Is family defined by blood or by bonding? This perennial question lies at the heart of Claire Douglas’ novel Just Like the Other Girls. Other major themes are about secrets that cause festering resentment, and the general concept that wealth always corrupts. This first of many characters acting as narrator, Una Richardson interviews for an excellent opportunity— a job that pays a good amount of money without much effort. Being a paid companion to Elspeth McKenzie will allow Una to realize her dreams of travel. Elspeth is a bit odd and controlling, and her daughter Katherine is cold and unwelcoming. Despite some misgivings, Una jumps at the offer and moves out of her cramped apartment to the grand McKenzie mansion. As Una explores her new posh accommodations, she feels a growing sense of unease. When she learns the fate of the young women who held the position before her, her suspicion turns to fear. Douglas evokes a sinister atmosphere and portrays a deeply unhealthy and dysfunctional family dynamic. Though it can be tricky for an author to interweave different timelines and a multitude of characters without confusing the reader, Claire Douglas skillfully does so. Topped off with a surprising twist at the end, Just Like the Other Girls promises to be an excellent fit for fans of the suspense/thriller genre.

Thanks to the author, Harper and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

🄰🅁🄲 🅁🄴🅅🄸🄴🅆

𝑱𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝑳𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑶𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝑮𝒊𝒓𝒍𝒔
By: @clairedouglasauthor
Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Suspense
Publisher: @harperperennial
Published On: January 11th 2022
@goodreads Score: 3.97
My Score: 👧 👧 👧 👧 / 5 Girls

Ⓢⓨⓝⓞⓟⓢⓘⓢ

𝑪𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒓/𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒆𝒍𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒍𝒚 𝒍𝒂𝒅𝒚
Y𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘥
M𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒊𝒏
𝘊𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘰𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯
C𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒚
R𝘰𝘰𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘥
𝑻𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒑𝒉𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝑴𝒓𝒔. 𝑬𝒍𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒕𝒉 𝑴𝒄𝑲𝒆𝒏𝒛𝒊𝒆

𝑺𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒂𝒇𝒆….𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒔𝒐 𝒅𝒊𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔.

Una Richardson responds to an advertisement for a ladies' companion, a position that leads her into the wealthy, secluded world of Mrs. Elspeth McKenzie. With no family of her own and no longer a boyfriend to share a life with she hopes she is making the right move.

𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘌𝘭𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘩'𝘴 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴.

What happened to the young women before Una?
Why won't the McKenzie's talk about them?
And what are they hiding?


Ⓜⓨ Ⓣⓗⓞⓤⓖⓗⓣⓢ

I enjoyed this interesting and thrilling read by author Claire Douglas. Honestly most of the characters weren't that interesting. But I loved the plot and story line. Una was my favorite character and part 2 upset me a bit but understood when everything in the end came together. I love the ending of stories when all the pieces of a puzzle come together and this story brings everything into place nicely. I do recommend you read this if you like a good mystery novel about mysterious missing caretaker books.

Just Like the Other Girls by Claire Douglas is a great psychological thriller. Una takes a live-in helper job for the wealthy Eslpeth. Una discovers that she is not the first helper that has lived there with Elspeth and tries to figure out what happened to these other young women. I almost thought I had things figured out early on but that was not the case at all ! A bit slow moving at times but still twisty and worth the read.

Thank you Netgalley for the advanced readers copy of Just Like The Other Girls in exchange for my honest review.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This was really just a boring basic thriller. It could have been better if it was only from Una's point of view.

Here's a rather spooky and perplexing mystery by Claire Douglas. Readers learn of several look-alike young women who, in turn, accept live-in positions with the very wealthy Mrs. Elspeth McKenzie at her mansion. Bad things happen to them, but who is behind it all?

The last young woman in the story becomes suspicious and investigates with help from the previous girl's best friend and the brother of the one before her.. The ending is quite a surprise, as is one final twist.

After recently reading Then She Vanishes, I was excited to see that Claire Douglas had two more novels (this one and The Couple At No. 9) publishing so soon. As I started Just Like The Other Girls, I was getting Lock Every Door vibes from the dream-job-with-weird-rules setting.

I thought I saw where this one was headed, but I didn’t expect it to totally change direction after Part One. I really loved what Claire Douglas did with the storyline, and there were certainly enough small twists to keep me on my toes.

Elspeth was such an interesting character. I obviously didn’t know whether she could be trusted, but in general I like to read about eccentric old ladies, and she certainly delivered.

What happens when you start a new job and realize that everyone who's had this job....is dead. I am a huge fan of Claire Douglas and this one did not disappoint. Great flashback, multiple narrators and point of view thriller. The multiple storylines kept me guessing until the end. Recommended.

Okay, without giving too much away this was the first book in a long time to have a twist that had me flipping back through the pages wondering if I missed something. It was THAT bold. And let me tell you, it worked. It added SO much to the story and I was on edge wondering what would or could happen next!

Douglas has filled the pages with two main characters who are not very likeable. Elspeth and her adopted daughter, Katherine, have little love for one another. Elspeth, in her 70’s, seems to think she’s unable to do much for herself, and a series of young blonde girls (who all die) are hired to take care of her. Elspeth also has her daughter at her beck and call. Katherine is jealous of these young girls and makes their lives uncomfortable. The deaths seem to be accidents, but the finger points to Katherine…..that is until it doesn’t and then the plot really twists.

