A great debut, I must say! Amanda Jayatissa has a way with words and knows how to keep the reader interested. She even invented some new words and cleverly used them in the story. I like that and I hope she will keep doing that. Although the story revolves around Paloma you can learn a lot when not focussing on her alone. How’s life in an orphanage, except from the fact that you do not live in a home with parents? How does it feel to know your parents didn’t want you? It may be an orphanage where Paloma grows up, she herself is one of the many girl that were put up for adoption immediately after birth. Unfortunately those adoptions are not always 100% legal, and things can go terribly wrong. There is a heart-wrenching example of that in the book.
On the other hand, Paloma and the other girls seem to have a nice home and very good teachers. It might be me, but I’ve never heard before of 12 year old girls whose native language is not English, enjoying reading Wuthering Heights and books by Charles Dickens. I think even for children who do have English as first language, I’m not sure how many there are to be found who really enjoy these authors. And yes, I myself am a big fan of Emily Brontë and Charles Dickens, and read most of their books. But not when I was 12.
The story is fast-paced and filled with interesting characters and very sudden plot twists although there are parts that slow it down a bit. Paloma is not my favourite character but I was intrigued what would happen with her – and I really didn’t see it coming!
Not for people who don’t like swearing by the way. The f-word is said 308 times to be precise. Maybe the author can use a bit less swearing in her next book or have a thesaurus handy.

Thanks to Netgalley for this digital review copy.

It’s so good to find a thriller that doesn’t follow the typical girl meets boy, everything appears perfect, then things start to go wrong etc. etc. This plot was a breath of fresh air with a great yet sad insight to how different growing up in a third world country is.
I did see most of the twists coming but I still enjoyed exploring the who/what/where and how’s of it all .I could see this book making a great film or tv mini series with the beautiful SriLankan backdrop. I was questioned the final page when we’re left hanging. Assuming it’s intentional, without giving any spoilers, was he the same guy??? #NetGalley #MySweetGirl

Enjoyed this book! The characters and storyline were very entertaining. I'm not that convinced about the ending. It seemed a little rushed and haphazard to me. Very good though.

A psychological thriller set in present day San Francisco with flashbacks to 2004 in Sri Lanka. The story is told in the first person by Paloma, an orphan from Sri Lanka who was adopted by Mr and Mrs Evans and brought to America when she was twelve years old. Paloma is an obnoxious, angry and self-centred person who lies and cheats and is totally unreliable as a narrator. As the story in the present day unfolds, it is clear she is falling apart and appears to be loosing touch with reality. Her present predicament has it's origins in Sri Lanka and in the alternating chapters, this is slowly revealed to us.
This was an exciting read that felt fresh and raw. The story at times seemed to be evolving rather slowly but the pace picked up towards the end. The twists were good and plentiful but I did anticipate them quite early on. It was difficult to give credence to some aspects of the story and I found the character of Paloma very off-putting. Nevertheless I enjoyed the book, it was well-written and I look forward to reading more of the author's work in the future.

This book is everything a psychological thriller should be! Gripping, addictive, exciting, and impossible to put down - I read this in one sitting! The drama starts from the first few pages, which is what I love, and although the back story was told through the narrative voice, it was still chilling and intense. The conclusion was unforeseen, and I didn't guess what was coming, (although I know some readers did!)

This is definitely a book I will be recommending - I can not praise it enough!

This was a story that I couldn't predict. Firstly whether I was going to stick with it or not, and secondly where it was going.
We. Glad I stuck with it as it turned out to be a great book!

Picked My Sweet Girl up just to start it to read a few pages ,this tense chilling thriller drew me in and I read late into the night.A book with so many twists and turns characters that come alive an edge of your seat thriller.A book I wo
I’ll be recommending and an author I will be following.#netgalley #hodderstoughton

Chilling ghost stories, a stalker, murder and an unreliable narrator all merge to create an original thriller with LOTS of twists you don’t see coming!

Paloma, with her dry sense of humour, is very unlikeable and the reader-relationship is difficult to define. She has a great, wry sense of humour which elicited some laugh-out-loud moments, but she’s actually an awful person with gender and identity issues that destroys the relationships around her.

The twists were many and unexpected. One or two I guessed along the way, but the really significant ones coming towards the end had me shocked!

This is an easy read, one you won’t want to put down, with an ending that was oh, so satisfying!

#netgalley #mysweetgirl #amandajayatissa #hodder&stoughton

Addicted to this book… As soon as I started to read, I just knew that I wouldn’t be able to put the book down… One hell of a rollercoaster ride.

