I’m not sure how I feel about this one still. I liked it while I was reading it but I found it very forgettable. I did really like the characters and the story line.

| BOOK REVIEW |

Title: My Sweet Girl
Author: Amanda Jayatissa
Format: 🎧 (Originally gifted an ARC from @berkleypub)
Rating: ✩ ✩ ✩ ✩

I enjoyed this tale of unlikeable, unreliable Paloma, an orphan adopted from Sri Lanka. Paloma is 30, struggling to keep her life afloat as her past is starting to catch up with her, complicated by the fact that her roommate appears dead in her apartment.

There were a number of mysteries intertwined in the novel: a eerie ghostly woman from her childhood, Paloma's missing roommate, a mysterious new friend, Mr. Williams, and more. I was interested to see where these would all go.

The pacing was mixed: sometimes it would speed ahead, and other times it dragged. However in general, I was interested enough to keep reading and pushing through. I did guess the main twist early on, but wanted to know how the rest of the mysteries played out!

Paloma was a tough character to root for, but I liked that element and how her unreliability added more suspense to the novel. I can see this frustrating some readers, but I didn't mind it!

Key Points:
• Dual timelines
• Unlikeable main character
• Unreliable narrator
• Childhood friendships

A solid read that's full of intensity and gripping writing. I appreciated that the author explored just how complex identity, adoption, and immigration can be, and the sprinkle of mystery and suspense was a fun addition.

Fantastic thriller!

Atmospheric, dual timelines - my favorite! - unreliable MC and a twist!

Some twists I saw coming, and some I didn't, but overall, this was a fun afternoon read!

You know you've read too many thrillers when you guess the twist right away. I'm sure that if I read this one before all I read were thrillers/mysteries I would've LOVED it, but for where I am now, it was just ehhhh.

I loved reading the book. Jayatissa has a great way to tell stories in the voice of a first-person narrator. I was fascinated by her protagonist Paloma who was not sympathetic in any way, always feeling better than anybody else in the room when she just had the privilege to be adopted by rich white American parents. The story switches between the 30-years old Paloma living in San Francisco, California and the past when Paloma was twelve years old, living at an orphanage in Sri Lanka. I was deeply impressed how Jayatissa managed to tell so many difficult topics like transracial adoption and being an undocumented worker in the US. All the time, it felt like the story was racing and I could feel how Paloma felt watched and haunted. Also, I wanted to know from the beginning what has happened to Paloma's roommate Arun. Why did he disappear so suddenly? And with what could he blackmail Paloma? What terrible secret did she leave in Sri Lanka? It's a great, fast-paced mystery story with an extraordinary setting in both San Francisco and Sri Lanka, touching so many complex topics, including a little bit of Sri Lankan folklore. I think this is an outstanding debut and I wish I had released this gem earlier from my stack of unread books.

I was really hoping to love this one but unfortunately it wasn’t for me. I do plan to read more by this author in the future however.

Now this was one boundary pushing, edge of your seat, unique type of thrillers that I've been dying to read. Absolutely loved everything about this book!

While they aren’t for everyone, I have always loved a well-written unlikable character, and the lead in Amanda Jayatissa’s debut novel My Sweet Girl is unlikable in the best way. Spoiled, disinterested in how others feel about her, impatient, and quick to anger, Paloma seems like someone that you wouldn’t want to read. And yet pretty quickly in this psychological thriller you see the other side to Paloma—the young girl in a very restrictive and underfunded Sri Lankan orphanage who just hopes for a family who cares for her.

Told in dual timelines between the present mystery and Paloma’s time at the orphanage, My Sweet Girl was an instant hit for me, and a completely engrossing psychological suspense novel with an absolutely jaw-dropper of an ending.

My Sweet Girl | Plot and Setting

In the present…

Paloma Evans is thirty years old and living in San Francisco. She feels abandoned by the only parents she has ever knows, the ones who adopted her from Sri Lanka so many years before. They’ve cut her off financially. Paloma drinks too much and has taken up a fairly racy side hustle to make money. She’s also taken on a roommate named Arjun who recently arrived from India.

Paloma also worries that she is being haunted by Mohini, a ghostly spirit that terrified her and the other girls at the Sri Lankan orphanage where she grew up. She’s certain that Mohini has found her in America and returned to scare her. Or maybe it’s the drinking…

In the past…

Paloma is a young girl living at Little Miracle Girls’ Home, an orphanage in Sri Lanka. The girls in the orphanage live under strict guidelines, and all hope to someday be adopted by a family who wants to care for them. This is just a dream for most girls though, who spend their days trying to do everything the administrators at the orphanage ask of them.

Paloma and her best friend Lahini love books, though. They try to stay away from the meaner girls who bully them at night, and are scared of Mohini, a spirit who one of the girls alleges haunts the orphanage. When a couple visits the orphanage, they connect with Paloma as she is reading one of the wife’s favorite books. They ask to adopt her, and Paloma is over the moon, though she is devastated knowing she must leave Lahini.

As the day of her departure nears, things become more tense at the orphanage for Paloma. She does her best to avoid the jealousy from the other girls, but the ghost Mohini may not let her leave… When the day finally comes, it is a relief to leave with the Evans for her new life.

In the present…

Paloma is enjoying feeling like she is helping another model minority find their way in America, until Arjun discovers a secret about Paloma and blackmails her. Before she can pay him off, Paloma arrives home one evening and finds Arjun murdered. She flees the scene, but when she returns with the police, the apartment is spotless. There’s no sign of Arjun, dead or alive. Does this have anything to do with the desperate actions she took many years ago to come to America for a better life?

