Outstanding!! This book has it ALL!! If I could give it more than 5 stars I would. C. J. Tudor is a brilliant author so if you have not read any of previous books you need to. Totally amazing a MUST read. Highly Recommend
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Thank Netgalley and Random House for an ARC of this brilliant 5 STAR book.

This book is a ghost story, a mystery, and a Stabby-Stabby thriller. Interwoven story lines with twists and turns you won’t see coming. CJ Tudor keeps getting better with every book, and she started off GREAT! This unputdownable page turner will leave you wanting to reread to see if you can catch the clues the second go round! CJ Tudor has joined the elite list of authors whose books I will buy without even reading the synopsis because you know that she will deliver!

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This was an engrossing thriller that was right up my alley, though it didn't do a great job handing mental illness (which is obviously a common issue in thrillers), physical disability/abelism, lgbtquia+ issues, OR Black representation. I can't go further into most of that without spoiling, suffice it to say that the novel plays on some common abelist tropes about sociopathy and has only a spare handful of non-white characters, who are either immediately sidelined or very, VERY evil. That all being said, I read it in one sitting and stayed up late, so it's quite immersive and page-turner-y, and the central characters were mostly fun (though, as per usual in a thriller, sometimes mind-numbingly dumb in their decisions). I will say that by the end, there were like 8 thriller archetypes running at once, which was...a lot. It felt like overkill, but it did make the end over-the-top enjoyable with its twists and reveals. The central 'twist' is something I think most readers could spot from 20% in, and I'm not sure if the book intends this or not, but the reading experience wasn't tarnished for me by this early guess.

I’ve loved all of Tudors previous books but this one I had a hard time connecting too.

I struggled with the multiple storylines and the religious aspect. It still had plenty of twists and turns which definitely helped me finish the book but overall it wasn’t my favorite.

Thanks to NetGalley for my advanced ebook copy.

While this was the first book I've read by C. J. Tudor, it definitely won't be the last. This was a solid thriller/mystery/whodunnit, in every sense of the word(s). Tudor did an excellent job of using the reader's presumptions against them; unspooling tidbits of information in a way that allowed the story to come together in a very organic and satisfying way. I really enjoyed the ambiguity of the characters that she wrote; no simple black and white categorizations here! As in life, Tudor's work is entirely populated by shades of grey.

The Burning Girls is classic CJ Tudor - intense, fast-paced, and chilling. Alongside touches of history, tradition, and Protestantism, the book features intriguing characters and a good, if slightly predictable, mystery. 3.5 (rounded up to 4) stars - and I’d love to hear the audiobook version, which, partially narrated by Richard Armitage, is sure to be thrilling!

A thriller, mystery and lot of questions!
Jack Brooks and her daughter are assigned to Chapel Croft after the Vicar hangs himself and Jack had some problems at her previous assignment. This little village has a history with martyrs dying, two teen girls disappearing and now the Vicar's hanging. Jack did not realize she and Flo would be up against so many mysteries and questions in their new assignment.
C.J. Tudor is quickly becoming one of my must read authors and this book is just another example why.
The mysteries, the twists and the little hint of creepy makes it perfect for a cup of coffee, a fire and free evening of reading. You will not be disappointed when yu pick it up.
Thanks to the author, NetGalley and publisher for an ARC in exchange for a fair review.

I absolutely love C. J. Tudor and I absolutely loved this book! When Jack a reverend gets reassigned to Chapel Croft upon her arrival she begins to understand that this town is different. Jack and her daughter Flo are exposed to the secrets of Chapel Croft and begin to understand that things may not be as they seem. Eventually the Towns secrets come to light and lead Jack and her daughter into some dangerous territory!

This was a quick and amazing thriller read. I would highly recommend this one to any thriller lovers out there!

This is my fourth C.J. Tutor story. I really liked both “The Chalk Man” as well as “The Other People”. “The Hiding Place” was creepier than the other two.
This one appears to be on the dark side as well!