This was a brilliant read!

The story follows Paloma, who is adopted at 12 years old from Sri Lanka by a wealthy American couple.

Told from two different times ans countries, we hear how Paloma was brought up in an Orphange and came to be adopted. We then follow Paloma now, in her home of 18 years, San Francisco.

Paloma is presented as a messy and chaotic woman, drinking too much and avoiding embracing a real life, job, responsibility etc. We learn that she feels she is a big disappointment to her adopted parents and is haunted by a secret she left behind in Sri Lanka.

Paloma is more and more disorientated, forgetful and sure she is being taunted by her past.

I thought Paloma was a really interesting and real character.

I really enjoyed the twists and turns in this book and was pretty wowed by the ending.

Would recommend!

Thank you, Hodder & Stoughton, for suggesting this book to me.
Very strong narrative voice. Paloma sounds kind of like Joe from “You” - there is no stalking involved... and she uses a LOT of f bombs, but overall her manner of speech (hope this makes sense) is quite similar.
Another thing, there should be some kind of warning, like “read at night at your own risk” XD Because the way it’s written, you just glide from page to page, the story unfolds and then BAM, then it’s all good, some crazy things happen, some not so crazy things and BAM and you’re sleeping with your lights on.
I did guess the big twist about half way through the book. From the reviews I’ve seen, quite a few people also figured it out — but I still enjoyed how the story unravelled. Final chapter was my favourite part. A more than satisfying ending.
The only thing that bothered me while I was reading was the inconsistency of tenses throughout the book (note, I’m not talking about Paloma’s in-the-moment thought process). It felt like the novel had been written in present tense but for some reason was later converted into the past, which ended up leaving some verbs in the present. And there were a lot of errors like p135: “if my mother thought me anything”, but mostly things like p160: “I wasn’t sure I hear her right” and p292 “I was leaving her and I don’t believe her”. I’m not sure if the copy I’ve read is an uncorrected proof or not, though.
Overall, I think Amanda Jayatissa did an incredible job. Will definitely recommend it!

In present day San Francisco Paloma Evans life is a bit of a mess no thanks to her blackmailing roommate Arun and if she thinks that’s bad the worst is yet to come. In Ratmalana Sri Lanka in 2002, Paloma is in an orphanage awaiting the much anticipated arrival of Americans Mr and Mrs Evans who decide to adopt her at the age of twelve. The two storylines run alongside each other which works well with the title coming from the Evans affectionate term for Paloma.

In the present day we're inside Paloma's head though it isn’t always a comfortable experience especially with some of the racism she experiences. She’s smart, funny but darkly so, she’s angry and definitely haunted. Some of her turns of phrase are genius and snarkily amusing but you can see she is a very messed up young woman. You realise pretty quickly that’s she’s an unreliable narrator and I do rather enjoy one of those!!! You’re in a puzzling conundrum- what’s a lie, what’s real, what’s illusion, what’s delusion? The 2002 orphanage voice of Paloma matches her younger self and I find these sections especially fascinating. Here there are some good Gothic supernatural elements with a ghost named Mohini and you have no idea if she’s imaginary, real or a coping mechanism. I love the cricket references of the younger Paloma, what a pity she doesn’t try to explain the game and cricketing terms once she arrives in San Fran. Maybe she does!!!

In both timelines there are hints of suspense, menace, possibly more in Sri Lanka as it’s more of an uneasy and difficult quandary but the present day shows the past is certainly catching up with her as the plot twists and turns. It becomes scary in the present day with exacted revenge being sweet. I’m not too surprised by the outcome as you can see it coming but it doesn’t detract from enjoyment. The ending is really good and certainly chilling.

Overall, this is an impressive and gripping debut which is hard to put down. It’s well written and has a fast paced plot.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Hodder and Stoughton for the arc in return for an honest review.

A story of adoption and it's impact. I thought that the final twist was surprising and excellent but I almost gave up after the first few chapters because of the language. There was so much swearing, 4-5 f words in one speech. I really didn't want to read it. It felt that it wasn't at necessary - just habit. It spoiled the book for me.

I wasn’t keen unfortunately, it was peppered with too many “f” words and was pretty slow. She was an unlikely main character who I never quite took to, She doesn’t handle things well and there are lots of strange goings-on which she cannot fathom. It all kicks off in the last quarter and there are some nasty twists. Not for me.

