold realises she is being poisoned. It seems like a case of Munchausen syndrome by proxy.

The eureka moment leads to Patty being charged with aggravated child abuse and handed a prison sentence. Rose Gold testified against her in court and the case made headlines worldwide. Now Poisonous Patty is due to be released – and who is outside the jail, waiting for her? Why it’s Rose Gold and her baby, Adam. Yep, a lot has happened in the past five years.

Those occurrences – and there are many – are gradually revealed as the narration swings between Patty and Rose Bold like a ping pong ball being batted by two particularly good players. Rose Gold’s story really begins on the first day of her mother’s imprisonment, while Patty’s takes its first tentative steps upon her release. She expects her daughter to be the same pliant, easily led sucker that she last saw in court. But Rose Gold has changed.

The most obvious difference is that Rose Gold is now the doting mother of a young baby. She and the father aren’t together and she relies on an old friend of her mother’s for child care while she goes to work in a crummy electrical store. Mrs Stone blanks Patty, who soon realises that everyone in the small town is against her. Including her daughter. Rose Gold may be offering her mother a place to live in the dead end little US town of Deadwick, but why did she buy the childhood home where Patty was abused? The ramshackle house holds way too many secrets.

Reading The Recovery of Rose Gold (published as Darling Rose Gold in the US) is like going on a nature ramble. On the surface, everything looks pretty and calm, but turn over a few stones and you begin to see the world from a completely different angle. This is an ingeniously plotted book which keeps you on your toes from beginning to end.

At the heart of it all is Rose Gold, so badly treated as a child and now suffering the consequences. She’s stick thin, with terribly rotten teeth, but behind that fragile facade is a young woman who isn’t about to go down without a fight. There are moments when you feel close to tears because of the way she was treated in the past and even in the present day she has to deal with abuse and cruelty, both from strangers and from people she loves.

Take it with a pinch of salt though, because this pair are unreliable narrators par excellence, their strings manipulated by an author who has a fair few tricks up her sleeve. Just when you think the pieces have all fitted into place, Wrobel upends the table and you have to look at the big picture all over again.

This debut makes for intoxicating reading and her dark and twisted tale is likely to keep you up into the wee small hours. If you’re a fan of psychological thrillers, then I advise you to make a note of this one!

Troubled teenagers take centre stage in Sarah Stovell’s The Home. There’s another fraught mother/daughter relationship in Call Me Star Girl by Louise Beech.

Michael Joseph
Print/Kindle/iBook
£4.99

CFL Rating: 5 Stars

I said that many times reading this sucker.

Rose Gold has been "sick" her whole life. Come to find out Mommie Dearest is aiding in that little affliction. Mommy is now in prison and Rose Gold is living her best life.
Then she decides to reconcile with Mom.


And good grief...this is dysfunction central. I totally ate it up even when I was shaking my head and wondering how the heck these characters could get any more F'd up.


It was delicious.
Booksource: Netgalley in exchange for review.

Wrobel's tale of abuse and revenge obviously takes its origin from the infamous DeeDee and Gypsy Rose Blanchard case, featuring the tale of a young woman who was continually tormented with unnecessary medical procedures by an overbearing mother. My main problem with the book is not this origin, but the fact that the book's ending was fairly obvious from the very beginning, and that both of the main characters are extremely hard to root for or like in any way.

For nearly two decades, everyone thought Patty Watts was the perfect mother and model citizen. She helped her neighbors in need. She volunteered in the community. All this, while raising her terribly sick daughter, Rose Gold, who was in and out of hospitals and doctors’ offices, and was eventually confined to a wheelchair. The town held fundraisers to help Patty cover costs for Rose Gold’s medical bills, and everyone said what a brave mother she was.

However, everything changes when Rose Gold turns sixteen and figures out how to use the Internet. While her mom is sleeping, Rose Gold searches the web and discovers that her mother has been poisoning her since she was a baby. With a family friend’s help, Rose Gold testifies against her mother, and Patty goes to prison for five years for child abuse.

