I look forward to Tudor's new book each year. I thought this was the perfect blend of creepy and mysterious. The story focuses on the legend of the burning girls in a small town. I found it to be like reading an episode of Unsolved Mysteries. I really loved the end when all the pieces started to fit together!

Thanks to Netgalley and Ballentine books for allowing me an advance copy in exchange for an honest review. Also, advance copy is a bit of a misnomer since this book actually came out earlier this year. So I've read both the Chalk Man and The Hiding Place by Tudor and really liked both of them. This is a departure from those in that it wasn't as heavy a reimagining of a Stephen King novel. She does throw in a reference to King, but otherwise this story was all her own. Super fast paced novel set in a small town. A vicar with a rough past has recently moved to the parish with her teenage daughter. There is a local legend of the burning girls (if you see them you are certain to suffer some ill fortune). So guess what Jack sees her first night there? There is a little teenage angst, exorcism, obnoxious men, and old mysteries. Very dark and engaging.

The Burning Girls is C.J. Tudors latest psychological mystery thriller. This novel showcases Ms. Tudor's ability to blend current mysteries with past traumas with a bit of supernatural, religion and horror thrown in.
Not by choice do Vicar Jack Brooks and her teenage daughter Flo move to Chapel Croft. Jack is involved in a bit of a scandal at her church in Nottingham and is sent to Chapel Croft by the Bishop to ride out the hubbub.
Chapel Croft is a small village best known as the sight of the burning of eight Protestant martyrs some 500 years ago. The martyrdom is commemorated by burning straw figures of two of the young girls martyrs. But this village also has other unsettling events in its story. Thirty years ago, two teenage girls disappeared without a trace and were never found. Just two months ago, the vicar of Chapel Croft hanged himself in the very church that Jack will serve.
The village itself is run down, creepy and depressing. The roads are full of pot holes and ruts. The houses need repairs and painting. The fences are broken. Even the church is in need of major repairs.
Well maybe the people brighten Chapel Croft. No such luck. If they aren't secretive, withdrawn and depressed, they are cold, suspicious and hostile.
Jack and Flo try to settle in but at every turn they face events that range from odd to calamitous. Everyone seems to have a secret. Unease is the normal feeling. As tensions increase, the atmosphere becomes creepier and darker. Also increasing is the eerie graphic, near supernatural aspects of this novel.
The conclusion is satisfactory as it is both plausible and realistic. This dark disturbing novel is one you will not put down, but you might need a sunshine break every so often.
I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley. #NetGalley #TheBurningGirls

Thank you for my advance copy of The Burning Girls. I did not finish this book as there were some troubling racial stereotypes.

First line: What kind of man am I?

Summary: The small village of Chapel Croft has a dark history. Five hundred years ago eight martyrs were burnt at the stake, thirty years ago two girls went missing and two months before the local priest committed suicide. Reverend Jack Brooks has been assigned as interim minister for the village and from the very minute of arriving in Chapel Croft things begin to happen.

Jack and her daughter, Flo, find little burning girls which are twig dolls to commemorate the young girls that were martyred in the 1500s. Then the ghosts of the girls appear to Flo. As they start interacting with the locals they find that there is more to this town and its history than anyone knows.

My Thoughts: I really liked this book! I nearly gave it 5 stars. It had me hooked from the very beginning. It has the creepy exorcism twist, ghosts, martyrs and dark history. Everything that makes for a great thriller.

I loved the character of Jack. She is not what you would typically imagine a reverend to be. Even though she has a daughter, she doesn’t force her to be religious. And she has a dark background that led her to her faith. Her back story was given in pieces. Much of it was so sad to read but I’m sure it is very real to many people.

The whole book was packed with goodness but the end was amazing! Such a big twist that I did not see coming at all. I’m glad that I had a whole day open to finish this book, otherwise I would have been up way too late at night to finish it.

FYI: Very dark themes, murder, suicide.

