I think A Girl Like Us has the potential to be a big winter thriller when it comes out in February.

It’s 2004 and former reality star Maya Miller has just married one of the most eligible bachelors in SterlingCo’s Colin Sterling. SterlingCo is a huge media empire, on scale with the Murdoch’s, so Maya has hit the jackpot. They’ve just gotten back from their honeymoon when Colin’s cousin, and the heir to the family’s fortune, Arianna is found murdered. A 202 protocol is enacted, corralling the family into a lockdown at the family’s UK home Silver House. As an investigation into Arianna’s death ensures, the new family heir has been named…and it’s Maya! Suspicion turns to Maya as the suspect, after all, she never knew Arianna. As the family remains locked down, Maya starts to search for the truth and a way to clear her name. The Sterlings have plenty of skeletons in their closet and Maya’s going to have to fight through them to claim what is rightfully hers.

This book definitely has a few twists and turns in its path, many of which I enjoyed. I didn’t figure them all out either, which is refreshing. I liked the layers of character development for Maya and it was fun to see them peeled back. Maya’s quite a slick character herself, so it’s fun to see her play. The story unfolded nicely and I’m glad it wasn’t fully tied up neatly in the end.

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

Release Date: 2/11/25

"Succession meets Saltburn in a crackling locked-room thriller of inconceivable wealth, unchecked power, and the secrets poised to bring a powerful family down."

A Girl Like Us is a very enjoyable thriller with well executed twists and turns. The book is well written and atmospheric. It is very reminiscent of Succession with the uber rich getting away with whatever they want. "Normal" people can't trust anyone.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book!

Wealth, Power and a family forced into lock down, what could possibly go wrong? I was into this book, it just got better and better with each page. I could not put it down. This book is very well written and has some great plot twists.

Do you love a good rich people being awful story?? Then this one's for you! This story takes place in the early 2000s and stars our it girl Maya Sterling who has recently married the rich son of a media family Colin Sterling. However, their wedded bliss comes to an abrupt hault when the heiress to the family fortune is murdered... in the same weekend as their wedding... in the same town they got married in... but wasn't in attendance. As if that wasn't wild enough, Maya is the only person named in her will, even though the two have never met!

Everyone must remain at the family estate in England until the threat has been neutralized, and no one is enjoying the company. Now we find ourselves in a locked door mystery where everyone has their own agenda.

This book was great for those that love domestic thrillers, stories about rich families, twists and turns, and endings you simply cannot guess!

I prefer my thrillers to be fast paced and engaging, this was not that. I struggled with this book for a few reasons. For starters, and the biggest reason I just struggled so much with this one, was the writing style. It was choppy and overall hard to follow. I also really disliked some of the word choices. While I knew the words, and their meanings, their placement felt stilted and like the author included them just to say hey I wrote a smart book. It was a huge turn off to me and really kept a bad taste in my mouth the entire book. I also struggled with this book being considered a thriller. It didn’t really have any thrilling elements, it read more like women’s fiction. Nothing wrong with that, I just expected a different story.

I really wanted to like this book more. It’s crushing that I didn’t.

DNF at 20%

This book made me realize that while I love watching these types of stories on the screen, I tend to not love them in book form. The premise is there, but the execution is lacking for me personally - too much telling and not showing, overly obvious bad guys, and too many characters to keep track of.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Sourcebooks for this arc. I received this book in exchange for my honest review. My thoughts are entirely my own.

This book has rich people drama and was so good. Maya has married into the powerful Sterling family. Maya has a daughter with her husband Colin. They celebrate their wedding in Puerto Valletta and Maya sneaks off to meet Jessica who she believes is a journalist who tells Maya that her new family are murders. Then on their way back to New York they are taken to the Sterlings ancestral home after the heiress Ariana is murdered. Maya finds out that she was the last person to speak to Ariana because she was pretending to be Jessica. Then at Silver House Maya learns the truth and sees the lengths that the family will go to protect themselves and their inheritance. Luckily Maya is able to protect herself and comes out the new heiress and has an insurance policy in case history repeats itself. A very good book and one I plan to purchase once it’s released.

Oh what a book this was! Going in I didn't know what to expect - and when I saw that it has the chapters on the longer side I was scared that the book is going to drag but I was mistaken. I absolutely loved the pace of the book and that we were finding out things at the same time as the main character.

Loved the addition of the diary entries - although maybe I wished there were a bit more.

Good ratio of descriptions to the plot and dialogue (which is always important for me).

Really enjoyed the twists coming in at steady pace - and the last few twists at the end of the book?? Made my jaw drop! I loved them so much!

The book definitely exceeded my expectations.

3.5⭐️
i enjoyed this book. there were a lot of scenes that caught me off guard… i never really knew what to expect.

If you loved *The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo* but are craving something with a *Knives Out* vibe, then *A Girl Like Us* is the book for you! This story is scandalous, thrilling, and packed with twists and turns that will keep you guessing. No character can be fully trusted, and the mystery unfolds in a way that takes the reader on a wild, unpredictable ride.