When Patty is released from prison, Rose Gold decides to let Patty live with her for a time. Rose Gold is now twenty-three years old and is a single mother of Adam, a two-month old infant. The community is astounded when Rose Gold accepts Patty into her home, considering what went on in their past.

Unknown the town, Rose Gold is hiding secrets, and she has bought Patty’s family home, which holds agonizing memories for Patty. Patty thinks that all she has to do is win Rose Gold’s trust and love back, and then she will be in control again. But revenge is a dish best served cold. Rose Gold has been seething about her childhood treatment and has big surprises for Patty.

This debut novel by Stephanie Wrobel is written in alternating voices of mother and daughter both in present time and flashbacks. Both characters are extremely well-developed, and are strong, devious protagonists who each has their own agenda. The pairs’ minds reveal the motives and consequences of mental and physical abuse. They are both damaged, unreliable narrators; they are indifferent to their actions and maniacal in their own ways. While neither character is particularly likeable, readers will want one or the other to “win”.

The flashbacks tell the backstory of their lives and are smoothly fused into the plot. Although the novel is character-driven, the narrative is disturbing and suspenseful, full of crazy twists and turns. The plot has compelling pacing that will keep readers turning the pages.

Even though this psychological thriller is written for adults, teens will be drawn to it. Hand it to adult readers of Gone Girl and teen readers of Last Seen Leaving by Caleb Roehrig. I highly recommend it for public libraries and high school libraries for grades ten and up.

If you were to ask my husband, my face while reading Darling Rose Gold was a lot like my face while watching "Tiger King" on Netflix - one of constant perplexity and disbelief at what I was reading. Then again, I think that was the point. Much like "Tiger King," Darling Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel delights in easing the voyeuristic need to see people who are mentally, educationally, and socio-economically unlike you to make you feel better. After all, most of us will never shoot a tiger, feed their dead spouse to a tiger, or poison their children for sympathy.

In many ways, Darling Rose Gold is not just a glimpse into the mind of someone suffering from Munchausen by Proxy syndrome; one could make the argument that it is also a commentary on the failure of our medical system to help those suffering from mental health issues. For her crimes of aggravated child abuse - literally poisoning her daughter so that she was constantly sick - Patty went to jail and obtained no psychiatric help. Similarly, after the sentencing, Rose Gold was left to her own devices because she was technically an adult. No one made sure she obtained therapy for the years of abuse her mother put her through, and the lack of help shows.

I am ashamed to admit that I could not get enough of this book. I read the entire thing in less than twelve hours, only stopping because I could not keep my eyes open anymore. I really wanted to know whether Rose Gold truly forgave her mother or had other plans for her decision to allow her mother to live with her again upon release. I took a sick delight in each protagonist thinking the other was stupid and insignificant.

I am not proud of this, but there was nothing about Darling Rose Gold that disappointed me. It was every bit as messed up as I hoped it would be, for which I got a cheap, horror-filled thrill at every crazy turn. It made me forget everything that is happening for real right now. Plus, it made me feel better about some of my more embarrassing parenting moments because, let's face it, I am no Patty. Thank goodness.

After her release from prison, a mother squares off with her daughter in a contest of wills. Both women want revenge for the wrongs committed against them, and despite the history that binds them neither are willing to offer the other any solace. Author Stephanie Wrobel traces the causes and effects of a bizarre syndrome in her compelling novel Darling Rose Gold.

Rose Gold Watts spent most of her childhood in hospitals. Often she had to use a wheelchair. She had difficulty keeping down food, and at one point doctors inserted a feeding tube into her body so she could get the nutrients she needed.

Her single mom, Patty, devoted all of her time to Rose Gold, taking her from one physician to another, trying a variety of foods, even homeschooling her when a little boy made fun of her lack of hair. No one doubted Patty’s love for her child or her determination to keep Rose Gold healthy…except Rose Gold herself.