That ending though!!!! I will admit that I did figure some of it out, but holy smokes was that a wild ride!! So much happened at the end & I’m so glad the author didn’t rush the ending & really took the time to explain everything. I liked the small town vibes and all the secrets that the town held. I also liked how connected everything was and how it kept you guessing along the way. I do wish that there was a better ending for Jack and Jacob though. I feel like there was so much momentum built up & nothing really came of it.

I really enjoyed The Burning Girls.

The book is told from multiple points of view and flipping from past to present. I love multiple plot lines, but I wish the chapters had said who’s POV it was and the time frame. It was a little confusing at times until you read further into the chapter to know who it was.

As I got to the end of the book, I really thought I would give this book a low rating, not for me. It had a slow burn. BUT THEN the twist happened and I was absolutely mind blown! 🤯😟

This book was creepy, shocking, and had my favorite...plot twists!

4/5⭐️

I received an egalley from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I've read a couple of C.J. Tudor's other books and I think this is the best so far. Lots of twists and turns that I didn't see coming which was great. Tudor again did an excellent job with the unreliable narrator.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3644348476?book_show_action=false

4.5⭐

The Burning Girls was so good. I absolutely love to read books about religion, add ghosts, exorcisms, secret vaults, sacrifices and I am in.

Reverend Jack is a single parent who moves to Chapel Croft with their daughter Flo for a fresh start. The church at Chapel Croft has an ancient history of blood and murder. Jack and Flo seem to be targets of the townspeople. Who to trust?

I am agnostic, but if Reverend Jack was a real vicar, I might attend church. Probably wouldn't change my belief, but I might go for the socialization and acceptance.

I read an advanced digital copy of this novel courtesy on the publisher through NetGalley. Review available on goodreads.

4.5 stars! Tudor does it again!! I don't know how she continually does it but she writes such great thrillers that are not "your typical thriller". All of her books are well thought out and not at all sloppy. This story was a bit atmospheric (but never to the point of detailed nauseum). I could always picture the scenery and the story unfolding. Its rare that I hate the characters in her child, as in most thrillers, and the story is never as I assumed. This one is no exception. She weaves a wonderful complex story without confusion. And she kept me on my toes with this one for sure. I'm only sorry I'll have to wait for another be release!!

This was my first Tudor book and now I want to go back and read all of the older ones. I absolutely loved this one.

Thank you Net Galley, Ballantine Books, and C. J. Tudor for the opportunity to receive an advanced reader's copy of The Burning Girls. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion and all thoughts are my own.

This was the first book I have read from C. J. Tudor and it made me interested to read the rest! I listened to this audibly as I read along and I had to put this down at night when I was reading alone. This thriller had so many great twists, was so atmospheric and very, very creepy. The complexity of the story that is revealed along with hints of paranormal elements made this such a fun read. The characters are flawed and relatable - who wouldn't like a vicar who cusses and drinks? Finally, the themes of religion and small, old towns made this of particular interest to me.

If you like reading about: the dark possibilities of religion, paranormal elements, mother-daughter relationships, old money, and small towns, I think you will really enjoy this book. 4.5 stars!

Thank you for the advanced copy of this book! I will be posting my review on social media, to include Instagram, Amazon, Goodreads, and Storygraph!

4.5/5 stars!

Welcome to Chapel Croft. Five hundred years ago, eight protestant martyrs were burned at the stake here. Thirty years ago, two teenage girls disappeared without a trace. Two months ago, the vicar of the local parish killed himself.

Reverend Jack Brooks, a single parent with a fourteen-year-old daughter and a heavy conscience, arrives in the village hoping to make a fresh start. What she finds is a town steeped in secrecy that’s not exactly leaping at the chance to welcome them. When Jack’s daughter, Flo, starts seeing odd sightings at the old chapel it becomes clear that there are ghosts in Chapel Croft that refuse to be laid to rest.

I’ve been a fan of C.J. Tudor’s since I read her debut book, THE CHALK MAN, and every year I’m eager to see what interesting story she’s crafted this time around. THE BURNING GIRLS is a story involving a small village filled with secrets, both historical and more present day, as well as a mother and daughter who are trying to find their place. Tudor throws a lot of information at the reader and at first it can be hard to sort out the various plotlines and understand how they may end up connected. I’m always game for a book that feels like a puzzle and that’s exactly the vibe I got while reading this book.