My Sweet Girl is a story about Paloma, a young girl in a Sri Lankan orphanage who is chosen by an American couple for adoption. The book moves between her life in California as a 30 year old, and the story of her 12 year old self in Sri Lanka. In California, Paloma's roommate has been killed, and she fears it is related to her Sri Lankan past. The reader is given tidbits of information throughout to build up the story, with many twists and turns along the way.

I found the start of the book quite slow, but the pace certainly picks up from half way onwards. I really liked the twists and turns (I did guess what would happen but it definitely didn't affect my enjoyment), even if I found the main character a bit irritating! All in all, a good read.

This had a slow beginning and it was peppered with the F-word and heavy drinking which put me off. It tells the story of a girl in a Sri Lankan orphanage who was adopted and taken to San Francisco. The story alternates between past and present when the girl in question has to endure the mysterious disappearance of her room mate Arun, whilst her parents are away. She does not handle things well and there are lots of strange goings-on which she cannot fathom. It all kicks off in the last quarter and there are some nasty twists. It is quite unusual but a bit too graphic.

This book was insane!!!! I loved the twists and the ending. Recommended. goodreads.com/booksireadandliked
Disclosure: I would like to thank the publisher and author for my advanced review copy of the book. This is my honest review

I know that a two star rating isn't the best, but I did enjoy this book more than it seems. It was fast paced with some great twists and turns, although I had managed to figure out the big plot twist about halfway through which was a shame. Because I've read so many fantastic thrillers I have very high expectations, and usually only highly rate the ones that complete floor me with the twist.

I think that the overall story is great, and enjoyed the flick between present day and when Paloma was a child at the orphanage. I much preferred the flashback chapters as I felt the writing flowed more nicely. The chapters from present day Paloma felt quite chunky to me, and I will admit that there was just too much swearing for me. I don't mind swearing in the narrative, often I feel like it adds quite nicely to it, but this felt like too much for me and limited my enjoyment of the text.

Overall I still enjoyed the book and got through it very quickly, so would not want to deter someone from reading it! The writing style wasn't for me but I'm sure it will work for many other people, and I may have guessed the twist but I have read a lot of thrillers! I'd still be interested to see what this author publishes next

Que Sera, Sera.... whatever will be, will be? The future's not ours to see...

When I found out that there is a psychological thriller written by a Sri Lankan author, I was so excited! I have never come across a thriller written by Sri Lankan author (there may be but maybe I am not too familiar) so this was my first thriller book written by a Sri Lankan author. And boy after reading this book, I was surprised at how good this book really was!

Paloma Evans was adopted from an orphanage in Sri Lanka by a Mr. and Mrs. Evans and moved to America to start a new life. Eighteen years later, living in San Francisco Bay Area, her parents have cut Paloma off from their trust fund and she had sublet her apartment to a person named Arun from India. But soon, Arun starts blackmailing her, saying that he knows about a dark secret of Paloma and soon, Paloma finds Arun lying in a pool of blood in her apartment. But when the police arrive at the crime scene, Arun's body was no where to be found. Set between alternate time lines between Sri Lanka and San Francisco.

From start to finish, I was so engrossed into the book! I must say, the author's writing was really good and witty and did a good job keeping the reader into the story. This was actually a fast-paced thriller, with chilling ghost folk tales shared among the children in the orphanage at night and towards the middle of the book, begins the twists and turns, so dark and unexpected! The main protagonist, Paloma seems to be witty and probably a bit unlikable character and I kind of had a love hate relationship with Paloma--at one moment, I liked her funny witty attitude and the other, I hated her for her personality. As a reader, I was curious what Paloma's secret was but with the twisted and unexpected end, when the secret was revealed, I was so shocked that I had to take a breather!! Totally unexpected. The book was also realistic in many ways, particularly about Paloma's life in San Francisco. Having lived in Ohio for five years, I got to experience some racism and the fact that people call Sri Lankan language Sinhalese as Sri Lankan and many Americans are a bit clueless about Sri Lanka is all realistic and the author has captured it beautifully, making it realistic as possible. Life in the orphanage and the corruption was all too realistic as well.. Overall, I completely enjoyed this book, staying up all night just to finish this book!

Overall, My Sweet Girl is a heck of a thrilling ride that will keep you up all night! Worth 4.5 stars!!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

Paloma has a terrible secret from her time in the orphanage before being adopted by a wealthy couple in California. Now a young adult, her secret has been discovered and her flat mate is dead/disappeared. She's drinking, blacking out seeing a ghost from the past she's trying to forget in this twisting mystery tale told by Paloma as narrator.