In her late teens, Rose Gold makes a horrifying discovery: she’s not sick. In fact, she’s never been sick, at least not with a real condition. Rose Gold has been throwing up her meals and watching her teeth rot because her mother has been poisoning her.

After Patty is convicted of child abuse and sent to prison, Rose Gold rebuilds her life. At 18, she’s ill equipped to navigate the world around her. Patty made sure Rose Gold was so dependent on her that Rose Gold feels like she’s discovering everything from scratch. In some ways she is.

Still, she manages to get a job, albeit a boring one, and she begins an online relationship with Phil from Colorado. More than anything, though, Rose Gold wants to prepare for the biggest event of her entire life: her mother’s release from prison. After five years in prison, Patty is released and asks Rose Gold if they can live together again. Everyone in the community is stumped when Rose Gold says yes.

Her mother may talk of a change of heart, but Rose Gold knows her mother wants to punish her. With the help of a therapist and her own courage to face the facts, Rose Gold decides to play along with Patty’s “reformation.” After all, if there’s one thing Rose Gold has learned from her mother, it’s how to put on a good show.

Author Stephanie Wrobel takes readers into the minds of people suffering from the inexplicable condition Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy: when caregivers hurt those under their protection and then “save” the people they’re taking care of. In the novel, Wrobel lets both Patty and Rose Gold share their points of view. The intimacy of first person allows readers to see and hear how Patty and Rose Gold approach the world. The result is both discomfiting and fascinating.

At times Patty seems convinced of her innocence: she just wants to take care of her daughter and can’t understand why so many people—former coworkers; former friends; even Rose Gold herself—are standing in her way. She’s devoted her entire life to Rose Gold. In her mind, no one seems to get that.

At other times, Patty’s throwaway comments and her own childhood experiences reveal a deeper intelligence. It looks as though she knows exactly what she’s doing. Some readers might finish the book on the fence about which way Patty leans, a depiction true to real life.

Rose Gold too comes across as a fully developed, realistic character. She battles the mental conditioning of almost 18 years with the proof of her mother’s abuse and her own slow-awakening common sense. Rose Gold craves her mother’s approval, yet she also wants a normal life.

If the book can be faulted anywhere, it’s in the middle where it sags as Rose Gold executes a plan that she shares with no one—not even the reader. Through several chapters, it feels as though both mother and daughter are treading water until an inevitable ending that is also surprising. While Wrobel offers a small bit of hope, she also saddles it with the guilt of the past. It’s a tricky balancing act, but Wrobel gets it mostly right.

Readers who like books about psychological conditions and how they can twist a person’s mind and life will enjoy this one. I recommend readers Bookmark Darling Rose Gold.

Holy guacamole Batman, this book.

Admittedly that was the first thought I had upon finishing "Darling Rose Gold", so I knew that would be the first line of my review. In all seriousness, this book was a rollercoaster ride of emotions and then some. I'm not going to say I completely enjoyed this book because the subject matter, for me, was a bit like pulling teeth and really hit against some subject matters that could be debated about for stigma in portrayal (Mental illness is the elephant in the room, though I say that with caveats in how it was applied here. I'm hesitant to say more without diving into massive spoilers).

I still appreciated the read wholeheartedly for how well written it was. One can certainly expect this story to showcase elements of abuse, gaslighting, narcissistic rage, manipulation, denial, neglect and trauma front and center between a mother and her daughter, as well as their extended relationships. Yet, I was both intrigued and immersed in this story for much of the progression because it did a brilliant job of really getting into the heads of the main characters. It created compelling narratives that had me both feeling their respective pains and wanting to throttle them for how they treated others and their respective situations. And to be very clear, there was not a single character in this book that I liked or got behind in what they chose to do. Almost every character in this story was horrible - self-centered, indulgent, manipulative - even several of the supporting characters. I think that was entirely the point; this is a book about horrible people being horrible to each other. What made it intriguing for me was that at least I could understand why they thought and felt the way they did, and what motivated their actions through the progression of the narrative. Some thrillers and dramas will create tension just for shock and awe value to push whatever boundaries they think they can for visceral effect, but "Darling Rose Gold" had a heart to it that compelled me; it was difficult not to feel gutted watching it all unfold.

