Nell and Joe have a troubled past filled with pain, darkness and secrets. Nell just wants to be happy and safe but everything isn’t all sweetness for her.
Nell gets a job at Starling Villas and this could be her heaven or her Hell.
I found this book a little hard going and it didn’t grip me like I had hoped it would. There’s a mixed bag of reviews but for me it wasn’t what I hoped. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Fragile by Sarah Hilary made the hairs on my arms stand up. It is dark, gothic and unlike anything I have read before.
Nell is a damaged young person who has run away from her care home. She is a complex character and is well written. Damaged by abandonment as a young child and abuse and neglect in care, she relies on two of her friends to provide her with security and love. When they are lost she is too, although she is determined to find out what happened.
Alone in London she gets a position as a house keeper in the creepy Starling Villas. Her new home is written beautifully - I felt like I was actually there.
A novel about secrets, obsession and full of tension, I would recommend it.

Fragile - Sarah Hilary

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to NetGalley and Pan MacMillan and I am leaving this review voluntarily

Nell Ballard is a runaway. A former foster child with a dark secret she is desperate to keep, all Nell wants is to find a place she can belong.

So when a job comes up at Starling Villas, home to the enigmatic Robin Wilder, she seizes the opportunity with both hands.

Only her new lodgings may not be the safe haven that she was hoping for. Her employer lives by a set of rigid rules and she soon sees that he is hiding secrets of his own.

Fragile is a very emotional book with a very tense atmosphere. It is an interesting premise written in such a powerful and gripping way. I read the book in a few sittings, but each time I was drawn back into the story.

Hilary is a new author for me and I would love to see what else she has written.

Rating 4/5

"Fragile" is a standalone psychological thriller from Sarah Hilary about love, loss, neglect and warped relationships. It's about the way secrets create dark bonds between us and penance as means of atonement. Starling Villas makes for an eerie, gothic setting. Amidst the diverse characters, the odious Meagan Flack exudes big Miss Hannigan energy!

Sarah Hilary is one of the most exciting writers I know. Her prose is scalpel sharp; the structure of her novels is flawless and her subject matter is always relevant and exciting. So a stand-alone from this superb author is a moment to rejoice and Fragile is an absolute triumph. From the outset it is the intensity of her characters that grasps the reader. Often, whilst reading, I found that I was holding my breath and when I had finished this stunning book I felt as if I had been walking barefoot on splintered glass.

Nell Ballard has never really known what it is to be loved, but she has made up for it by loving those she cares for. Rejected by her mother when she was only 8 years old, she has been living in a foster home in Wales, where she was born, ever since. Meagan Flack is her foster mother, a bitter, chain-smoking woman who takes in children for the money. Flack cares not for the children, but Nell, starved of love, makes up for that deficit by learning how to be a caring mother, despite the complete absence of such role mothers in her life.

It’s a hard burden to put on a child and Nell is not mature, so her love for the other children in the home and her shouldering of domestic tasks mask what’s really going on in her mind. All Nell really wants is to be loved and to have that love reciprocated, but with no knowledge of what that really means, it’s pure emotion that flows through her.

Meagan does not like Nell, despite all that Nell does to keep the children clean and fed. There’s a boy in the home, Jo Beach and he and Nell pair up. Jo is a chancer. A charming but sly boy, he has learnt his survival skills from his foster homes and he knows how to deflect blame and inveigle himself into the good graces of the adults around him. It is his special skill.

Joe is a good looking boy, which makes him less of a trial to Meagan. They recognise common traits in each other. Then, after Joe and Meagan have spent a wonderful day swimming, tragedy strikes.

Joe convinces Nell to run away with him and the pair end up in London, where Joe takes the lead, using his charm and his grifting skills to find places to stay; never staying long but though he and Nell feel they are exploiting those they meet, they are still exploited children doing what they can to stay alive in an unfamiliar and unforgiving city.

Nell does all she can to cling on to Joe whom she loves so much. But something in Joe is broken; he is a lost cause who disappears off leaving Nell to search for him. And that search takes her to Starling Villas, a narrow townhouse. The last time she saw Joe, he was heading inside.

