Looking for an edgy and provocative yet appalling psychological thriller? You won't want to miss "My Darlings" by Marie Still.

Set in an upscale neighborhood, this gripping story reveals the dark secrets and forbidden desires hidden behind the veneer of wealth. As the plot unravels the characters' haunting pasts, shocking truths paint a disturbing and vivid picture of their inner struggles. And when a serial killer emerges, it's just the tip of the iceberg for these morally corrupt characters. Filled with characters you'll love to hate, you'll find yourself sinking to their level as you cheer on their downfall and get pulled into their twisted world!

Thanks to @mariestillwrites, #ThePulse, and Rising Action Publishing for this gifted ARC provided via NetGalley. All opinions are my own and left voluntarily.

#MyDarlings #MarieStill #NetGalley #RisingActionPublishing #GiftedArc #pageturner #reader #read #honestreview #thriller #bookreviewer #thrillerbooklovers #thepulse #pulsepoint #thrillerfriendsunite #thrillerobsessedbookishclub #ReadersOfTheLateArc #TalkWordyToMeTeam #lovetoread #lovebooks #booknerd #readaholic #bookstagrammer #booktok #booktoker

Stay-at-home mom Eloise Williams is PTO president, a respected local philanthropist who sits on the boards of many distinguished charities, as well as a doting wife and mother. She is also a serial killer. Evil lurks behind the perfectly manicured lawns, ornate iron gates, and long winding driveways of affluent DC - the perfect cover. for her crimes. As the hidden lives of Eloise's inner circle are exposed, the body count rises. How long will she be able to keep this up without getting caught? And who is the stalker that has been threatening her. and what do they know?

This was billed as ABC’s DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES meets HBO’s DEXTER, and that is a very apt description. .Eloise was a very dislikable character, but then, she WAS a serial killer. Not even her inner circle liked her. She was someone who people feared, who used her wealth and power like a sword. Really, there wasn't anyone in her inner circle that was likable. They were all rich, entitled, and horrible. The chapters alternated between Eloise (with her story going back and forth between when she was growing up and present day), some of the other women in her inner circle, and someone called "The Watcher". You don't find out until almost the very end who exactly "The Watcher" really is. but they have been hiding in the shadows, watching Eloise kill all of these women and bury their bodies. She knows what Eloise is capable of, and she is the only one (besides Eloise) who knows the truth. This book kept me on the edge of my seat. I did not want to put it down. If you are a fan of twisty thrillers, then this needs to be at the top of your TBR pile. You are going to love it!

A riveting thriller, My Darlings (2024) by Marie Still comes with a content warning even before the first page of the story. Set in Virginia, a group of women friends enjoy their wealthy lifestyle, despite several recent murders and a suspected serial killer at work. Narrated by the different characters, their idyllic lives unfold, revealing dark secrets, friendship tensions and numerous shocking revealations from the very beginning. The contrast between the glamouous, almost trivial existence of the friends, is graphically contrasted with the gory, bloodied murders. A difficult novel to rate as it requires a suspension of sensibilities to enjoy the gripping, if horrible specifics of a serial killer out for revenge. An uncertain, if somewhat fence sitting, three star read rating - it could have easily been one or five stars, depending on your horror tolerance. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own, freely given and without any inducement.

My Darlings was a fantastic thriller, full of suspense, drama, betrayal, and twists.
I love a good serial killer thriller, and this definitely didn't disappoint.

Eloise was a great main character. I couldn't decide whether I wanted her to get away with it or not, she had me conflicted. She's a character you'll love to hate.

This is the first book I've read from Marie Still, but it definitely won't be the last. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I highly recommend.

5 stars from me. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thanks to Netgalley, Rising Action Publishing Co., and Marie Still for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My Darlings is a fast paced story filled with some interesting characters. I enjoyed the author's writing style and really enjoyed trying to figure this mystery out. I high recommend getting yourself a copy, this is a great book.

Pssttt…

Over here

I have a secret to share with you.

I found a book that will break the internet right here.

My Darlings

And it’s straight up horrifying. Think of your worst nightmare and then times that by 100.

Oh yeah, one of those

It’s been awhile since I read a really dark thriller (please read the trigger warnings) but gosh dang it, I’m about to start back up ! My Darlings, was everything I never knew I needed packed up between 336 pages.

