Release: September 14th 2021
Format: Ebook
Publisher: Berkley Publishing
Source: Netgalley
Find it at: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, B&N, Kobo
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Paloma thought her perfect life would begin once someone adopted her and made it to America. But she’s about to find out that no matter how far you run, your past always remains with you..
Ever since her adoption from a Sri Lankan orphanage, Paloma has had the best of everything. She has schools, money, and parents so perfect that she fears she’ll never live up to them.
Now she is thirty years old and recently cut off from her parents’ funds. So she decides to sublet the second bedroom of her overpriced San Francisco apartment to Arun. He recently moved from India. Paloma has to admit, it feels good helping someone find their way in America. That is until Arun discovers Paloma’s darkest secret, one that could jeopardize her own fragile place in this country.
Before Paloma can pay Arun off, she finds him face down in a pool of blood. She flees the apartment. But by the time the police arrive, there’s no body. And no evidence that Arun ever even existed in the first place.
Paloma is having a terrific feeling of entangled in the desperate actions she took to escape Sri Lanka so many years ago. Did Paloma’s secret die with Arun or is she now in greater danger than ever before?
About the Author:
When she isn’t recovering from a self induced book hangover, Amanda runs corporate trainings on Communication Skills Development, and works tirelessly as the Chief Taste Tester at the cookie shop she co-owns. She grew up in Sri Lanka and has lived in the California bay area and British countryside, before relocating back to her sunny island, where she lives with her husband and two Tasmanian-devil-reincarnate huskies.
My Sweet Girl Review:
This book turned out to be so much more twisted than I anticipated. I had not read the premise of the book and hence dived right into the story. At first, I thought the two timelines told different tales but then was surprised to see how they interconnected. I found this debut novel truly impressive because the author just added something thrilling in each chapter.
Ah, Paloma. How do I describe her? It is surprising to see her contrasting personality from the past at the orphanage to the chaotic character she becomes. I was fascinated with the book mainly because of her and wanted to hear her story. At times you feel sorry for her, but at other times you want to shake her. I enjoyed the moments where she went to see Nina see if we could know what makes her tick.
Moreover, the author wrote the story craftily that you don’t know who is telling the truth or who is not. There are some genuinely creepy moments, like when she sees what happened to Arun or what Jason shows her in the CCTV cameras. Mohini also gave me the creeps, and I shudder just reading her name. On a side note, I also loved the backdrop of Sri Lanka and how the author depicted life at the orphanage.
Of course, the story would not be memorable without the shocking twist in the end, which I honestly did not see coming at all. Frankly, I need to re-read the entire book to see if all the loopholes fit in place, but the ending just shocked me. Overall, “My Sweet Girl” is a fantastic suspense thriller that will surprise you to the book’s very last sentence and is worth reading!
