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3.91 AVERAGE
3.91 AVERAGE
I have been a fan of C.J. Tudor since The Chalk Man. I knew she would be an author to keep your eye on. She can take you right to edge of terror then twist it so hard you have no idea whats happening. The Burning Girls intrigued me from the beginning with its sad story of who The Burning Girls were. It quickly got rolling when things didn't sit well with Reverend Jack. Too many secrets. And whoa! What an ending! I would've loved to have known more back story of Reverend Jack, but maybe thats for another book?
CJ’s best book yet. The sort that as soon as you reach the end makes you want to immediately turn straight back to page one and start again, to pick up all the clues you missed. Brilliant.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I definitely didn’t expect to see another trailer for a spooky vibes TV show and plunge head first into another book but here I am. I binged this audiobook during a winter storm. The story is addicting and has so many moving parts. It is at turns the story of a haunting, religious belief, rural Britain (for local people!) and a crime mystery. I really recommend it for atmosphere and an absorbing set of mysteries.
I enjoyed the book up until the last third. Generally I love a good plot twist, but there were too many thrown in without much consideration.
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
3.5 stars. Scary, creepy, and really twisty. Hard to put down.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A vicar walks into a small country town ... and there is no punchline. Scary and suspenseful, the thrill of this book builds while it weaves in several characters who do leave you guessing. And Rev Jack Brooks - cigarette smoking, swearer and rough around the edges - packs a punch with her daughter, Flo. They both are a little left of centre, entering a hamlet - Chapel Croft - that is further left field and odd. We learn that Jack's life has not been steady and she is moving away from something. Throw in a 500 martyr execution site for eight religious martyrs where memorials of little stick effigies called ‘burning girls’ are left in strategic places, potential ghost sightings, ghostly apparitions, an odd townfolk and even stranger children and young people.
And what about those teenage girls - why did they leave and did they leave of their own accord? Is there someone more sinister or something more sinister in Chapel Croft? Sounds like a lot to get your head around, and it is. There are a lot of wrong turns and misconceptions, and this author's strength is in taking down the wrong path. It is all worth it. I wish they weren't wrapped up so fast and so neatly, which was the only predictability you could expect in a book of suspense. A good choice for a sunny afternoon read.
And what about those teenage girls - why did they leave and did they leave of their own accord? Is there someone more sinister or something more sinister in Chapel Croft? Sounds like a lot to get your head around, and it is. There are a lot of wrong turns and misconceptions, and this author's strength is in taking down the wrong path. It is all worth it. I wish they weren't wrapped up so fast and so neatly, which was the only predictability you could expect in a book of suspense. A good choice for a sunny afternoon read.
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Hi and welcome to my review of The Burning Girls! I requested the ARC from NetGalley, sure I’d never be approved, but hey, it’s C.J. Tudor, one must try against all odds. And apparently bookish miracles do happen and here we are!
First of all I must tell you that I have learnt not to wear socks when reading a C.J. Tudor, as she blows them clean off every single time. High expectations? Me?! Of course not, don’t know what you’re talking about! In any case, it doesn’t matter, since The Burning Girls was every bit as amazing as I knew it would be!
By the time I’d reached the end of the shocking, gasp-inducing and highly intriguing prologue, I’d already fallen for The Burning Girls hook, line and sinker. No, actually even before that, with the Wikipedia entry explaining that burning girls are twig dolls to set alight to commemorate the Sussex Martyrs, two of whom were young girls, who were burnt at the stake during Queen Mary’s purge of Protestants. Just an itty-bitty text but it set my spine tingling with anticipation, that feeling you get when you know you’re in for a bookish treat.
The Burning Girls kicks off with Reverend Jack Brooks, and Flo, Jack’s daughter, forced to relocate to the small Sussex village of Chapel Croft, which is currently without a priest, since the last one killed himself. Minutes after their arrival, they meet a blood-soaked girl in the garden, and later that evening, Jack finds an exorcism kit, including a rather unorthodox set of knives. Something is clearly a little off in Chapel Croft.
And then Jack is told that the twig dolls they’ve been finding everywhere aren’t meant for commemoration, but rather to ward off the vengeful spirits of the girls who took refuge in the chapel, but were betrayed and caught, tortured and killed. Which would be fairly easy to dismiss if it wasn’t for Flo who is 100% sure she has actually seen the spirit of one of the girls.