My Darlings will be released just in time for “spooky season” and will be well loved by thriller book lovers🖤

Teaser:

No one was supposed to know. I’ve always been so careful. My Darlings, how did we get here?

Evil lurks behind the perfectly manicured lawns, ornate iron gates, and long winding driveways of affluent DC–but not for long.

Stay-at-home mom Eloise Williams is PTO president and a respected local philanthropist who sits on the boards of many distinguished charities. In addition to being a doting wife and mother, she is also a serial killer.

But Eloise isn’t the only lady in society playing a part. As the hidden lives of Eloise’s inner circle are exposed, the body count rises. When stalkers becomes prey, Eloise desperately clings to control.

Money and power can only buy influence and safety for so long. Eventually, the curtains lift, exposing the chilling reality hiding in plain sight.

This dark thriller has numerous content warnings: child death, suicide, hazing, bullying, murder, infidelity, brutal slayings, domestic abuse/violence, child abuse, torture

Official rating is 4.25 ⭐️.

This book was so chaotic in the best way. Every single character was a total mess. I really liked getting the flashbacks to Eloise's childhood. Some parts were very unsettling because how likely is it that human monsters like her are hiding in plain sight for real. I had a great time reading this. My only dislike was the ending. It was very abrupt and I just didn't care for how it ended. Still definitely worth a read though. Very much recommend!

Pulled in immediately and didn’t want to put it down! I finished My Darlings in just 2 days, I was gripped the entire time. I loved
the switching POVs and occasional timeline switches to slowly reveal the secrets/twists! I was also happy that the author included content warnings at the start of the book because this is very dark.

MC is unlikeable but sooo intriguing and complex. And really all the characters are unlikeable but they’re like “love to hate them” type characters-very dramatic, entertaining, and over the top rich people 😂 It’s described as desperate housewives meets Dexter and for once the comparison is spot on!!

I predicted a couple of twists early on but not all of them so I was pleasantly shocked! The ending was soo good 😨 I’d highly recommend My Darlings for anyone looking for a fast paced thriller with unlikeable characters and a serial killer POV! Definitely a favorite for September ❤️

TW/CW: murder, blood, violence, child abuse, alcoholism, body shaming, suicide, hazing, bullying, child death, infidelity, torture, domestic violence, emotional abuse, drugged without consent or knowledge, underage drinking, body horror, self harm

Wow, wow, wow. MY DARLINGS is a very wild ride. It starts off innocently enough with the female main character being a serial killer. Like that's the LEAST of the problems for her and all of the characters in this book.

Ahhhh, this book helped me get out of a NetGalley slump and after a string of not-so-great reviews, I wondered if I'd ever leave another good review on NetGalley.

The story has a TON of violence and I feel that could turn off some readers. It was far more than I expected and it was hard to read at times.

I thought the story hit on so many things women have to deal with, including the pressure of being in female friendships.

I can't say much more without giving a lot away.

I'm giving this a lower rating than I wanted because of the ending - I don't think the way that final character's very last action matched the rest of the story. IYKYK

Thank you NetGalley and Rise Action Publishing for an e-copy of MY DARLINGS to review.

I rate MY DARLINGS four out of five stars.

"ABC's Desperate Housewives meets HBO's Dexter, My Darlings, a chilling suburban noir set in the deceptively serene Washington D.C. suburbs, where a respected philanthropist and PTO president's secret life as a serial killer enthralls readers seeking a deep, psychological thrill.

No one was supposed to know. I've always been so careful. My Darlings, how did we get here?

Evil lurks behind the perfectly manicured lawns, ornate iron gates, and long winding driveways of affluent D.C. - but not for long.

Stay-at-home mom Eloise Williams is PTO president and a respected local philanthropist who sits on the boards of many distinguished charities. In addition to being a doting wife and mother, she is also a serial killer.

But Eloise isn't the only lady in society playing a part. As the hidden lives of Eloise's inner circle are exposed, the body count rises. When stalkers becomes prey, Eloise desperately clings to control.

Money and power can only buy influence and safety for so long. Eventually, the curtains lift, exposing the chilling reality hiding in plain sight."

I mean, it totally makes sense that a housewife would go all killer.

