I went looking for this book when I heard Tina on Book Talk Etc talk about it on the podcast. Desperate Housewives meets Dexter vibes..how could you not want to pick it up. Serial killer books are some of my favourites, and a female one.. well I had to read it. I binged this in a day, it was so fun, violent and messed up in so many ways.. loved it.

Eloise is a stay at home mother, housewife, and wife, PTA president and friend… oh and a serial killer. Nobody would suspect this upstanding member of the community of the horrific murders she commits. We learn about her past and how she became this monster. When it appears that somebody knows her secrets, things escalate and she will do anything to protect them.

This is one crazy and seriously unhinged woman and ai was there for it all. Read this book.

Publishes on October 8th, thanks so much to Rising Action Publishing for my advanced copy to read.

My Darlings by Marie Still

Others have said this in their reviews and I agree; this is one of the best thrillers I have read in a long time!

Eloise seems like a typical modern upper class American housewife but she is really a narcissistic psychopath and a serial killer.

I enjoyed this book from the first page and was on the edge of my seat until I finished it. If you like thrillers please read this book you will love it.

I would like to thank Net Galley and Rising Action Publishing for a copy of this eBook in exchange for an honest review.

🔪MY DARLINGS🔪
𝔱𝔥𝔯𝔦𝔩𝔩𝔢𝔯
🗓️𝙿𝚞𝚋: 𝙾𝚌𝚝𝚘𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟿, 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟺 (𝚂𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝙳𝚊𝚝𝚎🚨)
𝕄𝕪 𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘: 𝟝 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕤!★★★★★

🤏𝚃𝚎𝚎𝚗𝚢 𝚝𝚒𝚍𝚋𝚒𝚝...Eloise appears to be a typical stepford type wife/mom..PTO president, charity volunteer..you name it. She also happens to be a serial killer…..

🌻𝙼𝚢 𝚛𝚊𝚖𝚋𝚕𝚎𝚜...Okay, this one is INSANE in all the best ways. I mean picture Desperate Housewives meets American Psycho. 🔪🩸Yeahhh, I know! 😮🙌 You have a woman serial killer who has no remorse whatsoever after her killings. She continues to play her part of “perfect” housewife/mom/friend. You get her back story then other POVs of her friends & then her daughter too. It is a bit over the top at times, but it really works & I enjoyed all the POVs(there is a mystery one too🙌). So entertaining, fast paced & the perfect book to pull me out of the slump I was in..🤔why do the psychotic reads pull me out of my funk?!? Should we be concerned? 🤣😆

The writing is sharp, the pacing relentless, and the character development masterful. Eloise's dual roles as a doting wife and mother juxtaposed with her chilling alter ego create a tension that permeates every page. Still skillfully weaves together suspense, psychological depth, and unexpected twists, which made "My Darlings" an utterly addictive read.

The women in this book are crazy, but I'll leave it up to you to determine who is the craziest of them all. Multiple times I finished a chapter and said to myself "this woman is crazy." You'll have a hard time keeping track of who is plotting against whom. I would call this a true psychological thriller that I really enjoyed reading. 4.5 stars rounded up.

Dexter would be offended by the comparison.

Marketing „My Darlings“ as a mix between the TV shows „Desperate Housewives“ and „Dexter“ is what drew me to this book, but it’s actually doing a disservice to the book and completely offensive to „Dexter“ (I‘ve never watched „Desperate Housewives“, so I can‘t judge that). Sure, „Dexter“ is about a serial killer, but Dexter Morgan was likeable and, despite his extracurricular activities, a decent guy (he had a code, after all) who tried hard to be a good dad.

The serial killer in this book, rich housewife Eloise, is neither. She is an abhorrent mother and a despicable, psychotic and sadistic human being who enjoys inflicting pain on others. Which still would have made for an intriguing book (despite the false expectations raised by conjuring „Dexter“), except the story goes totally cray very, very quickly. Soon enough, bodies are dropping like flies and it‘s pure mayhem. It was all a bit too over the top for my liking, and it doesn‘t help that - apart from Eloise’s victims - not a single character was likeable, so I didn‘t really care what happened to them. Finally, from the flashbacks to Eloise’c childhood to the killing spree in the present-day timeline, it seems absolutely impossible that no one has ever caught on to what Eloise‘s up to - she certainly stops being careful about her kills after about three chapters.

Despite the craziness (or maybe because of it), I found myself quite bored by the narrative. It seemed as though every chliché about serial killers was thrown at Eloise. The fact that she herself was being stalked was interesting, except for the stalker‘s (obvious) identity and the stalker‘s equally abhorrent behavior - why not step in, or at least tip off the authorities as to what Eloise is up to?

Finally, I‘m assuming the ending was supposed to be shocking (it certainly wasn‘t subtle), but I felt like there were previous hints pointing in that direction, so it didn‘t really take me by surprise.

I did, however, award some bonus points for one character savagely remarking it‘s „couldn‘t care less“, not „I could care less“ (a pet peeve of mine and sadly often found in published works, too).

There were some distracting editorial oversights, most notably Eloise‘s age, but I hope those will be corrected by the time this book is published, so those didn‘t factor into my rating.

Thank you to NetGalley and Rising Action Publishing Collective for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

„My Darlings“ is slated to be publishes on October 8, 2024.