This promo states that 500 years ago eight Protestant martyrs were burned at the stake ` two of which were teenage girls. More recently ~thirty years ago two teenage girls go missing even more recently two months ago the local vicar kills himself.
The new vicar Jack Brooks (short for Jacqueline) is assigned a new parish. She is a single parent and has a fourteen year old daughter Flo. Once in their new home they start to investigate the strange things that have been going on in Chapel Croft. The ghosts of the burning girls are appearing to Jack and Flo not at night but in places seeming to warn them of something.

I really am okay with dark and creepy but I didn’t love this story.
However, I certainly am looking forward to the next C.J. Tutor story!

Want to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine for this early release granted to me for an honest professional review. Publishing Release Date scheduled for February 9, 2021

The Burning Girls by C. J. Tudor is a really riveting read. It grabs you from the start and propels you towards the finish like a Maglev train. Yes, it's so good you can't turn the pages fast enough. It's a typically terrific Tudor tale, but I honestly think it's her best one yet (and that's saying a lot). The twists and turns will keep you from putting the book down until the reach the very satisfying conclusion. This will easily prove to be one of the best books of 2021. Thank you to Random House, Ballantine, and NetGalley for the ARC of this instant classic.#TheBurningGirls #NetGalley

The Burning Girls by CJ Tudor is part horror, part mystery, and a whole lot of fun!

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Random House - Ballantine, and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.


My Synopsis:   (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)

When Reverend Jack Brookes and her  15-year old daughter Flo arrive in Chapel Croft, their welcome is not what they wanted.  Mind you, neither one wants to be there, but it was forced upon them.  They find two twig  effigies outside the chapel, signifying the "Burning Girls".  The gift of an old exorcism kit is given to Jack  by an unknown person with a note including the phrase "But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed and hidden that will not be known".  Then they discover that the last vicar hung himself.  Not a great beginning.

They find that this strange little community is haunted by both the past and the present.  The martyrs that were burned at the stake, the two girls that went missing 30 years ago, and the suicide of the last vicar are all still very much in the minds of the residents of this small town.

Jack fears that her own past may not stay buried, and Flo is having problems with the other teenagers in the area as well.   But it may be the past that brings the most trouble..


My Opinions:   

This author never ceases to amaze me.  I'm loving everything she writes.  This one definitely reminds me of a Stephen King novel -- not the plot, just the atmosphere.  A great story with a touch of evil.

The book alternates POV's between Jack, Flo,  and an unknown person.

The plot captivated me, and the pace kept me turning those pages.  The twist at the end came as  HUGE surprise!  Loved it!

There are some dark and disturbing aspects to the book, but I think the worst for me was the teenage bullying.  I actually liked the creepy little town and it's even creepier residents.  The characters came to life on the pages, and the town itself became another.

Can't wait to see what this author produces next!

You might THINK you know what's going on here but you don't. Nope. And even at the end there's a twist. No spoilers from me but this is a page turner. It's the story of what happens when Reverend Jack Brooks and her 15 year old daughter Flo find themselves unceremoniously reassigned to Chapel Croft, the site of a historic martyrdom. The village has a long modern history of tragedy, including the disappearance of two teens, the death of a child, and the suicide of the most recent vicar. The chapel is creepy and, as Flo discovers, it has secrets. So does Jack. Flo forms a friendship with Wriggly, another teen, who bullied and the two of them explore the area, including an abandoned house, so that Flo can take photos. Someone is stalking Jack, though, and Tudor does an excellent job with a growing sense of menace. The narration switches back and forth between Jack and Flo and a mysterious third person as well as one of the two missing girls. This is the sort of novel that has short chapters which compel you to keep reading (just one more!). Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Tudor fans will be pleased with this one and new readers, well, you're in for a treat. It's great.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review. I'm old school and ALWAYS prefer reading actual book as opposed to an ebook so whenever I finish reading an ebook entirely I know for certain it's a great book, and in this case specifically the fact that I finished this one in just two days is further evidence to me of what an interesting, well written book this was. From the first chapter I was hooked. Another rather rare, for me personally at least, gem this book accomplished was it kept me guessing all the way. I had no idea the twist at the end was coming and I love that, especially since most of the time if that happens it's because the twist is pretty implausible and often seems thrown together simply to "surprise", rarely is it something any reader might have guessed. But in this case it was entirely plausible and I'm sure was caught by other readers, but it was, in my opinion, well written (hidden in plain sight I suppose...) Great book, excellent character development, a definite recommendation for anyone who enjoys psychological thrillers.

