Though this book was an entertaining, fast-paced read, I felt disappointed overall. The premise was great, but the execution did not satisfy me. I felt that there were way too many characters and storylines happening. Some of the storylines did not even get resolved at the end, which I found frustrating. I'm usually terrible at guessing plot twists, but I had this book pretty much figured out, which made it less enjoyable.

Overall, most of what happens in this story seems super unrealistic. And I'm not even talking about the supernatural element. I find it hard to believe that there are so many evil people in one tiny town. I also felt that some of the characters committed crimes without really having a good enough reason. It just all felt forced to me. I also felt like there were twists just for the sake of having twists, and some of them didn't add much to the story.

I had higher expectations for this one, but would be willing to read another book by Tudor.

💫📖𝘽𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬 📖💫

📖 The Burning Girls
👩🏼‍💻 C.J. Tudor

🌟𝗔𝗺𝗮𝘇𝗼𝗻: 4.4/5
🌟𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘀: 4.23/5
🌟𝗦𝗲𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝘆 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴!

🔥𝐒𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬: The city of Chapel Croft has a dark history, 500 years ago Protestant martyrs were betrayed and then burned. 30 years ago, two teenage girls disappeared and a few weeks ago the priest of the local church bing himself inside the church. Reverend Jack Brooks has been brought in as an interim priest, she begins receiving strange packages and messages delivered to her. She begins feeling that things may be amiss in the town of Chapel Croft, but she may also be hiding some dark secrets. .

🔥𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝: I couldn’t sleep last night, this book had me so creeped out! But so good! loved the twists and turns of this book all the way till the last page!! I had no idea what was coming.
🔥𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐚𝐝: I don’t have anything particularly bad to say, may be a little spooky for some readers, also triggers for murder and sexual assault.
🔥𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐠𝐥𝐲 : If you love a good psychological (creepy) thriller . . This one is for you!! Would recommend!

🌟 𝐌𝐲 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 4.7/5

The Burning Girls perfectly walks the line between thriller and horror. It has a few scares to keep the pace moving and tensions high while having a satisfactory ending that doesn't completely rely on the supernatural elements.

The vibe of this book might feel similar but it executes nearly perfectly, A priest and her daughter move to a rural location with some creepy churches and lots of suspicious characters. Everything was very ominous and sinister, especially right after being introduced with an exorcism! Luckily, CJ Tudor never relies on slasher type of gore to get this sinister tone that was accomplished while reading.

If I had any minor complaints it would be that the conclusion to the book was just a little bit too long for me, but all and all this was a very solid read to finish off February with.

Tudor is able to create a story full of creepy moments, plot twists, interesting characters, and strong endings. Another great book by her! I didn’t want to put it down!

Thank you @randomhouse @netgalley for my review copy.

I had a hard time putting this one down. I stayed up way past my bedtime to finish it. I was on the edge of my seat, needing to know what was going on!

At times I found the story to be a bit long winded, but overall I was really engrossed and invested in the story. And those burning girls..... I’m admittedly a big scaredy cat, but geez, they scared the crap out of me. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

📚Perfect for fans of mystery/thrillers who like a little bit of spooky thrown in.

Great Adult/YA crossover—lots of teenage characters. An amazingly scary thriller in a small English village where an untraditional vicar and her teenage daughter have come to live after a tragedy in her last church. From the beginning, we have exorcism, girls burned at the stake as religious martyrs, a creepy chapel, Satanic symbols, girls covered in blood, oh, and a deranged prisoner released early. This book had so many angles and twists, and yet it wasn’t confusing, it was intricately plotted. The imagery of the twig dolls, the burning girls, the chapel cemetery, the rundown village and vicarage, is all fantastic.

Ugh. I so badly wanted to love this book. The synopsis sounded amazing, scary and unique. The first half of the book I debated so many times putting it down because it was just so slow, but thankfully the second half definitely picked up a little and while it did turn out to be an interesting story, I felt it was lacking.

Thank you to the publisher for a review copy of The Burning Girls by, C.J Tudor! Wow what a wild ride this book was! This is my fourth C.J. Tudor book and this is the fourth book I really enjoyed from the author! They really have a great way of building the suspense and it really made it hard to put the book down at times! The twists and turns were very unpredictable and I did not see a lot of it coming! What I really enjoy about C.J. Tudor is how she involves pop culture into her books, her references are great! I also love how smooth the plot transitions and it never feels boring. This book also is a ghost story!!! I always love a Supernatural touch to thriller books, as a horror reader it just really hits all the bases for me. There is a lot of focus on the occult and that also really interested me as well. Overall it was a perfect book and that is why I gave it five stars! Highly recommend to everyone who loves spooky, gothic, and supernatural suspense!

i loved this book. Easily one of my favorites of the year so far. This is my first time reading C.J Tudor and I really enjoyed it.