One of the things that bothered me was that Tudor chooses to alternate POVs throughout the story, but the chapters aren’t clearly marked with who is narrating them. I’m usually fine when authors take this route, but a few of the chapters weren’t clear from the start as to who was talking, which added unnecessary confusion. I would have loved to see a few of the plotlines more fully fleshed out within this story, but overall I really enjoyed THE BURNING GIRLS and would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for an atmospheric and mysterious read!

If you think you know what's going on in this book, you're probably wrong. There were so many twists, I really liked it. I could see this made into a BBC movie or mini series. Creepy, lots of twists and turns. The only thing that bugged me is the fact that no one recognized Jack. I feel like for a village that small SOMEONE would have at least thought, hey is that...?

This book tells the story of a female vicar named Jack Brooks who moves to a town that is best known for burning eight people at the stake as Protestant martyrs 500 years before. Interwoven with the history of the town is the fact that 30 years before, two young girls went missing and have never been found. On top of all of that, the only reason that the new vicar has been summoned to this town is that the previous vicar appears to have killed himself two months ago. There are a lot of threads to this story, including a sinister subplot following the new vicar, Jack. As she and her teenage daughter get settled in to this very small new town their interactions with the locals are rarely positive, and both women appear to be having brushes with the supernatural. This is my third C.J. Tudor book and I've come to expect a few things from one of her novels: the plot will be much more complex than I think it is at first, there will be a plethora of likely suspects, the victims will be deeply flawed people, and I will not see the ending coming. I have also come to expect that there will be at least one deeply disturbing scene in each of the books that makes it difficult for me to recommend as widely as I would like, and this book was no exception. Nonetheless, I gave this one a 4 star rating and would recommend it for fans of Simone St. James and Riley Sager.

This book kept me engaged from beginning to end. It was definitely creepy, especially the burning girl sightings. I really enjoyed the atmosphere. I enjoyed watching all the puzzle pieces come together but never knew exactly how it would play out. I was definitely taken by surprise quite a few times. I always look forward to more books by this author.

*A special thank you to NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the arc.

3.5/5: The Burning Girls was quite the experience. It focuses on Jack, a vicar who moves with her daughter who moves to the small town of Chapel Croft with her 15 year old daughter, Flo after the previous vicar resigned and committed suicide. A town known for its religious martyrs in the 1500s, Chapel Croft is steeped in history both in the distant and recent past. As Jack begins to discover the history and the inhabitants of Chapel Croft, she unearths ghosts of the past that hit closer to home than she ever expected. As Flo and Jack find themselves getting ever deeper into the rifts, tragedies, and mysteries of Chapel Croft, they find that the denizens of the village have their secrets, secrets that they would go to any length to protect. Even if that means taking a life.
So at first, I really enjoyed The Burning Girls, and I will say overall I liked it. Tudor pulls the reader into the story and the mysteries of Chapel Croft in a way that you can't help but get sucked in. About a 3rd of the way through, things start to get crazy as Jack and Flo get closer and closer to the truths that Chapel Croft would rather keep buried. I liked how everyone in this story was someone you had to second guess and were not what they seemed, especially the main character. Jack and Flo are a likeable mother daughter duo and I really enjoyed seeing their relationship weather the events that they go through, although I feel for Flo in this story the most. My issue came with a massive reveal that came at the end that came out of nowhere. Certainly had shock value, and not a bad twist, but there was no build up to it from Jack's perspective that would lead the reader to see a pattern as they look back. It felt like the twist was there for the twist's sake. I would have liked to see more foreshadowing for it. Also, I felt that there were some plot ends that were left unresolved or were there and never got dealt with again. The Burning Girls is a story of how far people will go to protect themselves and their secrets, and was really a crazy thriller at times that had me hooked.

I love when there’s a mystery in a mystery. CJ Tudor does it again mixing it up with religion and history. My favorite line is “The Burning girl show up when there is trouble”. This book literally has you tearing thru to find out what happens next! Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this great thriller.