The death of two girls hundreds of years ago, the disappearance of two girls thirty years ago, the apparent suicide of a man of the cloth, the arrival of a new vicar, chequered pasts, ghost stories. Once again, C.J. Tudor has struck the right balance between thriller and horror, creating a story that will appeal to fans of both genres. A mystery, a thriller with an occult thread woven into the story, it works like a charm on me, and it’s what C.J. Tudor does like a queen!
The village of Chapel Croft and its residents emit a perfect Twin Peaks vibe. I just love that kind of creepy small town setting with its folklore and its one family that seems to have a finger in every pie and its oddballs, with everything and everyone, even the most benign, coming across as suspicious. Except of course that one person I trusted blindly who turned out to be the least trustworthy of them all, I’m the worst judge of character!
I loved Jack and Flo as main characters. Modern opinions, firmly rooted in everyday life, genuinely in it for helping people, delightfully sarcastic and not opposed to occasional swearing, Jack is a brilliant priest. Although, like many other Chapel Croft residents, not quite without secrets…
I remember saying that The Other People would be a tough act to follow but The Burning Girls pulls it off. It sucked me in, chewed me up and spat me out a dazed mess, and I mean that in the best possible way! Nothing what it seems, The Burning Girls is a twisty and twisted story that kept me captivated and intrigued throughout and one I’d highly recommend!
First of all I must tell you that I have learnt not to wear socks when reading a C.J. Tudor, as she blows them clean off every single time. High expectations? Me?! Of course not, don’t know what you’re talking about! In any case, it doesn’t matter, since The Burning Girls was every bit as amazing as I knew it would be!
By the time I’d reached the end of the shocking, gasp-inducing and highly intriguing prologue, I’d already fallen for The Burning Girls hook, line and sinker. No, actually even before that, with the Wikipedia entry explaining that burning girls are twig dolls to set alight to commemorate the Sussex Martyrs, two of whom were young girls, who were burnt at the stake during Queen Mary’s purge of Protestants. Just an itty-bitty text but it set my spine tingling with anticipation, that feeling you get when you know you’re in for a bookish treat.
The Burning Girls kicks off with Reverend Jack Brooks, and Flo, Jack’s daughter, forced to relocate to the small Sussex village of Chapel Croft, which is currently without a priest, since the last one killed himself. Minutes after their arrival, they meet a blood-soaked girl in the garden, and later that evening, Jack finds an exorcism kit, including a rather unorthodox set of knives. Something is clearly a little off in Chapel Croft.
And then Jack is told that the twig dolls they’ve been finding everywhere aren’t meant for commemoration, but rather to ward off the vengeful spirits of the girls who took refuge in the chapel, but were betrayed and caught, tortured and killed. Which would be fairly easy to dismiss if it wasn’t for Flo who is 100% sure she has actually seen the spirit of one of the girls.
The death of two girls hundreds of years ago, the disappearance of two girls thirty years ago, the apparent suicide of a man of the cloth, the arrival of a new vicar, chequered pasts, ghost stories. Once again, C.J. Tudor has struck the right balance between thriller and horror, creating a story that will appeal to fans of both genres. A mystery, a thriller with an occult thread woven into the story, it works like a charm on me, and it’s what C.J. Tudor does like a queen!
The village of Chapel Croft and its residents emit a perfect Twin Peaks vibe. I just love that kind of creepy small town setting with its folklore and its one family that seems to have a finger in every pie and its oddballs, with everything and everyone, even the most benign, coming across as suspicious. Except of course that one person I trusted blindly who turned out to be the least trustworthy of them all, I’m the worst judge of character!
I loved Jack and Flo as main characters. Modern opinions, firmly rooted in everyday life, genuinely in it for helping people, delightfully sarcastic and not opposed to occasional swearing, Jack is a brilliant priest. Although, like many other Chapel Croft residents, not quite without secrets…
I remember saying that The Other People would be a tough act to follow but The Burning Girls pulls it off. It sucked me in, chewed me up and spat me out a dazed mess, and I mean that in the best possible way! Nothing what it seems, The Burning Girls is a twisty and twisted story that kept me captivated and intrigued throughout and one I’d highly recommend!