3.5*
Your dream job awaits you.
Free room and board. All you need to do is look after an elderly lady… a companion of sorts.

Easy Peezy…right!?

But what if you’re just one in a long line of young women who’ve held this particular position. Only to have disappeared…😱

Think twice. Is your dream job worth your life?

This was a slow moving thriller that failed to gain momentum until the final 20%. At which point the author threw in several un-expected twists that definitely made the read worthwhile. Love ending on a high note!💃

I’m now looking forward to reading Ms. Douglas’ newest release The Couple at Number 9.

Posted to: https://books-are-a-girls-best-friend...

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Perennial and Paperbacks.

This book does a great job of keeping you guessing.. It centers on an older woman, Elspeth, and her live-in caregiver, always a young woman with similar physical features. The story starts after the first two women unexpectedly died. As Una cares for Elspeth, she grows suspicious of the causes of their deaths and thinks Elspeth’s daughter, Kathryn, may have something to do with it. Will she figure out the mystery or face the same fate as the other girls? A story of family bonds forged & broken, this story is at times creepy & mysterious. Thanks NetGalley and Harper Publishing for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Just Like the Other Girls by Claire Douglas is a thriller novel. The story in this thriller is one that will change the point of view between main characters and also has flashes back to the past to tell the story.

After Una Richardson lost her mother she felt a bit lost herself and knew it was time for a change in her life. Seeing an ad for a companion to an elderly lady Una applied and was hired in the job making more money than she had before.

Shortly after moving into Elspeth’s home and beginning her job as Elspeth’s companion Una finds that the two previous girls in her job did not leave in good circumstances. The first carer was a victim of hit and run, the second is found dead below a nearby bridge shortly after Una arrives. Una begins to wonder if she’s in danger now after hearing the suspicious circumstances.

Just Like the Other Girls by Claire Douglas is one of those mystery/thriller stories that easily pulled me in and had me questioning all those involved. From the elderly woman to the other employees and family all around who knew what could have come about in the past and whether it would come back to haunt the main character. There was plenty of suspense to keep the pages turning a few twists and turns along the way to have me enjoying this story.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

What a wild ride! This was an engaging and complex story that catches you from the start and doesn’t let you go until the very end.

Murder, Murder, Murder, I like my murders with a side of mystery. This book had it. The glamour's life of Mrs. Elspeth McKenzie and her lovely home gives me gothic vibes ( Not the looks but the feel. A perfect place that hides things under it's lux marble.) Una herself feels the spooky vibes and wonders what happened here. This was fun to read with a side of tea, relax and read a girl who's afraid she'll die next.

This book received rave reviews from friends on Goodreads, but I couldn’t get behind it. DNF at 40%.

After her mother dies, Una is trying to get her life back on track. She stumbles upon a job as a live-in helper to elderly Elspeth McKenzie. While the job itself isn’t exactly what Una had in mind, her room & board is covered, and she’s making enough month to start saving for her dream trip. While Elspeth dotes on Una, Elspeth’s daughter Kathryn is cold and dismissive of the girls her mother hires. To make Una even more uncomfortable she soon learns that not one but the past two girls in Elspeth’s employment have both died. The first in a hit in run accident in front of the McKenzie home and while the second girl is thought to have ‘run off’, she’s quickly identified as a victim of foul play. As Una digs deeper into the what happened to the two girls, she may find herself in just as much danger as the previous girls.

I’ve been a bit burnt out on psychological thrillers, because unfortunately they tend to become so similar to others, which really puts a damper on the ‘big reveals’, for me at least; but I really enjoyed Just Like the Other Girls.

Filled with just enough twists and red herrings, Douglas is able to pull you right into the story. While Una’s is our main POV we get, we also get to see what’s happening from a handful of other characters. I won’t say who they are because I think it’ll really add some mystery to the story to not know all our narrators.

I don’t want to say too much more, because the risk for spoilers is high. This is definitely a page turning psychological thriller, that has some genuinely shocking and well executed twists. I highly recommend picking up a copy if you love a good thriller.

Just Like Other Girls is out now. Huge thank you to Harper Books for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion. If you liked this review please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my instagram @speakingof_books.

Thank you @netgalley @clairedouglasauthor and @harpercollins for this advanced readers copy.

4/5.
I had this one figured out, or so I thought! The twists that came through the end were unexpected yet pulled this book together. I thought each character was written so you knew their feelings and you either loved or hated them. You rooted for them or against them and then when the twists come out you feel like everything you knew was blown away. This was my first Claire Douglas book and it won’t be my last! You can get your copy today!

Chalk this one up as a surprisingly great twist. No spoilers, but I thought it was so obvious the whole time I was reading, I was so so wrong.
It was a pretty slow build with a lot of underlying family drama, which made the twists a lot more shocking.
I really enjoyed this read. I love psychological thrillers? Suspense? Unclear. But this type of read is my jam.
I ended up really connecting to the characters, even the potential murderers. I was like oh, I maybe get why you’d kill the previous carers.
Also making the girls carers to an old woman was a nice twist on the always classic murdered nanny trope.
All in all, very well done and I plan to buy some more Claire Douglas books.

I thought this was a really intriguing psychological thriller with a fast-moving plot! I couldn't figure out what was happening in this one. It was full of surprises and twists and turns! This is a great one for thriller-readers!