A book releasing in spooky season with stabby vibes? Sign me up! There’s something I love about serial killer books, especially when the protagonist is a woman. My Darlings by Marie Still is touted as Desperate Housewives meets Dexter, and although that’s BIG shoes to fill – it exceeds expectations! The truly unlikeable, rich snooty housewives of DC have no idea that one of them is living a second life. Money can only buy safety for so long.

Eloise is completely devoid of empathy or feelings, a true sociopath who enjoys killing for the fun of it. Some compared this book and her character to the horror genre, as her murders can be rather gruesome. It’s probably not the right book for you if you can’t handle a little stabby action. Your loss. But even our killer has a stalker, and Eloise will do just about anything to ensure her secrets don’t come to light.

If you’re looking for a fast-paced thriller, sufficiently stuffed with gore, murder, and truly despicable characters – this is absolutely the right book for you! (And you’re my kind of people – haha!)

Thank you to NetGalley and Rising Action Publishing for the opportunity to read this digital ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.

My Darlings: You would never guess by looking at her, but Eloise Williams, sitting on board of charities, president of PTO & philanthropist is also a vicious serial killer! You will find out what happens when stalker becomes prey in this horrifying thriller!! 5 stars

Thanks to NetGalley and Rising Action Publishing for access to this title. All opinions expressed are my own.

When I think of literary characters that cannot get crazier, I am introduced to Eloise Williams and all the people that surround her in a typical suburban neighbourhood. Frankly, all these chapter narrators made me increasingly uncomfortable and yet I had this compulsion to keep on reading. Now, I feel like I have to cleanse myself with a couple of fluffy books before diving into a thriller again.

I am a mere amateur in the reviewing world but if there is a book in the mom noir genre that needs to be discussed it is My Darlings Select it for bookclub and nominate it for all the thriller awards. You won't regret your read BUT you will want to cut yourself off from talking to human beings for the rest of your natural life.


Expected Publication 08/10/24
Goodreads Review 17/09/24
#MyDarlings #NetGalley

One of the best serial killer books I have read. This is one story you won't forget. The characters are downright wicked and the story is original and well written.

MY DARLINGS
BY: MARIE STILL

About 2.5 Stars for the ending!

I have been putting off writing this review about this thriller by a brand new to me author, Marie Still, called, My Darlings. I had to force myself to read this from an uncomfortable place as things got more uncomfortable especially towards the second half of this. I did like the fast paced, razor sharp tight sentences written with descriptive imagery for the first half. The second half got quite uncomfortable since when I requested this I missed the warnings which I wasn't prepared for the sadistic and misogynistic content. I was expecting what I read in the synopsis to be themed as the ABC series Desperate Housewives crossed with the HBO series Dexter. I haven't watched anything from either series for years and to my recollection they were relatively tame compared to the second half of this which just turned into to be suffering from "the kitchen sink syndrome," with sadistic and graphic content that borders on horror in my humble opinion. I have been known to enjoy a good thriller every now and then, but never have I gravitated towards being able to tolerate reading or watching anything containing graphic, and sadistic behavior done in any shape or fashion. I requested this a while ago, so I'm stuck with getting through whatever I have been approved for, which I will be again forced to endure forcing myself to finish something that is extremely uncomfortable. That's the arrangement with Net Galley is that in order to write a review that is fair and honest to the author, there's really no escaping something by not gauging the entire book. I had been keeping my requests to a minimum, but went against my better judgement, and ended up not being ultra careful. After finishing the ones that I don't remember what they're about, I definitely won't be reading anything like this again.

This is about a forty something affluent woman who is a serial killer. Her name is Eloise William's who obviously I don't need to explain why she is an abhorrent sociopath. She lives in a wealthy upscale area of Washington D.C. who on the surface she is a philanthropist who plans fund raising events contributing to those who are less fortunate. She's the PTO President at her teen daughter's school. She has a circle of friends who she lets you know that they are more or less subservient to her. She tells you in the beginning that she is married to her husband for monetary reasons, and he's unattractive. His name is Robert who he's a Corporate attorney that deals in Mergers and Acquisitions, so he wouldn't be much help should she need his expertise as an attorney.