It’s the only clue to his whereabouts that she has, and so Nell, after keeping watch, decides to find a way in. Using her brain, she finds that the owner, Dr Robert Wilder, is in need of an assistant and cleaner, but she manages to parlay her way into the role of housekeeper.

Wilder has very clear ideas of what is expected of her. He has rules for the order in which things are to be done; what he will eat and how it will be served. Nell sets out to make herself indispensable, keeping in the background, adhering to his rules and polishing and scrubbing the house.

Wilder appears unfeeling, hard and yet straining at the seams with repressed emotion. Starling Villas is a cold and unwelcome place; an invisible house slotted between other buildings, hiding its secrets away. It’s a cold and isolating space that feels somehow other; unreal and out of place.

Hilary does that sense of gothic so well; you can feel the seeping tension between the Wilder and Nell which is part borne of the relationship between the middle aged Wilder and the teenage Nell, his housekeeper and partly the presence of Carolyn Wilder, Robin Wilder’s wife, whose bitter malice is pure poison. Though there are strong echoes of Rebecca in this story, there’s something of Wuthering Heights too. Passion, obsession, jealousy, intimacy, and secrets are all part of the Starling Villas mix.

Told mainly by Nell, we also hear from Meagan Flack whose flashbacks helps to give added dimension to a story sometimes seen from two sides.

It’s hard to explain how Hilary achieves this tension, this sense of danger that pervades the house and makes everyone who enters it so enveloped in a cruel mist of bitterness and anger, but she does and it is a remarkable sensation. The sense of repression just builds until even an exchange in the local shop becomes sharp with meaning.

As Fragile reaches its heart-breaking conclusion, corrosive relationships, fractured dreams and spiteful revenge all take their toll, leading to a devastating finale.

Verdict: Fragile is a book full of menace and grim foreboding that is fully played out. These are fragile people; some cracked, just waiting to splinter apart, some broken already. An intense, complex, layered and beautifully drawn character driven novel, it will seep into your bones and cause you to feel profound loss and grief for these poor children whose lives should have been so different.

My review will be posted on 12 June as part of the blog tour organised by Random Things Tours.
The title Fragile tells you a lot about the main character in this book. The tale explores how easily a child can be damaged. The author touches on the problems with foster care and the ease with which fostering can go wrong, very wrong. Fragile takes a heart-breaking look at two young people who were failed by the system and the effects that failure had on their lives. By the time I finished this book I found myself angry, angry because are children out there who are being failed, by their parents. And angry because I know not all of them can be saved.
Sarah Hilary is extremely creative in telling this story. You see the story unfold as the author jumps between past and present in Nell’s memory. At times it becomes a little confusing, but I believe that is what the author intended, giving you a feel of what was happening in Nell’s mind. This young woman is confused, insecure and she trusts no one. The author did a remarkable job putting the reader into Nell’s mind allowing you to experience her emotions.
Nell promised to look after Joe, she promised to stay with him forever. Joe Peach is the only boy she has ever loved. Joe is a drug addict and when he leaves Nell alone to find his next fix she follows close behind. She sees him leaving a club with a woman and tries to follow them but loses sight of them. Determined not to give up she stays on the street where she last spotted them. The next morning she discovers a house hidden between a restaurant and an office block. Convinced that is the house Joe disappeared to she talks her way into the house and secures herself a live-in housekeeper position. The only way she believes she will be able to find out what happened to Joe.
But things in Starling Villas is not as they would seem and as she settles into her new life everything turns upside down. As she falls in love with her boss, his wife makes an appearance filling her with doubt. At her most vulnerable, her past comes knocking. Can Nell find a way to put her past behind her? Can she finally allow herself to be happy?
I quickly fell into Nell’s world, wrapped up in her guilt and insecurity. You experience her love for Joe and Rosie first-hand. The author made Nell so real, you share her feelings as you turn the pages.
The author created realistic characters, allowing you to become invested in the story sharing the emotions as they happen. This book is all-consuming. Nell Ballard leaves you believing every word you read. A young woman who manages to appear strong and in control, while you get to see inside her head and know how broken she is. I loved this character despite knowing she is not as innocent as she appears to be.
Fragile draws you deep into Nell’s world and leaves you surrounded by her emotions. I did not want to reach the end of this book because the more I read, I knew there was not going to be a happy ending. This is a deeply moving, sad story. I loved this book. Even when I realised that things were not going to turn out rosy for Nell.
Gothic thriller and women’s fiction fans are in for a treat with this book. If you are keen on an emotional story that will draw you into a world of a broken young woman who does not get a happy ending, then this is the book for you.