The story centers - primarily - around Rose Gold Watts and her mother Patty Watts. Patty Watts was imprisoned for 5 years in conjunction with poisoning/making her daughter sick and dependent on care for 18 years. Rose Gold is left to pick up the pieces of her life and health after testifying against her mother. There's a dual narration between the past as Rose Gold begins life without her mother, and the present with Patty as she's released from prison when Rose Gold picks her up. The two narratives will eventually meet, but it's like watching a slow burn crash in motion as the pieces fall in place. One would be correct in suspecting that Rose Gold had less than good intentions picking up her mother from prison and inviting her to live in the house with her child for the time being, but...not the hot mess and a half of complicated associations. It was definitely more complex than I was expecting going into the narrative.

I had very little sympathy for Patty, because I saw her for the narcissistic and abusive monster that she was from the get go, though there were moments where it felt like she did question her own morals and had a sharp eye to question things around her. Rose Gold had me going back and forth for a while - because she had some very complex traumas and anger associated with her mother's abuse, alongside social, emotional, and physical stunting. I got that for much of the novel, Rose Gold's actions were centered on her trying to cling to what good things seemed to be in her life and wanting to move forward from the pain her mother put her through. At the same time, you could tell her actions were gross violations that she only had momentary reckonings with those violations. Her hurt was palpable and her experience lent her to dark places, sometimes to a point where it makes you flinch of how far she goes with those thoughts.

But then there was the ending. Oh dear, that ending and last twist. I still have emotional whiplash from it. I think had the narrative taken a slightly different turn than that, I would've put this as a 5-star read easily. Despite the ending being foreshadowed from the get go, I still didn't feel like it came together in a plausible way for me to believe in it. The technical aspect of the foreshadowing was very well done and the characterization leading up to it was top tier, but seeing what Rose Gold does in the interactions with her mother and associated company had my nerves up the wall.

I don't think the narrative glorifies what Rose Gold does - or what any of the characters do in general here - but it definitely showcases a turn to dark morality that is plagued throughout this narrative. What's the phrase - "The road to hell is paved with good intentions?" I don't know if you could call anything that any character does in this novel to be good, but they believe it to be in some twisted sense, they're the hero and everyone else is wrong, or if they do good, it's self serving in some senses. Or it's a power struggle where they wear masks for the sake of either keeping peace or hiding the turbulence beneath. That to me was part of how this novel felt brilliant in what it aimed to do. The execution, however, was shaky because it lent a bit to familiar tropes that shortchange that image. And the elephant in the room showcasing those tropes? Mental illness.

I still enjoyed this book for the journey it took me on for the most part, but I had a hard time with pieces of it, in sum. I'm definitely wiling to see what else Wrobel writes in the future, though.

Overall score: 3.5/5 stars.

Note: I received this as an ARC from NetGalley from the publisher, and also bought the audiobook for my own personal library.

I absolutely LOVED this book! Wow, what a crazy ride this was! Although I knew something was up towards the ending and I almost had it figured out, it did not lower my rating on this one. The complicated relationships between both Rose Gold and her Mom and also with her Dad is what made this whole story for me. I soon came to realize that I did not care for Rose Gold but to me, unreliable narrators are what makes a thriller novel so good! It was truly great from beginning to end. I would highly recommend this one to anyone and everyone!

What a page-turner! Pick this up if you are a fan of couples-keeping-secrets suspense novels; with Darling Rose Gold, Stephanie Wrobel puts a unique twist on the subgenre, focusing on a very unusual (at least, let's hope so) mother-daughter relationship. Delightfully dark and nasty!