I think that the problem is that there is just one of Eloise's friends that came across as likable out of the entire novel. Her name is Poppy and she got the least attention or focus. The other two are back stabbing women with one friend named Beatrix who is sleeping with their friend Suzanne's husband who is the worst kind of physically abusive cruel type of husband that calls Suzanne a fat pig and whips her with lashes to her back if she isn't at his beckon call for every whim. He throws her to the floor knocking out her teeth. Yet, he tells her that he will kill her if she leaves him. Eloise's daughter get's bullied at school and seems terrified of her mother. See what I mean? These are just some examples of what I abhor reading about. The fault lies with me since there is a warning about several types of gratuitous violence that I missed when requesting. It took the focus off Eloise's serial killing and these are what I mean by "the kitchen sink syndrome."

If you are not bothered by these nonsensical meanderings from the main idea, then this is your book. I think that I definitely like suspenseful driven narratives, but I don't like this type of twisted cruel behavior and I am an outlier opinion. I have respect for the other reviewers who have every right to their opinion who loved this. I just wish that I had seen the trigger warnings at the bottom of the synopsis. So, I take responsibility for my very tortured reading experience with this. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone, but I won't be reading this author again.

Publication Date: October 8, 2024

Thank you to Net Galley, Marie Still and Rising Action Publishing for providing me with my ARC, in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own.

#MyDarlings #MarieStill #RisingActionPublishing #NetGalley

I absolutely love reading books from the killers perspective, although this novel is from multiple including the killer. This isn’t a who done it type of book, it is a watch the train wreck unfold and how type of book. Definitely very good and hard to put down.

Thank you Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book. These opinion are completely my own.


This book is like Real Housewives and Dexter had a amazing baby book. I loved everything about My Darlings. Marie Still is now one of my top authors to follow

Ooh! This was a fun one. I wasn’t expecting that reveal at all. This was such a quick read- I literally finished it in a few hours. I enjoy Marie’s writing and look forward to more!

This book is Dexter meets Desperate Housewives which sounds like the perfect book. I love the way the author set up this story and defined the characters. My three stars represent the sentiment that the book was excellent in the first half and imo not as great in the second half.

Eloise and the side characters do too much as the book progressed. I almost wish the author would have kept it simple. The quality of twists is better than the quantity. Thanks for the advance review copy.

𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐒: 𝙰𝙳𝚄𝙻𝚃. 𝙲𝚁𝙸𝙼𝙴. 𝙼𝚈𝚂𝚃𝙴𝚁𝚈. 𝙿𝚂𝚈𝙲𝙷𝙾𝙻𝙾𝙶𝙸𝙲𝙰𝙻 𝚃𝙷𝚁𝙸𝙻𝙻𝙴𝚁. 𝚂𝚄𝚂𝙿𝙴𝙽𝚂𝙴. 𝙹𝚄𝚂𝚃𝙸𝙲𝙴?
📖ᴀʀᴄ 🏳️‍🌈⁠

𝘛𝘞: "𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩, 𝘴𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦, 𝘩𝘢𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘮𝘶𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳, 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘣𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, 𝘥𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘦/𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘦, 𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦".

"𝙉𝙤 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙨𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬. 𝙄'𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙨𝙤 𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙡. 𝙈𝙮 𝘿𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨, 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙙𝙞𝙙 𝙬𝙚 𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚?"

𝗦𝗨𝗠𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗬: ⁠
When I saw 60+ chapters, I was thought it was going to be a whole day but the moment I started reading, I just couldn't stop and it didn't even take the whole day. The whole female serial killer is intriguing as it is because the moment I saw that, I was already sold. The plot with the darlings was really intriguing because you could actually see that Eloise saw no wrong in what she was doing. And those last moments with her darlings, it was well scripted, I don't even know how to describe it without coming off like a psycho myself.

𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗧𝗘𝗥𝗦: ⁠
There was a collection of characters and I usually don't like multiple POVs, but I did see the importance in this one since it was a mystery thriller. The watcher's POV was a mess, holy cow. I loved Eloise's POV but my favourite POV was Eloise's daughter's POV, Bryony because that ending was definitely more flabbergasting than the justice?? Like girl... YES. What she did in her final POV, the final chapel, it was justice in two ways. I LOVE IT.

𝐒𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞: There is a korean tv drama titled "The Glory". Eloise gave off the same vibes as that girl/woman who bullied the main character.

⁠
𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝘼𝙍𝘾 𝙘𝙤𝙥𝙮 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙚𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙙 𝙫𝙞𝙖 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙜𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙨𝙤 𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙫𝙤𝙡𝙪𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙡𝙮 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬.