My Sweet Girl

By: Amanda Jayatissa

Narrated by: Deepa Samuel

Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

“My Sweet Girl pushes the boundaries of what a thriller can do.” (The Washington Post)

“Fiendish [and] full-of-twists ... Sri Lankan author Amanda Jayatissa keeps us guessing and worrying until the very end.” (The New York Times)

“A thriller centered on the meaning of identity and all the layers it can have.” (NPR)

A Most Anticipated Novel of Fall 2021 by Entertainment Weekly, NPR, New York Post, The Boston Globe, Fortune, Buzzfeed, Goodreads, Shondaland, PopSugar, Bustle, Betches, Lit Hub, Crime Reads, BookRiot, Crime by the Book, The Nerd Daily, The Every Girl, and more!

Paloma thought her perfect life would begin once she was adopted and made it to America, but she’s about to find out that no matter how far you run, your past always catches up to you...

Ever since she was adopted from a Sri Lankan orphanage, Paloma has had the best of everything - schools, money, and parents so perfect that she fears she'll never live up to them.

Now at 30 years old and recently cut off from her parents’ funds, she decides to sublet the second bedroom of her overpriced San Francisco apartment to Arun, who recently moved from India. Paloma has to admit, it feels good helping someone find their way in America - that is, until Arun discovers Paloma's darkest secret, one that could jeopardize her own fragile place in this country.

Before Paloma can pay Arun off, she finds him facedown in a pool of blood. She flees the apartment, but by the time the police arrive, there's no body - and no evidence that Arun ever even existed in the first place.

Paloma is terrified this is all somehow tangled up in the desperate actions she took to escape Sri Lanka so many years ago. Did Paloma’s secret die with Arun, or is she now in greater danger than ever before?

©2021 Amanda Jayatissa (P)2021 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

A Most Anticipated Novel of Fall 2021 by Entertainment Weekly, NPR, New York Post, The Boston Globe, Fortune, Buzzfeed, Goodreads, Shondaland, PopSugar, Bustle, Betches, Lit Hub, Crime Reads, BookRiot, Crime by the Book, The Nerd Daily, The Every Girl, and more!

“The perfect thriller to kick off fall is here, and what better way to settle into the season than with a spellbinding tale about a young woman with a secret?...What follows is a smart, darkly funny novel filled with twists that will leave you wondering.” —Shondaland

“Jayatissa's gift for plotting is matched by her grace with lacing her fleet narrative with rich social themes, among them cultural assimilation and the different values placed on white versus brown bodies. In a canny touch, the novel's plot hinges on the literary classic Wuthering Heights. My Sweet Girl may well become, likewise, a classic.” —Shelf Awareness

“This debut thriller—as witty as it is propulsive—will keep readers guessing.”—O, The Oprah Magazine

A twist

I was annoyed at the main character until the plot twist. It was a bit painful to listen to because she seemed like a mess. Definitely will recommend but be patient with the main character.

loved it!

At first, I just wasn't sure about this book. Paloma's secret kept being referred to but I had no idea what that secret was and was beginning to wonder if it's worth listening any more to that nut case. Hang in there! There is a twist in this book which makes it well worth listening to. I can usually figure a book out, but not this one, it was a real surprise.

Favorite book

So so so good I recommended this to everybody new favorite author the performance was really good

Love this story

What is real? Who can you believe? The dark force of trauma drives these questions through numerous plot twists and leaves you questioning everything. So good!!

Keeps you guessing!

A great book. I would say expect the unexpected. Loved how the story played out. Kept me coming back.

Good thriller with lots of twists.

I didn’t like this at first… too many extraneous WTF’s etc. Narration too overwrought. But as the mystery deepened with twists, it grew on me. I’m still not sure about how it all ended!

slow burn suspense

“My Sweet Girl” is a psychological thriller featuring an unlikable and unreliable narrator. From the start, the reader learns the distorted way that Paloma Evans sees the world. Trigger warning: the F-bomb is used in creative and continual ways. Given that Paloma is in her 30’s, it’s slightly within her character development, but if you have issues with cussing, this is not the book for you.

Paloma is a train wreck. She drinks too much, blacks out, and takes no personal responsibility for any of her antics. Paloma has some sort of secret that she will stop at almost nothing to keep from being revealed. She was adopted from a girls’ orphanage in Sri Lanka when she was 12. Something from her past there is hounding her.

The story is told from two timelines, beginning in the current time when Paloma comes home to find her roommate dead in her kitchen. She black outs, and when she awakes, her roommate is gone. Prior to his death, her roommate found out her secret and intended to blackmail Paloma. Still, Paloma alerts the police to the missing dead roommate. The police assume her roommate is undocumented, so they take little interest. And then Paloma thinks she sees a ghost from her Sri Lanka past.

The alternate timeline is at the Little Miracle Girls’ Home when Paloma was a child. This is one of the creepiest orphanages I’ve read about. All of the adults running it seem smarmy, slimy, and disturbing. Through these chapters, in a slow burn sort of way, we begin to learn of what Paloma’s secret is.

Meanwhile, back in San Francisco, Paloma continues to drink and pass out. Her current life in San Francisco is slowly crumbling. She seems to be estranged from her parents. Her therapist can’t seem to make Paloma take more responsibility for her life. Meanwhile, author Amanda Jayatissa expertly drops sparse clues along the way, adding suspense.

Thus, we are left wondering if the roommate is dead or did she just imagine it. We wonder what the heck happened at that orphanage. What is real in Paloma’s current life and what is alcohol-induced mirages? One of Paloma’s beloved neighbors goes missing, and Paloma’s world spins out of control.

Beyond the suspense, author Jayatissa weaves how immigrants are always outsiders. Inadvertently, people make judgements about her due to her skin color. The reader feels the frustration Paloma endures.

The pacing on this story is fantastic. It’s not easy to write a good novel with an incredibly unlikeable narrator and keep the reader engaged. At times I thought every bad thing that happened to Paloma, she deserved. Yet, I kept listening to see how this thing would end.

I listened to the audio production narrated by Deepa Samuel. Deepa did a fantastic job with different character voices.

Such a Great Listen!

The story had me hooked from beginning to end. Did not see that ending coming ! I recommend this book to everyone!

I rather just read my physical copy

I just rather read it, cant stand the voice ive has the physical copy at home and i thought hey maybe it would be better for me to listen to the book since im always super busy, yet listing to this voice makes me cringe. Great story line so far

"What the Actual F***"

So I'm 3 hours in and the constant use of "F***" is so distracting that I've lost the actual plot of this angry book! I'm sad and in a bad mood!!