Fragile is my first novel from this author. I’ve heard about and seen some of her books but have not picked any up until now. What drew me to this book was the description. It was intriguing and couldn’t wait to get started.

Fragile is a well-structured book and written well, with some great detailed descriptions of both Wales and London. Now although I said this is well written I did struggle with the story. Yes, I raced through the first half of this book, and really liked the mystery and drama, but sadly for me things started to go a little downhill and things started to get confusing. Quite a few things in the story left me with questions which unfortunately for me weren’t answered by the time I got to the end.

Now for the characters well, what can I say. I personally didn’t like any of them. Yes, Nell the main character comes across a clever and resourceful, and her story is sad but as a character I found her to be quite an unreliable person in this story and at times I found her quite annoying, especially when it came to some of the decisions and actions she took. As for the other characters I wasn’t a fan of them either. I feel like I need to know more about them and they needed to be a little more developed.

Overall this was an ok read for me and I would give, but based on the writing style and the descriptions alone I had to give it an extra star. Although this particular story wasn’t quite to my liking, I will still be looking to picking up the other books from this author.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for my eARC in exchange of an honest and unbiased review.

Fragile gripped me from beginning to end. It is well written and very dark, which would normally put me off a book, but the writing style drew me in and wouldn't let go. I couldn't put this book down.

This is my first book by Sarah Hilary but it won't be my last.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for my ARC.

This was a weird book. My first of this author and I will definitely read more, although I'm not sure about this one.
The story was slow and I found it a little repetitive, but overall it was entertaining.
I found a bit difficult to understand the motives behind everyone's actions, they seemed a bit random to me.

Thank you to NetGallery and the publisher for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A very difficult book to get into with not enough explaining of the storyline at the beginning so took ages to understand what was happening.
Lots of going from present to past.
Just not for me
Received this ARC from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review

A very well written story that has you turning the pages to find out what will happen to Nell and exactly who her new employer at ‘The Villas’ is
Great story telling,emotional and felt like I was reading a true account
Will definitely look out for and read more by this author

Fragile tells the story of Nell, a runaway with a dark secret. The book is told in two points of view, that of Nell and her former foster carer Meagan. The story is dark and gothic and wonderfully told. Nell ran away with Joe and when she sees him disappearing into a house, Nell follows and talks her way into a housekeeping position with Dr Robin Wilder. Nell wants to know what happened to Joe but as the story progresses it's apparent that Dr Wilder has his own secrets too. Throughout the story, there is reference to what happened in the past and as this is revealed I found myself engrossed and turning the pages. This is a powerful, standalone novel from a very gifted writer. There are plenty of twists and turns and this is a compelling and chilling novel, that I expect to hear great things about.

2.5 stars.

A dark and atmospheric read, and quite compelling, but throughout I had the feeling that something was going on between the lines, behind the scenes that I should know but couldn't figure it out. I also lost patience with the whole Rosie backstory being strung out.

While I did enjoy it to an extent, I'm left with the feeling that I didn't quite get it.

Review copy from NetGalley

Deep, dark and disturbing!

Wow this book is a roller coaster of emotion. It certainly lives up to the modern gothic description.

Nell has been in foster care since she was 8 and her mother decided to move on and have a new family. She is taken in by Meagan who allows Nell to take on a maternal role for the other children she cares for.

The combination of Nell, Joe and little Rosie is toxic however. And what follows tears their lives apart.

Nell and Joe try to atone for their sins but can never out run them. Their attempts mean that their oaths cross with Carolyn and Robin, who also want to change their ways.

A dark story of childhood, care, loss and atonement.

Nell is a former foster child who had run away to London, not to seek her fortune as much as to escape her guilt, left behind in Bala, North Wales. She'd run with her foster brother Joe but when we meet her she is talking her way into Starling Villas, behind the door where she last saw Joe disappear.

