Member Reviews

Such a twisty, dysfunctional family saga… One that you could not put down or turn away from
My first book by this author butwill definitely not be my last

Was this review helpful?

One of the most intense, delicious books I've ever read. I'm in awe of Maya's story, of the deception of the Sterling family and the ability of Anna Sophia McLoughlin to create a world that was both aspirational, eerie, and nightmarish. The character development, both through writing and through the learnings of their lives, was superb.

Maya's strength, her cunningness and willpower to change and be better felt odd, in the best way possible. Her characterization is one of which we've all read before - wild party girl turned prim & proper wife, with deadly secrets lurking to upend her entire life. Yet, I couldn't get enough. I wanted her to win and I wanted her to find a happy ending. I willed away her lawless behavior and cringed at the Sterling's uptight ways.

A Girl Like Us was Succession mixed with Big Little Lies and every other drama you could think of. The ending was shocking and something that that crossed my mind earlier in the book but I thought was out of the realm of possibility. The true villain is obvious at times, yet everyone's hands are dirty.

I ate the this book and it is definitely going to be everyone's favorite book once it is released.

Was this review helpful?

this book is like if knives out and stone cold fox had a baby. it's a pretty clever locked-room mystery full of rich people behaving badly.

Was this review helpful?

A Girl Like Us- Anna Sophia Mcloughlin Another rich people behaving badly but A Girl Like Us deftly separates itself from the pack with its characterizations. I was intrigued by these characters and the decisions they made. I am also always happy when reality tv is a component!

Was this review helpful?

From Maya Miller's humble beginnings to television superstar to wealthy heiress readers follow her personal journey with all of her hidden secrets. Marrying into the Sterling Family empire, Maya is now assured of a secure future not only for herself, but for her infant daughter as well. But secrets rarely stay hidden especially when marrying into a family with so much to lose should their own secrets ever be discovered. Should Maya go along with their legal demands and relinquish the title of heiress to the Sterling empire in order to be accepted into the family or should she stand up for herself and decide that the secrets she's uncovered about the family give her the power now?
With Sterling family members all out for themselves, readers must decide if Maya's earlier transgressions being exposed will be worth the cost and what exactly happened to the former heiress, Arianna, who she's been told was insane for years before meeting her untimely death. Why was Maya, a stranger to the family named as the next heiress and who among the family will go to any lengths to change their status, including murder?
Full of twists and flashbacks, "A Girl Like Us" will keep readers enthralled until the very end.

Was this review helpful?

Stone Cold Fox meets Knives Out and The Inheritance Games. Exactly my kind of book. So many clever, well-executed, well-written twists and turns.🔥

4.5 stars rounded up to 5

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Was this review helpful?

I LOVED this book!!! It was so very interesting! Each page kept you guessing on what was going to happen next and you truly don't know until the end! This book is marketed as Saltburn Esc. but it truly reminds me a lot of the Inheritance series with a few elements correlated to Saltburn!

Was this review helpful?

A woman marries into the complicated dynamic of a billionaire family. When a member of the family is murdered, they all convene at the family estate until the killer is found. There are repercussions from the will of the deceased, making an already tense situation fraught with danger and deception.

Maya Miller is no stranger to attention, having starred as the bad girl who speaks her mind on a reality TV series, even earning and playing up to her nickname, Miss Mayhem. When she marries eligible bachelor Colin Sterling, her fame and notoriety ratchet up even higher. Colin is the best person in the Sterling family, a truly good man and an anomaly in a gene pool filled with liars and cheats. Being called back to the family seat isn’t ideal, but doesn’t faze Colin as he accepts it as part of his familial duty. As we learn with each page, however, Maya has plenty of secrets, poised to unravel with every twist and turn of the novel. Colin’s backstabbing relatives put Maya in a position where she doesn’t know who to trust as her life and her future with Colin are in danger from the very people with whom they are forced into lockdown.

A Girl Like Us is a dark and gritty mystery/family drama. For me, there were one too many awkward turns in the story…too many coincidences that felt contrived and forced into the plot. It is a well written book and I wish I loved the plot twists more.

Thank you to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark for and advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

Maya Sterling is famous. The former reality star is newly married and has recently
given birth to a daughter as Anna Sophia McLaughlin’s A Girl Like Us begins. Her new husband is a Sterling, a member of the ultra rich and mega famous family that owns a giant media conglomerate that rivals the Murdoch empire. Overseen by its formidable matriarch Helen, the Sterlings have been bred to win, and to protect the family’s customs and reputation-at any cost.

Shortly after returning from their wedding in Mexico, Maya and her husband Colin are informed that the family’s troubled heiress Arianna has been murdered. They are whisked to the sprawling Sterling compound in London where Maya begins to suspect that she may not have married into a fairytale scenario after all.

Maya feels a type of kinship with the deceased heiress, both trailed by paparazzi regularly, objects of fascination in the public eye.
The action bounces from Maya’s POV to diary entries from Arianna as she is growing up to give the reader an insight to the mind of this elusive heiress.

A Girl Like Us is a passable thriller, but its many of its early twists are contrived and easy to guess. The story ultimately suffers as Maya, the main protagonist, is not likable enough to root for even though her character is clearly set up so that the reader will be on her side. Overall I was disappointed in this one, as the plot seemed very interesting but failed to deliver in the end.

