Reviews with content warning for Murder - The Broken Girls

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Broken Girls by Simone St. James

67 reviews

rae_em's review against another edition

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mysterious slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated

3.25

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boba_n_books's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was my second Simone St. James novel, and I enjoyed it quite a bit! I did prefer The Sun Down Motel, but this was still a worthwhile read.

Written in a dual timeline, The Broken Girls tells the story of Vermont in the 1950s as well as in 2014. In the 50s, we follow four girls who were sent to Idlewild Hall--a boarding school for "troubled" girls. Each girl has their own struggles and reasons for ending up at Idlewild, and they come together to support each other and protect themselves until one of them goes missing. In 2014, Fiona is a journalist whose sister's body was dumped near Idlewild Hall years ago. Her sister's murderer has been in jail for quite some time, but Fiona wonders if there isn't more to the story. At the same time, someone is trying to restore Idlewild Hall, for reasons Fiona could never imagine, as she has heard nothing but horror stories from that school. Fiona discovers long-forgotten secrets of the school that tie back to her sister, and she will stop at nothing to find the truth and justice for the living and the dead.

I love how St. James creates dual timelines that slowly begin to relate to each other and reveal more as you continue reading. I thought the four girls from the 1950s were better characters than Fiona from 2014, though I did still appreciate her motivations and character development.

This well-written mystery/thriller will keep you on your toes and make you think about what you consider "justice."

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muse692's review

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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jillie's review

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dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

4.0

I don’t know what Simone St. James puts in her books but i’m officially obsessed. I doubted how she would tie together the timelines but I shouldn’t have.

This one took me a little longer to get into than The Book of Cold Cases and The Sun Down Motel, but I was engrossed once I got into it. I really enjoyed the ensemble cast. The romance in this one wasn’t my favorite but it’s such a small plot point that it doesn’t really affect anything.

November 2023

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minimicropup's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

Articulate. Enduring. Reserved.

🇺🇸🏫 Set in Vermont, USA. Mainly at the site of an all-girls boarding school (the kind where teen girls are sent when they aren’t wanted by their families or have no caregivers)

POVs: Third person. We follow the experiences and perspectives of four girls at an all-girl’s boarding school in the 1950s. We also see the past in the context of what is occurring in 2014, where our contemporary MC is a journalist wanting to dig deeper into the history of the site of the abandoned boarding school where their sister was found murdered.

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🐺Growls, Howls, and Tail Wags🐕

😢👍 This felt like a hyper-realistic story, almost a fictionalized re-telling of a true story. We get lots of small suspenseful and mysterious subplots that ultimately connect but not in a way that felt fictional if that makes sense?

😃 The writing is atmospheric, sensory, and observational. With the third person focused omniscient narration style we are able to understand what various MCs think and what shapes their views and motivations without baiting, omission, or over-explaining.

🫶 There are a lot of characters and that can be difficult for audio-only. I didn't have an issue keeping track because the writing style introduces us to them by weaving their traits into the story naturally, so I didn't feel like I had to take notes just to remember who was who. The layout of the boarding school and surrounding sites both in the 1950s and after it was abandoned was similarly woven in the story so I had no trouble imagining everything and situating the characters. Plus with this style of writing, you probably won't feel bogged down in details if you aren't an imaginations reader.

🫶 Reveals are paired with the creation of new mysteries in both timelines. We know who was killed early on for both times, so the suspense and mystery is how did it happen and who did it? Fiona is a journalist and her boyfriend is a police officer, and when she gains access to evidence, it feels like we are learning and investigating alongside her. Reading the past timelines adds context to what we just learned through Fiona's investigation.

🤔 I generally don't vibe with historical fiction (hard for me to connect to story sometimes) and I dislike war themes (too terrifying). Although both were present in this story, it was done in a way that didn't feel like a gratuitous heartstring-tug terror element. It felt like an important part of the story and was included in a respectful way that helps the reader understand how it affected lives beyond the obvious horrors.

😳 Near the end I started losing interest as past and present collided and the characters discussed their views while planning where to go from here. It wasn't drawn out necessarily, and we get answers and even some justice at the conclusion. I think I was just ready to move on to my next read, while happy with this one. I may be too used to ambiguous or abrupt endings to appreciate the more well-rounded ones.

🫤 I was annoyed by Fiona and her boyfriend in this first half or so of the story. While they were making googly-eyes at each other I wanted to get on with the 1950s timeline and what happened to the girls. I am not a huge fictional romance fan though, so it may be a me thing.

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🎙️ Narration was good except that all the male voices sounded croaky and kind of reminded me of old timey chain-smoking villains.

Mood Reading Match Up:

Historical fiction coming-of-age friendship-by-proximity
Puzzles and clues via investigative journalism of true crime type missing and murdered girls
Touches of dark academia from abandoned boarding school paranormal horrors
Can-they-make-it-work, lovers-to, touch of forbidden romance
Interwoven themes of found family, teen friendship, convention and rebellion, morality, justice, courage, and tragedy

Content Heads-Up: Loss of a sibling. Parental rejection. Loss of family. War (recalled/memories; Nazi concentration camp, war crimes, prejudice and persecution). PTSD. Suicide attempt. Murder. Attempted murder. Sexual content (consenting). Corruption, abuse of power (law enforcement, institutional). Child abuse. Loss of a child.

Format: Library Audio via Libby

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