This story is dark, murky and mesmerising and I felt dragged under a weight of regrets, manipulation and lies.

Underpinning the tale is the somewhat brutal reality that the foster children in Meagan's care soon have to confront. This is not a foster mother of the story book notion, round and cuddly with cakes baking. Meagan dishes out lessons on survival, sleeping pills and secrets to keep the social workers at bay.

A much darker book than the Marnie Rome crime fiction series with an interesting premise which took me to places that haunt me.

Finding themselves living rough in London after running away from their foster home, Nell and Joe have made some poor decisions putting themselves at risk.

After Joe goes home after a night in a nightclub with a mysterious woman, Nell manages to get herself a job as housekeeper in the place she last saw him.

What emerges is a story of intrigue, jealousy and mystery, surrounding the owner of the house Nell works at and the first hone she left behind.

A well written novel with good character development. The atmosphere between Nell and Joe was tangible. All the relationships between the characters were distorted and they were all disturbed in their own way.

I discovered Sarah Hilary at an event in Bristol for the launch of her debut novel and I've been an avid fan ever since. I have never been disappointed by any of her books and this was no exception. Simply brilliant with a great plot, interesting characters and just the right amount of suspense.

An intriguing blurb & good writing style but unfortunately this book wasn't for me. I DNF'd at 33% as I was finding myself reaching for other books and not wanting to pick it up. For me the story was slow to get going & I didn't feel connected with any of the characters.

I'm sure other readers will enjoy this book though.

I was drawn in by the premise of this novel and although it was absolutely nothing like I was expecting, I was not disappointed! Fragile is a haunting and dark but beautifully written tale centred on Nell, a former foster child with a harrowing secret that she’ll do anything to protect.

It did take me a couple of chapters to get on board with the story but once I did, I was absorbed. This book is SO atmospheric, I could almost feel the mounting suspense surrounding Nell on her journey. She ends up in the home of Dr Robin Wilder, a mysterious mansion called Starling Villa, and the author truly made that building come to life and conjured the most realistic images of it with her writing style.

Ultimately this story is a tragic and heartbreaking depiction of the lengths an unwanted and damaged child will go to, to feel like she belongs, while being abused and exploited along the way.

Thank you NetGalley & Pan Macmillan for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Do you like your psychological thrillers unexpected and a little chilling? Then you’ve come to the right book. Fragile is an excellent blend of a cracking page-turning story and a delve into the depths of human nature that gets your mind whirring.

Nell Ballard is a very intriguing character. An unreliable narrator – but not for reasons you might think. She is one of the most layered and complex characters I’ve read in a while in regards to the way you couldn’t quite second guess her.

Essentially abandoned by her mother, Nell grew up in a foster home run by Meagan Flack. Meagan, however, doesn’t have a maternal bone in her, so from a young age Nell learns to both care for herself and her foster-siblings. She develops close relationships with fellow foster kids Joe Peach and Rosie and this, ultimately is the catalyst for her troubles.

After a traumatic event, Nell and Joe, now eighteen, run away from their foster home in Wales to London. This is where their lives become intrinsically entangled with those of Dr. Robin Wilder and his wife, Carolyn.

Nell gets a job as housekeeper of Starling Villas, the impressive but run down three-story home of the Wilders. From the off, the atmosphere is strange. Nell has to work out exactly what Dr. Wilder really wants from her, while trying to understand both his wife Carolyn’s relationship with Joe and her own relationship with Joe. Bound by their history, or so Nell thought…

I really liked how we got chapters from both Nell and Meagan, so get to see both sides of the story – two versions of Nell’s character. The excellent way it was written meant that perceptions shifted subtly – and sometimes more obviously, adding to the general sense of tension and kept me on my toes.

I ultimately found myself feeling sorry for Nell and the ending had my heart in my mouth. These clashing emotions are a good indication of the brilliantly visceral read Fragile is.

A clever and dark psychological thriller with a unique story to tell and an array of emotionally damaged and, yes, fragile characters, who each develop as the narrative goes on. Yep, I loved this book.