The Missing Girls of Alardyce House is a harrowing, gut-wrenching story which weaves a dark web of dread.

Amy Osbourne arrives at Alardyce House in mourning. She just lost her parents and must now live with her hateful aunt, wimpy uncle and two cousins in an oppressive house. She's forced to marry or be taken to an asylum. But when she becomes pregnant, her life may be over. She may never discover the truth behind the abused and missing maids.
This book is a tough one to rate. On one hand, I wanted to find out what happened to Amy and the other girls. And I love that everyone is not as they seem. But the content is dark and includes intense mental and emotional abuse, graphic sexual content and physical torture. I skimmed a bunch of content and probably won't read more books in the series because of the content and because I don't care enough about any of the characters. The author also overuses the word "was" and the passive verbiage makes me feel disconnected from the story rather than an active participant.

There were so many twists and turns in this book, it was little wonder the main character of Amy didn’t know who to trust. I didn’t either as a reader! This was an interesting read, it does have some unsavoury details in the latter stages of the book but if you are squeamish (like me), they could be left unread with out spoiling the story. The descriptions aren’t too graphic. I did feel sorry for Amy, she had suffered a loss and then had to contend with his viscous aunt. It does have a happy ending of sorts but the surprises carry on throughout the book. I received a copy and have voluntarily reviewed it. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a tricky book for me. It was slow in the beginning and I felt for Amy, the main character, but then she would say things or act certain ways that made me question her actions while in time of mourning. The men are awful, not many nice characters to like, even Amy herself , she was just so oblivious to everything happening around her that made me want to scream at her. The book does feel long at times but worth the twists and turn that are thrown at us throughout the story and there are plenty.

This is my first book by the author and the premise drew me in immediately. I am a big historical fiction fan so this was a welcome addition to my library!

I felt sorry for Amy when she set foot in her uncle's house and could relate to her uneasiness about everything.
The storyline was well knit but it was hard to get into book initially, maybe because everything was happening too fast.
A few situations did seem stretched and I really wanted to shake Amy for being so blind. However, one could see how consumed she was by grief and her common sense was compromised at times. I enjoyed the mystery element of the plot, the gothic feel of it and Amy's resilience to take life by the horns. My only beef is with the ending as it seemed rushed but was definitely twisty at best! Pick it up if you enjoy a twisty mystery thriller!

I love gothic mysteries and this sounded like it would be perfect, but it never clicked. I think I skimmed more than I read. The two stars are generous.

This was a good dark historical fiction with some family drama. There was a lot packed into this book. The only thing I wish there was more descriptions of the settings, the characters and their actions. It's a series so that may change with the next book. Other than that it's fast paced with quite a bit of action. It has a goth feel to it with it being set in the Victorian era. Amy is the main character. She is fascinating at times and others some of the things she does are just odd. Overall it was an interesting read with a few twists thrown in!

The story inside is not as historical or gothic as the cover would have you believe. It's also not a straight forward historical mystery but rather a mishmash of a serial killer/torture thriller with some historical background.

First thing is that the book is longer than it should be. Story spans 10 years or so and I felt this was too much. What was really too much were the torture scenes. Not very pleasant at all and many of them unnecessarily detailed. There's a LOT of sex in this book too. I've not read 50 shades but I imagine this is the historical version.

The men in this novel are awful.

The cliffhanger does make you want to read the next one though.

For me, this is a really difficult book to review. The story was quite slow to grip me and for the first few chapters I didn’t really warm to Amy and to be honest I thought I was going to stop reading, but then the storyline developed and I was hooked. I did feel that some of the descriptions on the torture were unnecessarily brutal and overly descriptive which detracted from the story for me. I really enjoyed the ending and look forward to the next book in the trilogy. Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for giving me access to an early copy.

This was certainly a twisted story. So many secrets in this book. I thought Amy was a bit reckless and bold. I can’t help but feel she brought a lot of what happened on herself, at least in the beginning. I thought the story started slow and really built into a page turner in the last fifty pages or so. I wasn’t too surprised by the ending either.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the early copy

I love an old fashioned gothic, but I just couldn't kindle to this one. The writing style was not to my taste. The book covered too long a period, so it didn't seem focused enough to me; and it was too dark and definitely too graphically torture-y. I've read some pretty gnarly stuff, but some of the scenes were just too much. The truly squeamish should certainly take care with this one. All of that, l might have been able to overcome, if I could have warmed to the protagonists. I really wanted to love this one, but I just didn't.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an ARC copy for my review.

This gripping story about poor Amy, an orphan sent to live with her uncle and aunt in a dark and depressing manor is a real winner!. I found it full of detail that would keep me up reading for hours until it was finished. Just as I thought it couldn't get any better, then more would happen to further satisfy me and keep me engrossed!!. I also have to say that the ending in this book was great!!. I hope there is more to this story but we'll have to see!!!!

