It has been a very long time since I picked up a book by this author. I have always loved her stories. They are filled with love and very moving. The reason why it has been so long? Well, people change in a lot of ways and also when they read. I never liked thrillers and crime stories before and it was always chicklit I would pick, but the last few years my taste has changed. It does not mean I don't read this genre anymore, but a lot less.

So for me it was a bit like returning to a first love. ;)

What makes a good book? There is not one definition. Each reader would tell you something different. For me a story that blows me away is one thing, but I also struggle a bit sometimes when there are big parts without dialogues. A dialogue equals a more fluent read for me and of course every book has some parts without them.

How did this book do? I cannot say the story blew me away. There were parts that I thoroughly enjoyed, but some parts were a bit too dry if you see what i mean and it slowed me down.

I know you don't know when you are going to fall in love or who will be the person that ignites those feelings, but Nick really messed it up. On the other hand the part where the author took us to South Africa was my favorite one.

I was also happy to see how Eleanor changed and became a stronger person. 

Anyways, for me sometimes a bit too slow, but a beautiful story with a lot of ups and downs. 3.5 stars

The story of two sisters, who are definitely chalk and cheese, their rivalry and love hate relationships, different to my normal books but one that I really enjoyed

This was a solid read by a talented author, and really something that needs to be appreciated slowly and carefully. Recommended.

Yet again, Amanda Brookfield has written another fabulous book. It follows the coming-of-age story of two sisters and it is a book that will captivate you from start to finish.

I love Amanda Brookfield’s books but for some reason I just couldn’t connect with this book. I started and wanted to stop so I did bc sometimes it’s me as the reader that is the issue. So I stopped give it a couple and then jumped back in hoping to connect but sadly I just couldn’t.

Thank you Boldwood books for the Advanced Readers Copy of this book. It was absolutely amazing and I loved it. Recommend picking it up.

This is a different type of book than i would usually read but I still read it. I liked this book, but since i like thrillers it felt a bit slow for me.

Good Girls by Amanda Brookfield was a book I would not usually pick to read.............But, I thought I would give it ago, as the cover caught my eye. Sadly I found this book very slow to get into and couldn't get into this book. I did try several times however, I still could not get into it. I found the story depressing and hard to believe I know its a story but I could not get to grip with it, especially I could not get to grip with all the characters with this book.
It was a tear jerker and I would advise you have some tissues handy. Sadly it wasn't a book for me.

This book is about Kat's and Eleanor's childhood to the present day.

This story alternates between two sisters Kat and Eleanor. You will find Eleanor is the main character and it doesn't matter how hard she tries she can never compete with her sister Kat, who is beautiful charming and very clever. Kat has it all and Eleanor feels she is missing out! They are so different from each other especially as their childhood was difficult, their mother has mental health issues and their father was a very strict clergyman.

Big Thank you Netgalley, the author Amanda Brookfield and Boldwood Books for my advance reading copy for my ARC in exchange for an honest review

Many thanks to Boldwood and Amanda Brookfield for the opportunity to read and review this book. The Good Girls was a very interesting read based on the relationship of sisters. Kat and Ellie, chalk and cheese. A story of sibling rivalry and love and hate followed from their childhood to adult hood. I cant say I really took to either character but I did enjoy the book.

This book was fast paced. Hard to put down. It flowed well and it was very well written. It caught hold of me and had me hooked from the start . I was literally on the edge of my seat reading this book.

I need to start by saying this is definitely one of my favourite books of the year. The complexities of the relationships between all the characters were just so beautifully explored with all the pain and depth that family and friends can bring to your life.

I really enjoy the use of different time periods in books and in Good Girls we get to explore the characters of Eleanor and Kat from their turbulent childhood right through to adulthood in ways you wouldn’t expect.

The characters in this books are so complex and flawed that they become so raw and real. Their interactions are so intense and meaningful with everything that is said on the surface and everything you know that is going on underneath, that we get to peel away and uncover as the book progresses.

Whenever I was reading from the point of view of a different character their tone and expression was fully that person. You read it and feel immersed in their emotions. All the highs and more heartbreakingly the extreme lows.

So many important issues are weaved into the pages of this book. I connected with it for so many reasons, some extremely painful and emotional for me.

Love is explored in its many guises as well as loss, mistakes, misunderstandings,regret, secrets and everything in between.

This book is the story of two sisters. So different but sharing so much. So bonded together but kept at a distance.

It reminded me of the John Lennon quote ‘Life is what happens to you when you are busy making other plan’.

When I started GOOD GIRLS by Amanda Brooksfield, I had no idea why I requested it. It is not my usual genre, and the synopsis wasn't even particularly grabbing either. So I was puzzled what had attracted it to me in the first place. Even so, I began in the hope that I would discover its attractions. But it was not so.