The Burning Girls starts out as what you think will be a ghost story, but quickly turns into a hunt for (several?) murderers. I’m a bit of a scaredy-cat when it comes to thrillers, but was sucked into this one enough that I couldn’t be bothered with being too frightened.

There are a few storylines going on, and if you keep an eye on the details you can piece some of it together as the book goes on. My only complaint is how many murders can a small town of like 50 people have??? There must be a per capita murderers award for Chapel Croft over the years...

Another solid novel by C. J. Tudor full of twists that start from the very beginning and don’t let up till the last page. I didn’t see a single one coming. All the clues are there, but the foreshadowing is so subtle that I was blindsided over and over. Reverend Jack comes to a tiny Sussex town hiding a dark past. A likable character, Jack is flawed and relatable. You’d think a reverend would have no issues being nice to everyone but it’s not always so easy. Flo, Jack’s teenage daughter, is having issues adjusting to her new life, but she’s not one of those whiny teenagers that plague many novels, but a resourceful young woman. Her relationship with Jack is endearing and their dialogues full of wit. The setting is atmospheric and some parts are unbearably creepy. The characters are well drawn and a good mix of suspicious and sympathetic but, even in such a dark story, there is a glimmer of humor. One of the best novels I’ve read in a long time.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, NetGalley/Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine!

Reverend Jack Brooks needs a clean slate. After an abusive home situation leads to a little girl's death, the reverend is unjustly blamed for lack of intervention and forced out of the local church to save face. Teenage daughter in tow, the reverend is exiled to the tiny village of Chapel Croft, where the pair hope to be staying only temporarily. Jack finds out that the past is hard to escape, however; and Chapel Croft has its own grim secrets that become suspiciously intertwined with the new priest's arrival.

The Burning Girls is a great book with some classic thriller ingredients: small town with a dark history, a protagonist with a chip on the shoulder and redemption on the mind, supernatural occurrences, and creepy old buildings. The pacing is steady; Tudor does a nice job of turning up the chill-factor just enough to be intriguing but not so much that all cards are laid bare immediately. I enjoyed the alternating perspectives between Jack, the daughter Flo, and a mysterious (murderous) third individual who is intent on finding someone, though the reader is not exactly sure what he plans on doing once he does. I also appreciated that although it's clear who the "good guys" are, it's also clear that no character is entirely virtuous; Reverend Brooks certainly has a few skeletons in the closet despite the job title.

What didn't completely work for me was how the story wrapped up. Some parts seemed forced together. Without spoiling the plot, one character's reactions to key events were incredibly mundane given everything said person had been through. I'm pretty sure this was done to throw the reader off in an attempt to make the twist really hard-hitting, but I found it to be too much of a stretch. Jack and Flo are likable enough in an objective sense, but I never felt too strongly about them one way or another. Instead, they just seemed to serve as vessels for propelling the plot rather than characters I worried over or invested in deeply.

The Burning Girls is well worth a read. Tudor has created a compelling and creative story with grey characters that will leave readers wondering which way is up. I'm very grateful to NetGalley and Random House - Ballantine for the opportunity to read this eARC and provide an honest review.