For the first eighteen years of her life, Rose Gold Watts believed she was seriously ill. She was allergic to everything, used a wheelchair and practically lived at the hospital. No matter how many doctors, tests, or surgeries, no one could figure out what was wrong with Rose Gold. Turns out her mom, Patty Watts, was just a really good liar. After serving a stint in jail, Patty is now out and wants to reconcile things with her mom. But Rose Gold is no longer under her power and control. review: In high school I took AP psychology and read numerous books on Munchausen’s syndrome for class, so when I discovered this book I knew I had to put it on my to read list immediately! This was one of those books that was heartbreaking, yet unputdownable at the same time. I couldn’t get enough and I needed to know what Patty was going to attempt next. The relationship between Rose Gold and Patty is rocky, at best, and I kept guessing what was going to happen. I loved the alternating chapters and points of view from each of them, I felt it really added to the suspense and the build up of the story. This book is full of twists & it’s a definite page turner. rating: 4.5 out of 5 ⭐️

3.5 Every Action Had a Reaction Stars
* * * 1/2
There are human behaviors that just don't make sense. Unfortunately, they exist and somehow have continued throughout the ages. As we advanced, these things that happened developed scientific names and classifications. One of the most heinous practices was named Munchausen's by proxy. In my Layperson talk, it is the mental disorder where one person causes symptoms of illness/pain, etc. in another so that they, the inflictor, would get sympathy, care, and loving feelings from others because of their sacrifice so much for the ill person.

An actual example of this type of situation is the case of Dee Dee Blanchard and Gypsy Rose Blanchard. (view spoiler) [This is the link to Biography.com's page on these two. It seems like this could be a spark for an author to then take off and create their vision. https://www.biography.com/news/gypsy-... (hide spoiler)]

This tale is written with a strong hand...It takes one to be able to create characters that neither are likable and still have us compelled to read. This isn't pretty, this isn't easy reading but it is compelling and I couldn't turn away.

If you want more, please read all of the other amazing reviews out there. There is an abundance of intelligent, well-written ones from every point of view.

A gifted copy was provided by author/publisher for an honest review.

A tale of revenge between a mother and daughter who both have very different ideas of what love is. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!

Whoa, whoa, whoa! I really enjoyed everything about Darling Rose Gold. It features the complicated relationships between mothers and daughters up to the extreme with Munchausen by Proxy. Darling Rose Gold features the aftermath of Rose Gold and Patty’s situation as Patty is ending her five year prison sentence for aggravated child abuse. Patty has nowhere to go and surprisingly the now adult (at 23 years old) Rose Gold says yes to bring Patsy into her home.

What follows is dual POV’s between Patty and Rose Gold in alternating chapters. We learn what happened to Rose Gold during Patty’s prison sentence. As they possibly attempt to repair their relationship, it becomes a game of cat and mouse and I never knew who to believe as both are very much unreliable narrators.

For the most part, novels that feature unreliable narrators do not work for me, but in Darling Rose Gold’s case, it worked for me 100%! I guess it is because we have a case of crazy and crazier in this novel: Who is crazy and who is crazier? You will have to read to find out!

Neither Rose Gold nor Patty are very likeable, as the two of them together cause pure chaos! And it all leads up to the final part of the novel and I could NOT put it down! I just HAD to know how it was going to end, and the end just left me shocked! I did not see certain events coming.

While you may not have the perfect relationship with your mom, you end up being thankful for it after reading Darling Rose Gold, because at least you are not Patty and Rose Gold!

Darling Rose Gold is very highly recommended! Many thanks to Berkley Publishing Group for granting me a copy to read and review!

Thanks to NetGalley for making an eARC copy of this book available to me.

While the book seemed fairly well written, in the end it didn't work well for me. This was primarily because I ended up disliking both the daughter and the mother too much.

What did work in the book was the way it went back and forth in time, with the mother's perspective told in the present time sections, and the daughter's perspective in the past time sections. The ending of the book was also pretty satisfying.

All that said, I'm sure there is a large audience out there that will enjoy this book quite a bit more than I did.