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Review: The Drowning Girls

The Drowning Girls The Drowning Girls by Paula Treick DeBoard
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

An enjoyable read, with a twisty ending.

The Drowning Girls by Paula Treick DeBoard is a fast, interesting read. The story follows married couple Liz and Phil and Liz’s teenage daughter Danielle as they move into a gated, luxury home community called The Palms. Everything in The Palms is something most people could only dream of. Paradise, Phil calls it.

Phil has taken a job as the community manager. He deals with any complaints, inquiries, and parties being thrown at The Palms. Liz is a high school guidance counselor, and Danielle is set to begin her freshman year of high school at the end of summer. In exchange for Phil’s job, they family gets to live in a magnificent home for free.

And then one day shortly after they arrive, Danielle becomes best friends with beautiful Kelsey Jorgensen. Kelsey is stunning, popular, and cool, while Danielle is intelligent, nerdy, and still on the bridge between childhood and adolescence. With Kelsey’s friendship, Danielle crosses the bridge before Liz’s eyes. Who would have known that meeting the Jorgensens would begin a spiral that the family would not escape from unharmed?

The gates are meant to keep bad people out of The Palms, but what about the bad people who live within those gates....

There is darkness to The Palms, lurking beneath the shiny veneer. The gates close everyone in, and the privilege that comes with their level of wealth is dangerous for those who don’t truly belong. Do the gates exist to keep people out, or to keep those secrets in?

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