THE BURNING GIRLS – by C.J. Tudor

About:

Single parent and Vicar, Jack Brooks, moves to the small village of Chapel Croft to start anew, though her fourteen-year-old daughter Flo wants nothing more than to return to city life in Nottingham. Well, that is until Flo meets the dark-haired and green-eyed teen named Wrigley.

Jack and Flo soon discover that the seemingly quiet town of Chapel Croft is rife with conspiracies, age-old rifts, mysteries, suspicions, and specters of girls ablaze that refuse to be laid to rest.

The history of the burning girls is at the core of Chapel Croft—dark times dating back five hundred years when Protestant Martyrs were betrayed—and then burned.

‘Uncovering the truth can be deadly in a village with a bloody past, where everyone has something to hide, and no one trusts an outsider.’

My Thoughts:

THE BURNING GIRLS is the second book that I have read by Tudor, the first being THE OTHERS, which I immediately purchased as a hardback copy, both books I highly recommend!

Though the ending wasn’t a complete surprise to me, as I pieced it together early on, there was one detail at the very end in the last scene that explains a lot, and I’m not going to spoil it for you.

THE BURNING GIRLS – Scheduled To Release February 9, 2021 (Subject To Change)

Thank you, NetGalley and Ballantine Books, for loaning me an eGalley of THE BURNING GIRLS in a request of an honest review.

This book pulls you in from the start and keeps you on your toes throughout. There are multiple POVs which can prove to be slightly confusing at times, but I do believe it enhanced the story overall. I loved how the stories started to intertwine, and I found the characters - even those not likable - to be well-written and intriguing.


Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and NetGalley for the chance to read this book!

This story revolves around a church in a small town in England. The book summary starts: "Five hundred years ago, eight protestant martyrs were burned at the stake here. Thirty years ago, two teenage girls disappeared without a trace. And two months ago, the vicar of the local parish killed himself." Color me instantly intrigued. This book follows multiple characters across two different timelines but mainly focuses on Jack Brooks, the new vicar for the town of Chapel Croft, and Flo, Jack's daughter. As with many sleepy small towns, there are darker things hidden under the idyllic landscape.

This book packs a heck of a lot into just over 300 pages and the pacing does not let up the whole time. I was immediately pulled into the story and I could not put it down until I was finished. There are a lot of moving parts and people to keep track of, but the overall plot I found relatively straightforward. There were some nice, quiet moments in the book where the characters could think a bit about their situation and the events unfolding, but it wasn't long (maybe a paragraph or two) before we were back in the thick of things. I found this to be a pretty equal split thriller/mystery/horror which I really enjoyed and all of my favorite elements to those three categories I found in this book. I think Tudor did a fantastic job of cycling through the different aspects of the story at just the right moments for me to never feel exhausted at how fast one plot line was moving. We skipped around a whole bunch and that kept the pacing up but didn't make it feel like the story was moving unbelievably fast. The timing for the chapter breaks were really well chosen and the best way I can describe the reading experience is that the back of my brain was chewing over the information we just learned in chapter 6 while the front of my brain was following all the new things in chapter 7. Then, by the time I would get back to the first plot line, it felt like I had enough time to process what happened and then could continue with the story.

What I would imagine will be the most hit-or-miss part of this book for readers is the multiple POVs and timelines. I, however, loved the structure and couldn't imagine this story being told any other way. We follow a total of 5 characters, but 2 of them only come up every once and a while. Our main POVs are Jack, Flo, and an unnamed narrator - all taking place in the present day. The other 2 POVs are the two girls that disappeared 30 years ago and we follow the weeks leading up to their disappearance. Jack's POV is told in first person and the other four are third person, which is the one aspect I found jarring only because in my flow of reading I wouldn't immediately realize that we changed POV with the new chapter. I'm more used to the chapter headings telling us which character we're following which they didn't have in the ARC I was reading (but that may change with the finished copies, I'm not sure). I really liked how each POV had their own plot line and mystery for the reader to follow. There wasn't a single time the POV switched where I wanted to skim through just to get back to another plot line. Every time, I was excited to find out more about X or Y now that we're back with this other character. The plot lines do all converge with the number of reveals at the end so I found the payoff to be satisfying. Some of the reveals were hinted at (pretty strongly in my opinion) earlier on in the book but there were more subtle ones that I didn't see coming. Even the reveals that I saw coming were still interesting because I didn't count on how that reveal would impact the other characters we're following.

