Betty Stash has never much cared for anyone or anything other than her parents house, which she expected to inherit on her mother's death. She appears to have been in a state of quiet jealous rage ever since her beautiful and "beloved" sister was born. Much of the action in this story takes place in Betty's mind for at least the first half of the book, which made it a little slow and draggy in my opinion, until at last Betty seemed to make the switch from petty, whining, narcissist to full on evil psycho.

I received an advance copy for review. ( )

I honestly don't know how these books keep piling up on my doorstep.

Liked:
- Unreliable narrators make for fascinating stories. Because we only learn about other characters through Betty's eyes, it's hard to tell what's truly happening in the family dynamics.
- Family dramas (in the domestic sphere) are one of my favorite subgenres of contemporary fiction (projecting much?!?). I guess when one's own family is dysfunction, you take some comfort in knowing that other people are messed up too.

Didn't like:
- I honestly found it harder and harder to like and sympathize with the main character as the story progressed (although to be fair she does admit to killing a cat within the first few pages, so "likability" is already strained).

The promos for this book are likening it to du Maurier's "Rebecca," but having recently read "The Haunting of Hill House," I would probably make that comparison first, particularly Betty's relationship with place and especially with the House as sentient (and manipulative). ( )

Please note that I received this book via NetGalley. It did not impact my review or rating.

Spoilers about the book "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier are below.

Look there can only be one "Rebecca". This book is in on way or shape at the level of "Rebecca" on it's best day. The main character is insane. She also does very terrible things and is never caught. The voice of the main character feels older than what the book setting is. At one point I thought the book started in the 1950s or something, but no it seems to be in modern settings. The ending left me unsatisfied. If you are going to have me follow the ramblings of a Mrs. Danvers character, at least let some sort of comeuppance occur.

"The Beloveds" is just a long and overly tedious book into the mind of a psychopath (our main character is named Betty) who is obsessed with her family home. When her mother dies and leaves the home to her sister and her husband (Gloria and Henry Bygone) Betty plans ways in which to get the house she rightfully sees as her inheritance.

There's nothing to Betty besides being cruel and petty. You would think that people would see another side to her, but based on what we are given to glimpse as a reader, she seems to be either drunk on gin and or taking pills most of the time. Considering her supposed weight (and the book mentions how very little she eats these days), how she wasn't passed out in all times is baffling to me. Betty is obviously supposed to be a stand-in for Mrs. Danvers. But for me, Mrs. Danvers wasn't obsessive about Manderley, she was obsessive about Rebecca and keeping Manderley the way that Rebecca wanted it.

The other characters are not developed very well. Probably because Betty takes no notice of them except to rage about her sister being seen as a Beloved, and other people as Beloved (they can do no wrong and are perfect). There are hints here and there that the character of Gloria is becoming suspicious of her sister, but that's all there are, hints. She seems just as clueless as other people in this book.

Telling the book via first person POV was just a mistake. As a reader you don't have the chance to get away from Betty. You read about the terrible things she does (there's a comment made that you find out she murdered the family's pet when she was a child) and then you just keep reading about things she is doing/planning with no hint about it from other people. I just felt mentally exhausted by the time I got to the end of this book.

The flow was not that great. We just stumble from one of Betty's schemes to another with her comments about how the house was talking to her and how her sister was a beloved and she didn't see why. Somehow we skip ahead months and years in this book with no reference for it except a quick word here and there said. Since I got an advance copy, hopefully the final book has some chapter headings with month/year included.

The setting of this book mainly takes place at the family house in the country somewhere, not close to London, but in the general area. Sorry if I sound vague, but the author didn't really describe things in a way for me to get a sense of where this was besides somewhere in England. The house also doesn't even come alive for me the way in which Manderley does for me as a reader while reading "Rebecca". I still don't even get why Betty is obsessed with a house that doesn't seem to be anything special.

The ending was a disappointment. The author just sets up that more bad things are coming. Why this is marketed as a mystery astounds me. There is no mystery here. ( )

Featuring a twisted lead protagonist that readers will absolutely love to hate, The Beloveds by Maureen Lindley is a deliciously dark tale of obsession and jealousy.

Elizabeth "Betty" Stash is consumed with jealousy towards her beautiful, much loved younger sister, Gloria. She has been able to control her rage despite Gloria "stealing" her childhood friend Alice and her love interest Henry Bygone. However, discovering their recently deceased mother bequeathed the family home, Pipits, to Gloria, Betty is consumed with plotting how to wrest the estate from her sister. Biding her time, she devises what she believes to be a foolproof plan to rid take back what Betty believes to be HER rightful inheritance.

Betty is unbelievably horrid and impossible to like yet she is also an incredibly fascinating character. She is a narcissist who harbors an outrageous sense of entitlement. Betty has figured out how to hide her true nature from everyone around her but she is unflinchingly honest with herself (and readers) about how she REALLY feels about the people in her life. Betty meticulously plans and executes her revenge against anyone who dares cross her and she becomes increasingly deranged when things do not to her way.

Narrated entirely from Betty's point of view, readers have a front row seat to her bitterness, anger and progressively demented thoughts. She devises then discards several schemes on how to reclaim Pipits (which she has an unhealthy attachment for) and she patiently waits to carry out her very diabolical plan. Betty's strategic retreat will eventually lead to a further devolving of her mental state and what happens next is rather shocking and somewhat unexpected.

A completely absorbing character study of a woman who has no redeeming qualities whatsoever, The Beloveds is a fiendishly clever novel that is well-written and impossible to put down. Readers will be glued to the pages in an effort to see if Betty's outrageous schemes will yield results and more importantly, whether or not anyone will ever catch on to just how deeply troubled Betty is. Despite the middle dragging just a tad and an abrupt conclusion, Maureen Lindley's latest release is an engrossing character study of a deeply disturbed woman who desperately needs psychiatric help. ( )

I received this through NetGalley in exchange for my review. The narrator of this book is dark and twisted. Feeling denied her inheritance of the home she loves, she sets out to recover it. As she falls deeper into alcoholism and psychosis, her thoughts get darker. Good narrative and gothic feel. The end, however, seemed to veer off topic. This section would have been better earlier in the book, as it shows the protagonist’s character. ( )