My Sweet Girl | Review

This is a well-written and compelling psychological thriller that succeeds in hooking the reader despite Paloma’s challenging personality. One thing that helps is seeing her past storyline intermixed and understanding where she came from and what it took to get to America. Paloma is a girl who has been abandoned time and again, and it is easy to see why her parents cutting her off might trigger her. It is hard, after all, to be the model minority—doomed to a life where you are both an outsider and also expected to be perfect or face judgment in spades.

I absolutely was captivated by the past storyline at the orphanage, even more than I was by the alleged murder and disappearing body in present day. I did want to understand what was happening with Arjun, but it was clear that all would somehow tie back to how things unfold in Sri Lanka.

The ending is an absolutely banger, with a twist that left my jaw on the floor. Everything tied together in such a satisfying way, and I was particularly interested in Paloma as a character and how she found her identity in America after such a different upbringing. The author adds in the right amount of humor to allow Paloma to be somewhat crass in present day, but in a funny way. She is scrappy and a survivor, and nothing can take that away from her.

The ghostly presence of Mohini was on the periphery and was well-integrated into the story. It’s clear instantly that Paloma is somewhat unreliable in present day, particularly with her drinking. This made me question if she was manifesting Mohini or truly being haunted. I also felt that this wasn’t a huge part of the story, but a delicious contextual piece that rounded out the plot.

An absolutely outstanding debut novel and I already am excited to read Amanda Jayatissa’s next book.

Very much enjoyed this debut novel from Amanda Jayatissa. The dual perspectives kept me engaged from start to finish.

fast-paced plot, shocking twists, and captivating characters, this is a gripping and suspenseful novel that will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end.

As one of the older girls in the Sri Lankan orphanage, Paloma always hoped she would be adopted, but realistically figured she would simply age out and move on to the girls’ home. Imagine her surprise when she was chosen by a wealthy American couple. Paloma’s life in the States was every child’s dream. But now she’s 30, has been cut off from the family money and is making her own – selling her used underpants online. That’s the least of her concerns, however. More pressing is the letter she recently received that simply states . . . .

“I know what you did.”

Along with the dead roommate she discovers in her apartment whose body then simply vanishes.

I was really underwhelmed by You’re Invited, but this one was a super fun ride. I guessed the obvious regarding Paloma, but am stoked to report there was an additional reveal that snuck up on me that I wasn’t even looking for. The wibbly wobbly timeline didn’t annoy me this time and there were just enough ingredients thrown into the pot to make this a tasty twisty tale instead of feeling like it had everything but the kitchen sink.

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley!

This felt like an average thriller to me while reading with predictable characters and plot. I was hoping for something a little more.

My Sweet Girl is a strong thriller debut by Amanda Jayatissa. This is one with a unique setting and is full of twists and turns. Definitely recommend!

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me. All thoughts are my own.

Such a unique and addicting story that was equal parts dark, sinister and heartbreaking. And what an amazing debut. I will absolutely be reading anything this author puts out!

Paloma was adopted from an orphanage in Sri Lanka at 12 years old, moving to the Bay Area with her parents, hoping to leave the ghosts of her past behind. But after 18 years, a secret caught up with her and when her roommate threatened to expose it, she frantically tries to figure out what to do. But when she returns to negotiate with him, she finds his dead body. As she flees the apartment and the police are called, she returns to the apartment with them the next day, only to find him and all traces of a crime gone. Spooked beyond belief she goes to her parents’ house whole they’re out of town, only to be confronted with more strange occurrences. It seems like her strange and haunted past may have finally caught up with her halfway across the world.

After reading Amanda Jayatissa’s newer novel You’re Invited and owing it, I realized I had this one in my TBR pile and decided to jump in - and I’m so glad I did! This one was just absolutely fabulous! I was so blown away by all the twists and turns in the plot and actually really creeped out by the legend of Mohini, the ghost that haunts the pages of the book. It really creates a great atmosphere.

Once again, the author create characters that are deeply flawed and even unlikable in a way, but you feel for them as well, because they aren’t perfect, and they aren’t trying to hide that fact either. Paloma has major flaws, and in way, as a reader, I was rooting for her to get it together somehow. Her and the other characters were well drawn and multilayered, not flat and static at all.

Oh and that ending. Ohhhh boy. Loved it. Can’t say too much, but wow. Bravo.

Anyway, Amanda Jayatissa has officially made it onto my automatically purchase list. She’s proven to be a great writer who can weave complex, twisty plots with great characters and incredible atmospheric scenes. Pick this one up if you’re looking for a great thriller!

My Sweet Girl is a phenomenally unpredictable thriller from start to finish. Filled to the brim with twists and a captivating plot, this one is sure to keep readers hooked. The characters are well-developed. The story is incredibly fast-paced. This is one not to be missed! Highly recommended! Be sure to check out My Sweet Girl asap.

I tried to get into this one so much so that I switched to an audio and that made me dislike it even more. I don't know if it was just being dumped into the story, the fact that I already disliked the main character or the amount of cursing in the first 30 minutes of the audio. I pulled over on my drive home to change audio books...

My Sweet Girl was my favorite book of 2021. I purchased a copy for both my library branches and gave everyone in my family a copy of the book for Christmas. The prose was moving and musical. Jayatissa really captured the emotional state of the main character and kept the reader guessing to the very end.

Absolutely one of my favorite thrillers of the last few years. This is my go-to recommendation for folks who say they can always tell what the twist will be. I never saw this one coming and it made me want to start all over from page 1.