I do wish we had gotten more interaction and politics of the day to day activities of being a vicar in a small town. There's one main family in the village who is described as being very influential and donates a lot of money to the church which does come up later in the book but I would have liked to see that family using some of that power earlier for somewhat mundane things. I think this would have helped flesh out Jack's world a bit more and set the town's hierarchy more clearly in my head. Along the same lines, I would have liked to see more community gatherings to see the towns people interact with each other as well as with Jack and Flo to get a better sense of how different Jack and Flo are as newcomers. We get a bit of this during a pub-quiz night but I wanted maybe an extra 50 pages scattered throughout the book with these smaller sort of scenes and then I'd be very happy.

I really loved how well the historical events and town traditions were integrated into the story. The titular burning girls are a town tradition to honor the spirits of the martyrs. They are small figures made out of twigs that are set alight in a ceremony held every year by the village on the anniversary of the martyr deaths. Over time, they have evolved into a ghost story of sorts where local legend says if you see the spirits of two of the martyrs then danger will befall you. The story of the martyrs gets brought up often throughout the book and at times makes characters question if ghosts are real. It adds and extra layer to the story overall since the characters and the reader aren't sure what exactly is real or if there's a more logical explanation to what is going on. The story doesn't go full paranormal ghost-hunter but the reader is reminded of the legend just enough to keep it in mind as maybe a possibility of something else going on. This is where a lot of the more horror-leaning elements are integrated into the story and I think it is a really great way of adding an overall spooky atmosphere to the book without having to go with big scares.

Finally, I found all the characters were really well developed and their personalities so different that I was able to remember who everyone was. I was a bit worried going into the book that Jack, being a vicar, would have a bit of a superiority complex or be a little too perfect just because of being involved in the church. However, we learn Jack's backstory and how faith was something learned later in life that Jack chose to pursue. There was a line toward the beginning about how faith is something that needs to be consistently cultivated and worked on like a marriage and, as a non-religious person myself, I thought that was a really interesting view for Jack to have and be so upfront about it with both the reader as well as some of the people in the town. There were a lot of characters in this book but I was able to keep all of them straight in my mind because their personalities were so clearly defined and shown to the reader. The personalities weren't detailed in the way that I know everyone's favorite color, but they were detailed in such a way that I know what their place in the story was and their overall connection to the town and history. Again, I would have liked to have seen some more interactions between some of the different townspeople to see how their different personalities would interact in this small town and what tensions would arise. We did learn a few different connections and personal histories of some of the people in the story, but as a more character-focused reader, I ideally would have had a bit more. Give me a big town meeting or something where tensions are high and there are a bunch of snide remarks and I'm a happy reader.

Overall, this was a great, fast paced mystery/thriller/horror that kept me engaged all the way to the end. Multi-POV and dual timelines really helped develop a rich and complex town mystery and the story had a good payoff in the end.


305 pages.

Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the ARC.

Expected publication date is February 9, 2021.

This was a well paced fun novel filled with little oddities and twists right from the start. Reverend Jack Brooks is sent to a tiny village to substitute at a very spooky church after some trouble at the last parish. Chapel Croft, its villagers and Jack all have dark histories that intertwine as the novel progresses. Its hard to say what I specifically loved about it without giving spoilers. Lets just say if you enjoy creepy mysteries and characters you can't quite trust you will enjoy this. I will recommend to horror fans and also those who like dark mysteries.