This was a slow-burning tale of deception and kids with a gothic feel.
I struggled to engage with any of the characters, but it is a well-written tale that will appeal to people who like this kind of mystery with a slow building, dark feel.

I requested the audio version, not realising I’d previously requested the ebook. I read the book and enjoyed it so much, I’m listening to very soon after reading it. Not something I usually do, but I found Imogen Church’s narration is very well suited to this dark tale. She’s not one of my favourite narrators, but delivery of this is pitched perfectly. She’s emphasised the sense of foreboding and insecurity that comes across in the book. The different narrative points are handled well and overall, I prefer this version to the text version.

The same review applies:
This author is new to me, but based on this book, she’s certainly one whose other works I’m keen to read. This is a very unusual story, in part, quite unsettling and it explores a number of themes. It unfolds from the narrative points of the two central females. They’re very different and neither make for reliable narrators, so the reader is left not knowing what to trust and where the tale is going next. It’s complex, dark and there’s a gothic feel with some of the descriptive passages, all of which add to the complexity of the story. For me, this was a very different read and I enjoyed it.

My thanks to the publisher for a review copy via Netgalley

Fragile is told from the perspective of Nell and Meagan. Nell has run away from the care home she lived in which was run by Meagan. She lies her way into a housekeeping job in Starling Villas for the awkward Doctor Robin Wilder, in the hope of locating her boyfriend Joe who she saw entering the property. Both Nell and Joe are damaged, fragile young people, and parts of their backstory are difficult to read.
This is a psychological thriller with a gothic twist that I struggled to get into initially. The characters are quite strange and the plot is slow paced. The narrator does add another dimension of suspense to the story though.