Many thanks to Netgalleyl for the free ARC book for an honest review.
#Netgalley, #bookandtonic #heatheratkinson

Firstly thank you Netgalley for this ARC

Wow what a brilliant book and a good start to a new series. Historical family saga just brilliant

This had a real gothic horror feel to it that I enjoyed. I started off not entirely sure about our protagonist Amy, but actually ended up really hoping she won out in the end. I did see where this was going very early on, that didn't take away from it too much though.
Unfortunately at times it got a little chaotic and felt like the author was throwing every possible trope at it. It had a few moments where it veered into the absurd. Which is a shame because the central story was decent and didn't need it.
But overall this was a story and cast of characters that I got invested it, and cared about how things turned out. Once it picks up, I ended up reading it in one sitting to find out what happened to everyone.

Book one in the Alardyce Trilogy and my first read by this author, it definitely won’t be my last. A good historical family drama, the first in a trilogy and I will be reading the next one. It’s quite a dark, brooding, gothic tale set mainly in Edinburgh, that spans quite a long period of time - about 18 years. It’s an easy read that isn’t going to overly tax you but an enjoyable one with a few twists and turns to keep you guessing.

Briefly, when her parents are killed in an accident, heiress Amy Osbourne is sent to live with her uncle and aunt in Scotland but they are anything but welcoming. Her aunt is determined to get her married off as soon as possible, despite a period of mourning that should be followed. There is also the spectre of her cousin Henry who is suspected of physically assaulting a number of women and who seems to be attracted to Amy.

Amy is a strong character. She has acted in ways that a woman of her class certainly shouldn’t have which has tarnished her reputation. It’s kind of shocking, and I felt a bit unlikely, that she makes the same mistake again, with more drastic results this time. It’s a pretty good plot which threw up a couple of curveballs and a shocking ending which clearly opens up the way to book 2. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Amy Osbourne goes to stay with her maternal uncle and his family at Alardyce House after the death of her parents. Her aunt runs the house with an iron fist and immediately hates Amy due to her compromised status. Her cousin Edward is friendly and becomes a fast friend, while her other cousin, Henry, is cool and aloof. Amy is miserable at Alardyce House and becomes frightened when she learns that young women in and around the house are being assaulted by Henry according to Edward. When her aunt decides Amy is to wed Henry, Amy decides she must escape what will be a most unacceptable marriage.

This one gets two stars because I actually finished it. I was surprised at how epically long this first installment was. It spans decades and multiple locations. It follows Amy from when she first encounters Alardyce House and the family that resides there. Then the story fast forwards 10 years after she runs from a marriage from Henry. Then she's a governess with what seems to be a lovely family that turns out to be anything but. Then she runs to one her only friends, but is he a friend? THEN it follows the trial of the person responsible for the assaults. And then it follow even more. It was toooooo much. The writing was simplistic and seemed to be on par with a 5th grade reading level. Not complex or nuanced at all. Amy's character is ridiculous. She's been having sex with her father's friend for years and doesn't see anything wrong with it after she's found out. She readily shares this information with her cousin Edward when she firsts meets him. She then starts sleeping with a servant. This was not the behavior of women at this time. And if it was, it was certainly not celebrated or discussed so openly or flippantly. The characters were flat and and annoying. I found myself skimming pages. Just not a page turner for me. Wouldn't recommend.

The Missing Girls of Alardyce House is an intriguing novel. It follows the story of Amy who was sent to live with her aunt and uncle after the death of her parents. After Amy gets into a bit of trouble while having an affair with one of the servants, her conniving aunt forces an engagement between Amy and her supposedly unsavory cousin, Henry. Amy runs away and takes on a new identity, but soon the past catches up with her and she begins to realize things were not what they seemed at Alardyce House.

To start, I did enjoy this story. It was fast paced with a lot of action and story packed into the novel. I did, however, find the book to be a bit dry. At first, I couldn’t exactly pin point why I thought this, but as I was reading and comparing this book to others, I realized that there seems to be a lack of description and emotion in the writing. Most of the sentences are written to keep the story moving forward as opposed to offering a description of the characters or setting in the book.

While it does make for a rather dry story, that doesn’t mean this book was boring by any means! Once I got into it, I really couldn’t put the book down and found myself suspecting everyone.

There were some odd parts that seemed rather chaotically dispersed (the seance scene in particular), but besides that, the plot of the book was perfect for a reader looking for a historical thriller vibe! It definitely delivers on the twists and will keep you turning pages all night.

With a deftly drawn cast of characters, an intriguing plot and an immersive and compelling narrative, this is a one sit compulsive read. Plot twists are plenty, red herrings are scattered, leading to a perfect denouement and nicely tying up loose ends. Whilst the reader may well see the way in which the plot is headed this will in no way detract from the sheer reading pleasure of this sprightly tale

Unfortunately, this book just wasn’t for me. Although I loved the initial mysterious and creepy vibes, it quickly plummeted into confusion. I didn’t get on with the writing style either. I’m sure this book will find its ideal reader, sadly it just wasn’t me.

An orphan girl with a sizeable inheritance being sent to relatives - nice uncle, cruel aunt, one son nice but sadly gay, one brooding austere arrogant son. Have we heard that before? Many times over?
Despite the well-worn story with a lot of stomping, fainting, storming in and out going on, despite the plot direction being signposted in large fluorescent font, this book is an okay read. What turned me off were the multiple extended scenes of sadism, torture and sex, none of which I expected from the description of the book and IMO the blurb should contain some sort of content warning.