I received this free advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review and feedback..

Was this review helpful?

Full of twists & turns, I couldn’t put it down! Don’t even get me started on the surprise ending! Highly recommended and I’d love to see how Maya’s story ends.

Was this review helpful?

Twists and turns, a multitude of characters, a mysterious house, and great writing made for a quick and exciting read

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/197717646

Was this review helpful?

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC version of "A Girl Like Us." This engaging read follows Maya, a reality star married into a wealthy family, as she navigates the complexities of public perception and her desire to reshape her own narrative. The premise is intriguing, and the plot is packed with twists and turns that kept me turning the pages.

Overall, "A Girl Like Us" is an enjoyable read with a captivating storyline and plenty of surprises, but it would have benefitted from stronger character development. If you’re looking for a dramatic tale sprinkled with unexpected revelations, this book is definitely worth your time!

Was this review helpful?

A girl like us
First of all, The way this spoke to my soul💖
It’s 2008 and a reality tv star and tabloid darling has married into a wealthy and upper crust family. A murder happens and she is suddenly the heiress and the suspect. So many secrets (including that of main character Maya) This book is nostalgic for me as an elder millennial and I love this detail of archiving tabloids( see it really is reading research!) it’s a fast paced and twisty journey that keeps you on your toes ( and unsure of who to trust…is it an unreliable narrator?) It is though v rich people behaving badly(v badly omg). Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Highly recommend pre ordering this book!

Was this review helpful?

I don't know what I was expecting, but this was absolutely deligthful. A perfect marriage of old, titled money and new American reality star fame and a surprise turn into the Gothic. LOVE.

Was this review helpful?

This is one of those great novels that just keeps getting crazier with every page until the bitter end! Maya used to be on The Springs--a wildly popular reality show--and now she's married to wealthy Colin and has baby, Becca with her when they return to Colin's family estate after heiress, Arianna dies suddenly. But when it is suddenly announced that it is Maya who will be the beneficiary according to Arianna's will, everyone--including Maya--is shocked and questions WHY? And slowly the story is "leaked" to us as we see the nutty machinations of a family in crisis, who are all willing to do whatever it takes to gain--and keep--control of the estate, wealth, and popularity that only the rich can maintain.
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

Was this review helpful?

2 stars out of 5

I really wanted to love this book because the synopsis was so good but it fell short. The story really dragged on and it did not flow well. None of the characters were really that well developed or likable. I guess I was just looking for more. I did like the twists and turns in the book but that was pretty much it. The ending was very abrupt with a bad transition. One minute I was in the story then next it went right to the epilogue. Overall, not my favorite read.

In A Girl Like Us, we meet Maya, a former reality tv star who married Colin Sterling, from the famous Sterling family. It turns out Colin's cousin Arianna was found murdered so the entire family has to go on lock down at the Silver house in England. Maya is thrust into the family dynamics and gets a chance to meet all of Colin's family. It turns out something fishy is going on and Maya discovers she might not be safe at the Silver House.

Thank you Netgalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you Netgalley and Sourcebooks for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I WANTED TO LOVE THIS BOOK. i wanted it to be a 4 star so bad. The description and cover sucked me in and it sounded so good, but it felt choppy. The idea and the characters were so intriguing but the story was lacking flow.

Was this review helpful?

If i could have, I would have finished this in one sitting. Loved the dual perspectives of flashbacks vs current. I'm dying for this to be brought to life on screen. The biography was spot on with a cross between Succession and Saltburn. Thanks netgalley & the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

While I did enjoy this overall, I think it was mostly due to the location, atmosphere, and character types (reality tv star, rich family). I struggled quite a bit with the plot though, as almost all of the reveals felt either unrealistic, predictable, or often both. I also think the ending left a lot to be desired for me regarding Arianna’s story and Maya and Colin’s relationship.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the opportunity to read and review!

Was this review helpful?

Maya Miller is a former party girl and reality television star reinventing herself as the new wife to the most eligible bachelor, aristocratic billionaire Colin Sterling.

Everyone thinks Maya is a gold digger, but things take an interesting turn when the heiress to the Sterling fortune is found murdered and Maya is inexplicably named the next in line.

A Girl Like Us is described as Succession meets Saltburn, and this is true in theory. It is a book about insular groups consumed with what they believe they deserve. However, it doesn’t have the build-up of tension that makes Succession so compelling, and the characters are not as eccentric as in Saltburn.

Part of the problem is that Maya falls flat as a protagonist. The author portrays her in such a way that she comes across as pretty and cunning, end of list. She is meant to be clever and scrappy, but she comes across as opportunistic and self-involved, and there were moments when she also seemed to forget she had a baby (and I even forgot, as I only now mentioned her).

In addition to lacking layered characters, the plot starts strong but then hits a wall. The build-up of the first half (where the groundwork for the murder is being developed) is unraveled by unnecessary plot points and a contrived twist at the end.

It is not that this isn’t an enjoyable book; it’s well-written and it will have an audience. It just felt like the author was trying to fit the story into a specific box using trending elements from pop culture to make it feel relevant when she is capable of something more nuanced.

Was this review helpful?