I REALLY, REALLY love C.J. Tudor's books. Unfortunately, this one fell a bit flat for me. It was my least favorite so far. It wasn't a bad book, but I think the religious aspect kind of made me lose interest. I was a bit surprised by who the killers were, and the backstory was intriguing. I liked the Merry and Joy element of the story the best. I hate to leave such a lukewarm review for one of my favorite authors, but I promised honesty.

Deceptive

“Who says the devil has to be a man?”

The Burning Girls is a creepy, atmospheric psychological thriller about an insular village with a dark past comprised of religious martyrs, missing girls, and exorcisms.

In response to a scandal, Vicar Jack Brooks and her 15-year-old daughter Flo move from urban Nottingham to a small village in the countryside. As the new Vicar of Chapel Croft, Jack does not find a warm welcome, to say the least. The village is filled with eccentric residents who are covering up scandals from the past, many leading directly back to Chapel Croft. As Flo and Jack make their way in this strange town, their lives are put in imminent danger.

The narrative alternates between Jack and Flo's POV's, but there are some chapters told from voices of the missing girls and other chapters from some other characters' POV's. I enjoyed Jack and Flo’s chapters, but I found the chapters from the missing girls and Jacob confusing, and in the end, they didn’t really add much overall.

Tudor sets up an eerie and tense atmosphere, with some paranormal events woven in. The atmosphere of the small cottage coupled with the crumbling chapel, had me freaked out and yelling at the characters for going into crumbling basements and other scary places alone. I was shaking my head often. I enjoyed Flo and Jack’s banter and their inner dialogue, especially when they were making stupid decisions. Lots of pop culture and film references added some much-needed humor.

“You may not be able to judge a book by its cover, but you can certainly judge a person by their books.”

There are some surprising twists and turns. Although, some GIANT clues are given early on, and if one catches on, not much will be surprising. Thankfully, I read right past these clues! The beginning was a little slow, but once the events started coming together, the suspense ramps up, and this book becomes hard to put down. The last 20% was making me nervous. I was left with some questions, and I found the ending a little messy. Also, the epilogue was LAME! However, in the end, entertainment and intrigue won out, and I was left wanting to read another C.J. Tudor book!

“History is written by the ruthless.”

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I've read all of C.J. Tudor's other books and she is an amazing writer! She keeps you hooked with The Burning Girls and I was so surprised with the ending!

Okay, I kinda had low expectations for this book because I'd only heard mediocre things about her previous books, but this book is SO good! It has so many twists I never saw coming, and that's always the real selling point with any good mystery. Apart from the mystery aspect, I think the way the characters were written and how flawed yet likeable they were really propelled the story forward and made you want to figure out what was actually happening. The only thing I wish would've been amped up a bit more was the atmosphere. That could be a me problem because it's very difficult for books to actually scare me, but I do wish there was more creepiness and elongated suspense. Aside from that semi-complaint, this is the perfect mystery! Highly recommend.

The Burning Girls - C. J. Tudor

Rating - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Release date - February 8, 2021

You follow a man into a house and walk into the most desolate conditions. The house stinks and as he enters the bedroom he sees a heavy crucifix, a Bible, holy water and muslin clothes. He is about to perform an exorcism.

Reverend Jack Brooks gets reassigned to a church in the village. The new church is not the fresh start that Jack hoped for. Uncovering the truth about the town and its secrets takes it tool on Jack and Jack’s 14 year old daughter.

I am glad I read The Burning Girls during the day because it had some scary parts. This book is not for the faint of heart. Having said that, I finished it in a day because I could not put it down.

Do you recommend - 👍🏼

Wow, I was not expecting to enjoy this book as much as I did! I'm always turned off by the smallest presence of religions that aren't mine (I'm Jewish, and I have to admit that I really don't know what a vicar is - I'm guessing it's a priest?) but I love thrillers and suspense novels, and The Burning Girls held up; I was freaked out and drawn completely into the suspense. There were so many twists and turns that shocked me, and I honestly kept forgetting that this book took place over the span of a week - it felt like a lot longer (in a good way). I was thoroughly impressed by this book and can't wait to read more by C.J. Tudor!