What really stood out to me was the strong and unlikely female protagonist. She was full of life and grit, and I loved that she was a new mother—this added so much depth to her decisions and the stakes in the story. Her journey was both emotional and empowering, making her a truly compelling character to root for.

The combination of high-stakes drama, secrets, and tension creates an enthralling read. If you're into complex characters and sharp, suspenseful storytelling, this book delivers on every front!

I was a little intimidated when I realized this book is over 400 pages but once I started it, I was completely engrossed. Everything about this book was smart and expertly crafted from the characters, the plot, the narration, and the execution.

A Girl Like Us is a fast-paed thriller with many twists and turns that you'll have a difficult time seeing coming. The book was exvellent and did a wonderful job portraying that hardships you face when dealing whith trauma and how complex the justice system is and how survival is messy and not a straightforward journey. This book explored so many powerful topics and themes withh tacta and respect and I appreciated and am grateful for it's existence.

This reminded me so much of a ‘knives out’ movie. I liked the main character a lot and the plot felt pretty unique. It’s slow going but it’s worth pushing through. I found myself growing impatient but that’s both a positive and a negative, I suppose. 3.5/3.75 stars.

I didn't find the plot to be that interesting, I didn't like the characters at all. I was Underwhelmed by this one.

It's always exciting for me to discover new authors, and I'm pretty sure this is the author's debut novel. When I say I was completely engrossed in this book, I mean I could not put it down.

"A Girl Like Us" is a captivating tale that unfolds with surprising twists, intricate deception, and a rich cast of characters. The story revolves around a compelling protagonist confronting personal obstacles in her quest for truth, ensuring a truly unforgettable reading experience. Although the narrative may initially seem slow to some, I was hooked and eager to unravel its complexities from the very first page. The expertly crafted plot twists and the seamless transition between past and present timelines were particularly enthralling. This novel delves deep into profound themes such as complex family dynamics, the essence of trust, the impact of trauma, and the journey toward healing. I guarantee you will not be able to put this down. Given the cliffhanger at the end of the last chapter, I did want a little more closure from the epilogue, but overall, I don't have much else to critique. Well done!

I'm looking forward to exploring more books by this author. This is a solid 4-star story—so good!

Thank you to the publisher, Sourcebooks, for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review. The publication date is set for February 11, 2025. If you enjoy thrillers and mysteries, this one is for you! Be sure to add this one to your TBRs.

I was so excited to get to read this one early! It honestly reminded me of the movie "Hide and Seek", but also with elements of "Knives Out". Can't wait until it hits stores!

Such a quick, easy thriller read that truly does give off Succession vibes, but what if the heir taking over is a complete shock to all?

I enjoyed reading about this family's complex relationships and all of the inner workings. This book was filled with so many twists and turns. I was not able to predict how it would end.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for this ARC.

Wow. At first I thought it was going to be a book about a girl who falls in love with someone but she has a past. How wrong I was.

Nothing could have prepared me for what was to come, this is one of those books that’s finished but I need more, I need to know what happens next.

Incredible book, so well written. My only downside is the swapping between calling her daughter becca and calling her the baby.

I’m a sucker for a good uber rich gone bad story and this one gives us the perfect window into that world with Maya Miller. Fresh off her stint as a reality TV star and determined to leverage that fame into something lasting, our scrappy main character marries into the aristocratic British Sterling family. Once everyone is under one dysfunctional roof, the claws come out and people are revealed to be something other than they seem. Delicious!

I had some issues with convenient coincidences and “twists” that weren’t really all that twisty, but overall, this was a fun, quick read that kept me engaged and entertained.

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

Maya Miller - now Maya Sterling - is on a private plane, on the way back from her wedding to Colin Sterling in Mexico. Upon landing in their home city of New York City, they are greeted with news of a Sterling family tragedy and they must immediately fly to London.

Colin's family is basically royalty. They own a media empire a la Succession and all of this is thrown for a loop with the reading of the will. Colin's family also has never accepted Maya. She's an American reality star. She was a party girl and a constant paparazzi target. Maya also has secrets that she can not have exposed. Locked in the family estate with all of the Sterlings, Maya tries to find out more about the deceased heiress because it might just be the secrets that she need to survive.
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This had huge potential. The idea of an outlier in a family full of money-hungry people. I love storylines like this. I don't even want to admit how many times I watched Saltburn in the theater (and NOT just because of Jacob Elordi). Maya was an easy character to read about; she's funny, smart and truly a strong woman. She knew what she wanted and got it.

However, Maya does make some dumb choices. Also, the story line - the back and forth - Maya's past inserted randomly inside of large pivotal moments, it all really led to me being bored. I wanted for treachery, revenge, etc.

Overall, it's still an enjoyable read in the vein of Knives Out.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review.