Good Me Bad Me
Ali Land
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How far does the apple really fall from the tree?
Milly’s mother is a serial killer. Though Milly loves her mother, the only way to make her stop is to turn her in to the police. Milly is given a fresh start: a new identity, a home with an affluent foster family, and a spot at an exclusive private school.
But Milly has secrets, and life at her new home becomes complicated. As her mother’s trial looms, with Milly as the star witness, Milly starts to wonder how much of her is nature, how much of her is nurture, and whether she is doomed to turn out like her mother after all.
When tensions rise and Milly feels trapped by her shiny new life, she has to decide: Will she be good? Or is she bad? She is, after all, her mother’s daughter.
The book starts of strong as we meet Milly (previously called Annie) as she copes with a guilty conscience from both knowing about her mothers crimes, and turning her in to the police. This has a lot of trigger warnings and is very dark, these include abuse, sexual abuse, murder, child abuse and bullying.
The Peter Pan Serial Killer – as her mother has been named by the press, is a particularly horrifying child killer. We start to uncover more and more of the details of her as Milly narrates throughout the book. She turns in her own mother and has to fight her natural urges to protect and be on her side because it’s her mother.
Milly’s new foster family is dysfunctional at best. Mike her foster dad works all the time and has fostered too many children, which has upset his daughter Phoebe. Saskia, her foster mother has her own secrets, which Milly discovers and tries to exploit in such a well-written manipulative tendencies.
The entire arc of Milly’s behaviour after joining her foster family is written so well that it’s almost believable. It reads like a true story crime book. From her reactions to new people, to her being bullied in school and her attachment to the new adults in her life – they were detailed and so well planned.
I can’t talk about the plot too much as I wouldn’t want to spoil anything, but it is chilling. There’s a few twists and turns that I was not expecting – and some that I expected but weren’t there. It really grips you into finding out what will happen next
Positives of Good Me Bad Me
- Good psychological thriller
- Surprising twists
Negatives of Good Me Bad Me
- Can be a bit dark
I received Good Me Bad Me by Ali Land from the publisher via Netgalley. This is an unbiased and honest review