I received a complimentary copy of The Burning Girls from NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Wow! Amazing book! With only a few lulls in action, a fantastic unpredictable twist, and extremely important, (yet seemingly less so) backstory, I absolutely loved this novel! I actually reread most of it trying to locate what I read, but semi ignored as simply interesting, but non-relevant backstory--boy was I wrong!
Very well written, I love this book. Great read!!!!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

This was so good! I feel like I haven't read a thriller in a while and this one was just perfect. So many twists, and I only really guessed one of them 75% into the book. There were several plot lines happening at once with the characters but I could tell they were going to start connecting and I loved the way that they did. This book primarily follows a woman and her daughter. The woman is a vicar and is being relocated temporarily to a small village church and is hoping for a fresh start. But this place has a dark history, going back five hundred years. Secrets begin to unravel, and the past comes back to haunt them.

Thanks to NetGalley and to the publisher for the ARC, which I received in exchange for my honest review. The Burning Girls is a dark and creepy twister of a novel by C.J. Tudor. This is my first book by this author but it certainly won't be my last!

The story is set in a small village in the countryside of England. A vicar and her teenage daughter have been assigned to the village church. It is quite a change of scenery for the pair who up until that point had lived in an urban area, but they endeavor to make the best of the assignment.

The village is known for its connection to religious persecutions which took place during the reign of Queen Mary, Martyrs in the village were burned alive including two young girls. The spirits of the girls are said to haunt the church and anyone who sees the burning girls will meet with misfortune.

The book has some truly creepy supernatural moments which I really enjoyed. As with life itself however, the real monsters are always the people and there are some disturbingly accurate depictions of teenage bullying contained in the book.

If you are looking for a sinister page turner to keep you up all night, check out The Burning Girls, but remember
“The greatest trick the devil ever pulled is pretending he didn’t exist."

This is my 3rd tango with CJ Tudor and by far the very BEST one! What a ride, the twists and turns gave me whiplash. I was enthralled almost instantly in this insanely excellent thriller. I like her other books but I LOVE this one. This read was a last minute ARC I received from the publisher right before the pub date and I almost dismissed it but picked it up on a whim. Thank YOU!
"An unconventional vicar moves to a remote corner of the English countryside, only to discover a community haunted by death." Indeed! Reverend Jack Brooks moves to Chapel Croft where the most recent priest has just committed suicide. She must drag her teenage daughter to this remote and creepy village where in the town's history, 8 Protestant martyrs were burned at the stake decades ago and two teen girls vanished into thin air about 30 years ago.
There are 3 POV's, one is Jack Brooks, one is a dangerous criminal recently released from prison, and the other is one of the teen girls who vanished many years ago. Jack immediately runs into problem after problem in the new town, immediately becoming drawn into the drama that has gone on for so many years. Her daughter, Flo, isn't making the best of friends with the local teens, until she meets another odd teen. They both seem to run into wall after wall as they try to settle in. Creepy dolls? Check. Literal skeletons? Check. Unpleasant Locals? Check and mate~
The author creates such amazing, relatable characters that are flawed but appealing. I felt like I knew Jack and Flo and was totally invested in this dark and twisty story. The plot twists just keep coming and I was IN for all of it! Read this book.

My first C.J. Tudor book but DEFINITELY not my last! A complex, intelligent mystery with well-drawn characters and an incredibly twisted whodunit plot. This classic mystery with an irreverent tone was such a refreshing change of pace from some of the mass-produced mysteries and domestic thrillers I’ve been reading lately. I loved the non-traditional Reverend Jack - a single parent with a teen daughter - note, the Reverend is fun and even curses. Also enjoyed the setting of quiet Chapel Croft, You will make some early assumptions about Jack and the author will cleverly subvert all of them.

Many things in this book are not what they seem, so prepare to be gobsmacked and rug-pulled in the most fun and surprising ways. This is an intelligent and nuanced book that requires some attention, so read it when you are in the mood to put aside the easier brain candy for a high-quality thinking person’s mystery that has a few things to say. (Nothing against brain candy, which clearly I also love, but this one needs your full brain.)

4.5 stars and I’m definitely looking forward to reading more CJ Tudor, Many thanks to Ballantine, NetGalley and the author for this great ARC.