Reviews with content warning for Emotional abuse - Darling Rose Gold

I figured this was based off of Gypsy Rose right when I got this book.

I guess where this story lacks is none of the craziness happens until the end? Which was a great twist ending don’t get me wrong. I felt like the book started off strong, middle felt lackluster and end was good.

Spoilers ahead!

okay so I got the vibe right away that either Rose Gold was gonna die or go missing or something for the fact that, her narrations took place in the past while Patty’s was in the future.

i kinda wish we got to be along side Rose while she was planning this whole thing out. The whole side story with Phil and Alex were kind of useless? I guess it gave us more sympathy for Rose but that was about it.

And the Dad thing. I can imagine it’s be tough meeting a child you didn’t want years later but he was almost as bad as Patty! How you gonna find your daughter, say you want her in your life then drop her??? I did get upset when Rose starting lying about cancer but honestly can we even blame her? She has a mother who abused her and a father who even after meeting her, never wanted her. But I’m telling y’all it was that wife Kim who caused that rift between them. Gave me MAJOR Karen vibes. Never gave Rose a chance.

I also find it hard to believe that their newborn child goes missing and y’all don’t think to check up on the other child you abandoned….like not even once???

Patty was a crazy lunatic though. Even though she was correct that her daughter was up to something, but god damn girl right away she’s plotting and planning. I hated reading her chapters honestly I just wanted her to shut up.

Like mother like daughter. I hope Rose can get her teeth fixed and live her best life now? 😂🥴

Overall, a bit of a bore :(

Content Warnings

theloopyknot_'s review against another edition

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challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

By the time I was almost half way through I realized that I had read this before, they just changed the cover and the title. It was still worth the read though.

Content Warnings

sleeson's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

becksreadsbooks's review

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dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Content Warnings

carissa230's review

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challenging dark emotional sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Rose Gold Watts did not have a normal childhood. She was sick throughout her childhood; from vomiting, to being in a wheelchair. As a teen her mom goes to prison for intentionally making her sick.

The story is told in rotating perspectives of Rose Gold and her mother Patty. Rose Gold's story is told in the past perspective while Patty's story is told from the present perspective.

One problem I had with the book is the connection to the real life case of Gypsy Rose Blanchard. The book borrowed heavily from the real case. I don't have a problem with that, however it feels like there is a judgment being cast on both parties. Maybe if they had changed the characters name to something further from the actual person's name it wouldn't have been so bad for me.

Content Warnings

heat_her's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Content Warnings

sunsetcity's review

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dark mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Content Warnings

onkenzisshelf's review

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dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙇𝙞𝙠𝙚𝙙:
🦋 Very much a page turner! I finished this in a single day.
🦋 You literally can't trust anyone in this book - the entire time I went back and forth as to whose "side" I was on.
🦋 There's a big twist at the end that I did NOT see coming!

𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝘿𝙞𝙙𝙣'𝙩 𝙇𝙞𝙠𝙚:
🦋 Felt a little bit like a knock-off of Gypsy Rose Blanchard's story, but Wrobel put a BIG spin on it.
🦋 I thought it kind of glorified Munchausen's by proxy a little bit? Like yeah, we hear about the horrible things done to Rose Gold, but it felt like Rose Gold was able to just kind of get over it like it was no big deal. Along the same lines, Rose Gold was WAY more self-sufficient than she should have been after 18 years of horrible abuse.

𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙎𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙 𝙄𝙛 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙇𝙞𝙠𝙚𝙙:
🦋 If you're interested in learning about Manchausen's By Proxy and love a good thriller, this is for you.

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