Darling Rose Gold

Wow this was bad but so addicting. It’s a fictional version of Gypsy Rose and Dee Dee Blanchard with some twist to it. I felt like I was reading a whole book full of mentally ill people with no redeemable qualities and were horrible to each other. The mother Patty, Rose Gold, the side characters, all of them were awful people. I read it in a single night because it’s fast paced and you want to know what happens but that doesn’t mean it’s good!

Darling Rose Gold was one of my most anticipated releases of the year and boy did it deliver. Munchausen by Proxy is something that never ceases to intrigue me. This story turns that idea on its head by giving you the perspective of both the abuser and the abused, the question is, which narrator can you trust? Who's story do you believe? Do they both have nuggets of truth? Wrobel writes both perspectives so well that there are even moments where you can even start to understand the abuser a little.I will say while the subject matter is heavy, the reading is easy. I devoured this in less than a day. The only reason I give it four rather than five stars is the ending comes too quickly. The last few chapters could have been expanded quite a bit. The book leaves you with a wow factor but when I figured out what was happening I wanted more of it!

“That’s what separates the sane from the not: knowing madness is an option but declining to choose it.” - Darling Rose Gold.SYNOPSIS: For the first eighteen years of her life, Rose Gold Watts believed she was seriously ill. She was allergic to everything, used a wheelchair and practically lived at the hospital. Neighbors did all they could, holding fundraisers and offering shoulders to cry on, but no matter how many doctors, tests, or surgeries, no one could figure out what was wrong with Rose Gold. Turns out her mom, Patty Watts, was just a really good liar.After serving five years in prison, Patty gets out with nowhere to go and begs her daughter to take her in. The entire community is shocked when Rose Gold says yes.Patty insists all she wants is to reconcile their differences. She says she's forgiven Rose Gold for turning her in and testifying against her. But Rose Gold knows her mother. Patty Watts always settles a score. Unfortunately for Patty, Rose Gold is no longer her weak little darling... And she's waited such a long time for her mother to come home.REVIEW: Wow, this book is crazy versus crazier. The whole book was a ride, and I couldn’t wait to see how it ended. I enjoyed the entirety of the plot, and think that this book is very different than any other book I have read before. Even different then other books I have read that deal with Munchausen’s disorder. I love how the author used this detail, and really built on it throughout the book, weaving it through the narrative. I rated this book four stars because I was able to predict a lot of the twists. Even so, I thought they were well done and made the story that much darker. I also thought that there were a few holes here and there in the ending, but if you suspend your belief a little bit then it doesn’t matter as much. I did enjoy the ending though, and felt that the way it ended added to the suspense.Both the main characters (Rose Gold and Patty) were each dark, manipulative, secretive, and vengeful. They are two unique characters that you can definitely tell are related and share some unsavory characteristics. I found them both to be really interesting, and was glad that the story was told from both of their perspectives. However, I do wish that we would have gotten more flashbacks from Patty’s perspective when Rose Gold was younger, I think that could have taken the reader further into her mind, and how she really perceived things.Overall, this story was great and I would recommend it. It is an easy read, and I got through this book fairly quick. I am looking forward to reading more books by this author in the future.

This would have gotten A MUCH higher rating from me if not for the ending. I was very wary about buying this book because the summary just didn't grab me, but I quickly found myself getting lost in the story and really enjoying it, which says a lot for the author because the whole concept of A Mother hurting her own child, sickens me but she wrote it well. Our was interesting reading from the eyes of both Rose Gold and her Mother and seeing the difference in how they perceive things. As much as I couldn't stand Patty.. I still found her chapters interesting to read. The book doesn't so much have suspense, because we know going in what it's all about and the first three fourths of the book held my full attention and it had such potential to be a 5 star book but the ending was so out of sync with the rest of the story, as if the author threw in the 1st ending that came to mind to make a deadline or something. It was bad enough to ruin the whole book for me... Just to unbelievable. I do think this Author shows a lot of promise though

..... my spot over the past 24 hours. To say that I enjoyed this story is understated. I both hated and rooted for one of the main characters back and forth so many times. I haven't enjoyed a book like this in a while. It was just what was needed during these trying times.

As a writer myself, I have long been interested in the nuts and bolts of what really goes on in a family where Munchausen by Proxy is going on. I've researched the subject, written about it, but I've never found a satisfactory answer to one question - what happens to perpetrator and victim after the crime is uncovered? What kind of child is raised in a home where she (most times) is being abused and tortured? What would that child look like as ab adult? Well, that question has been answered - and in a very satisfactory manner by Stephanie Wrobel in Darling Rose Gold. Clearly, she had the same questions as I did. Lucky for me and for everyone else who is going to pick up this book, Ms. Wrobel knows how to tell a story. I was both entranced and repelled by what went on in this book but I could not put it down. It was that well written and that interesting. I will never look at actual Munchausen victim, Gypsy Rose Blanchard the same way again. What really lives inside that seeminglycalm, poised young woman?

2 1/2 STARSOh boy, this book fell so short for me. I’ve been sitting here for awhile thinking of how to start this review, but I just have to embrace my feelings and jump in. ⁣⁣There were so many moments in this book where it had the opportunity to really take off and make a brilliant, heart thumper of a tale! But it always just....didn’t.⁣⁣I won’t keep you long. I know a lot of people loved this one. But for me it was the most anti-climactic book I’ve read in a long time and the characters were so awful that I couldn’t even draw an ounce of sympathy for either of them.⁣⁣*le sigh* we cannot love them all! ⁣

I thought this was a really interesting read. The story is from the perspective of both the mom and the daughter and I found both perspectives interesting. Someone else reviewed that the characters are hard to like and that’s true but was still a good story and fun to read. I’d like to read more by the author!

I really enjoyed reading this book. You really get a sense of all the characters, and they end up feeling like your own neighbours with dark pasts, thoughts and urges. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a " can't put it down thriller. " I only have it the three stars because I did find some passages a bit cringy but it was fitting to the desperation of the characters. Great read!

Nothing about this book was bad persay but it wasn’t that gripping. The characters weren’t great and the ending just left me frustrated. Not really worth my time.

Kept me going right until the very end. Fabulous book.