This is a story of true evil
Eloise Williams is SAHM and of course PTO president. Wealthy and respected by the community, she spends her day with her friends one upping and taking down the other women in their circle. She has plenty to do but also a truly horrible calling or hobby as a serial killer.
So far, no one has connected her but the body count suddenly rises and Eloise's secrets threaten to escape. Could there be someone else killing off the wealthy elite? A very violent book, but well crafted and plotted. If you enjoy serial killer stories, this is a unique one that you will love!
#risingaction #mydarlings #mariestill

Thank you to NetGalley and Rising Action Publishing for the ARC. This was my first book by Marie Still and I enjoyed it. This book has some pretty graphic scenes in it. It did make you wonder on the psyche of the characters. Would definitely read this author again.

3.5 stars!

It was eerie and a perfect thriller, definitely one if you're looking for a moody fall read!
I wasn’t very prepared for the graphic more-horror-like aspects, as it'd been marketed as a Desperate Housewives meets Dexter. If you like Dexter this is perfect for you!

Reviewed on Goodreads, will be sharing on both Instagram and blog this week on August 7th.

I do love a good female serial killer. Especially one who is on the brink of losing control. Eloise is dark, crazy, and mentally unstable. Which makes her the perfect serial killer. Everything has to be just so and under her control at all times. Yet sometimes there are things that no one can control, such as a friend thinking that Eloise is sleeping with their husband, or her teen daughter being well a teen. With the world seemingly falling apart around her when someone from her past starts to threaten exposing who she is Eloise is at her breaking point. Can she reign herself back in or will she spiral out of control taking those down around her?
I loved this story. Eloise is unlikeable in all the right ways. This story is fast paced, dark, with different points of view to build upon the story. I just truly enjoyed it and I think that others are going to fall in love with the story. The end was especially twisted in all the right ways.
Thank you to Rising Action Publishing, and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this title.

This book was over the top and I was here for it. Even the main character was unlikeable. I couldn't put this book down . Highly recommend.

“My darlings” caught my eye with the gorgeous book cover giving moody autumn vibes. This is a dark twisty indie debut featuring a sadistic housewife in suburbian hell.

This is a fast paced read you can definitely finish in one sitting if you so desire.

The plot follows a sociopathic serial killer disguised as an everyday unassuming housewife. Eloise is completely devoid of emotion, empathy or any feelings required to be a human being. This eery component to her character gives you the sense of the unexpected, anything can happen at any time.

Thank you to rising action publishing, Marie still and NetGalley for the EARC!

Publish date: October 8th 2024

I received an advanced readers' copy in exchange for an honest review-

Fun indie debut about a wealthy housewife with a body count. It was cute and kept me turning pages; definitely intrigued to see more from this author and this publisher!

I just had to get one more book in for my July reads. I've read quite a few this month that I chose not to review, as they were disappointing for me personally. But this one, wow, it was addictive. I started at 8pm and finished just before August at 11:54pm. I seriously couldn't put it down!

A thriller like this one was so good it deserves all the attention. Eloise the female serial killer, schemes and shows just how sociopathic she is throughout the plot. Her lack of true emotion is what makes her that much scarier. She truly is capable of anything. Mix in the dysfunctional friendships that make you glad for your good friends and rich lifesyle situation as a setting and you Fing yourself with a 5-star read.

This book was like reading a movie. Every page will terrify you and draw you further in at the same time. If you're going to read just one book in the second half of the year, pick this one!

I love a good serial killer book and bonus points if the serial killer is a female. Eloise seems like your perfect everyday PTO mom in this thriller but behind her posh exterior she is evil incarnate. This book is a twist on the housewife genre with a serial killer mix thrown in and will have you lurching from side to side with all of the twists and turns. Eloise is unhinged and a bit crazy but this story was done very well. If you love domestic and/or psychological thrillers with a serial killer vibe, check this one out.

Thank you to NetGalley and Rising Action Publishing | Rising Action for access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What an amazing book! I want to read more like it. I didn’t believe what was going to happen as I read on

This book was so addicting to read! It starts with a murder and ends with a murder. The whole time I was thinking "I can't trust a single one of these characters!" It reminded me of desperate housewives in a way. I really could not put this book down, I finished it in one sitting. Thank you Marie Still and Net Galley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This had multiple perspectives, but was told mostly by Eloise. As the reader, you get points of view from Melissa who was a victim, Beatrix who was Eloise’s best friend, Suzanne who’s is part of the friend group, The Watcher who was secretly watching Eloise, and Bryony, who was Eloise’s teenage daughter. the inner dialogue from Eloise was very interesting to say the least. She was very judgmental, high maintenance, narcissistic, and a true sociopath.

With all of those perspectives, you get true insight of everyone around Eloise. You already know as the reader that Eloise is a serial killer, but it was all about her hiding this from everyone so they wouldn’t find out. With The Watchers point of view, I wanted to know who found her out. I found that to be the mystery while reading. I wanted to know if Eloise would be caught, and I wanted to know who knew her secret. This definitely had Desperate Housewives with Dexter vibes I really enjoyed.

That was one heck of a ride on the Crazy Train to Psychopath Town. You do not want to have any of the four "friends" in this story on your Christmas Card list. There is betrayal, serial killing, abuse, secrets, and just plain old meanness in these ladies and their spouses. I can't think of a single character I liked, but that doesn't mean it wasn't good. In fact, this is one of those guilty pleasure reads that you don't want to admit you enjoyed (because what does that say about you???).

I was looking forward to reading this one, but the story was too monotonous for me. The characters were very unlikeable, and I lost interest very quickly.
I nearly stopped reading, but it's something I really try not to do, so finish it. I did, but this one was not for me. I really hope others enjoy more.
Thanks to Netgalley and Rising Action Publishing for the ARC.