I don't know if it was my frame of mind, but I found the characters irritating - particularly Kat - and I just didn't want to know anything about her. I felt she was a bit of an entitled bitch and treated her sister like crap. I felt for Eleanor (who was a little like me), the unnoticed unappreciated sister. It seemed that Kat just took advantage of her older sister's good nature.

GOOD GIRLS is the story of sisters Eleanor and Kat, who were once close but became estranged as they grew older - each of their lives moving in a different direction. Then fate cruelly brings them together once again - but is it too lat for the sisters?

The story begins with Eleanor rushing to her sister's side after receiving surgery for bowel cancer. Surgery was successful but Kat was an irritating patient and a complete pain in the butt. She didn't seem to appreciate Ellie's efforts at all being there for her. Their father resides nearby in a care home, suffering from dementia. Ellie doesn't get to visit him as much living in London, and the travel to Surrey is too costly to make the trip on a regular basis.

Kat has always been the popular sister, the one everyone loves. She even married a rich man, produced three perfect children, lives in a lovely perfect house and has the most amazing perfect life. Ellie, on the other hand, is too tall, too awkward, too nice, to unnoticeable and despite being incredibly clever with a sports degree from Oxford, she lives in a small flat in London with an unexciting job, no money and no one interesting in her life. Both girls are products of their upbringing with their somewhat stern clergyman father and their mentally ill mother who committed suicide when they were young.

An obviously dysfunctional family from the start, this story focuses on the tension between the sisters. Told through varying perspectives, primarily Eleanor and Nick (a childhood friend of the girls), the story drifts back in time to when the sisters young to when Ellie left for university. I always enjoy dual timeline narratives but with this book I just found myself becoming more irritated with Kat as the story progressed.

The promise of something I'm not entirely sure of gives way to a somewhat slow and drawn out story with people living miserable lives and basically being incredibly horrible to each other. I really struggled with this book and didn't enjoy the journey at all and spent most of the time waiting for something interesting to happen...which invariably didn't.

I feel really terrible about giving a bad review but in all honesty I couldn't seem to connect to the characters or the find the story remotely interesting. I'm not sure what genre the book is meant to fall into, but I would categorise it as a family drama.

While I didn't enjoy GOOD GIRLS that isn't to say others will. I urge you to make up your own mind, as I can't categorically state whether this is a bad book, a bad story or just not appealing...because everyone is different. Everyone's tastes are different and what appeals to me may not be the same for you.

I would like to thank #AmandaBrookfield, #NetGalley and #BoldwoodBooks for an ARC of #GoodGirls in exchange for an honest review.

If there’s one thing that this Ginger Book Geek likes it’s discovering new authors. Amanda Brookfield is certainly a new author for me. I read the synopsis for ‘Good Girls’ and it certainly sounded intriguing and like my sort of read. A psychological tale with a twist to it. It certainly was that and so much more. Overall I did enjoy reading ‘Good Girls’ but more about that in a bit.
I can honestly say that I didn’t take to either of the lead female characters at all but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing. There was just something about the pair of them that set little alarm bells ringing in my mind. Out of the two sisters Kat is the prettier of the two and doesn’t she know it. She has married a wealthy man and they live the sort of lifestyle that is beyond most people. On face value Kat is one of the good girls. Eleanor is Kat’s sister and she is the elder of the two siblings. Eleanor is the one who is the more awkward of the two sisters. She’s a tad clumsy and she certainly stands out from the crowd, which has led to some bullying from others. Eleanor feels responsible for her sister and most of her life has been taken up with looking out for sister. As I said, I didn’t take to either character and I didn’t consider them to be at all likeable. That’s only my opinion though and others might feel differently.
I must admit that it took me a little while to get into this story. I don’t know whether or not that was because I was tired or because the story confused me a bit. I couldn’t make my mind up if the story was trying to be a psychological thriller or a domestic suspense or crime sort of book Once I got into the story that was it I was away as the saying goes. I became intrigued by the sisters and I had to find out what the truth was and which of the sisters really was the good girl. I binge read the book over the course of a few days.
‘Good Girls’ is well written and the author clearly knows how to grab your attention. Once she has your attention it is rather hard to for you to reclaim your attention. She has created intriguing characters and given them back stories which are interesting. The story isn’t particularly fast paced but that suits the sort of story that this is. Amanda creates a tense and dramatic atmosphere and makes you uncertain what or who to believe. She also shows that just because you might be related to somebody it doesn’t mean that you can trust them. That certainly resonated with me because I feel exactly the same.
If I had one teensy weensy little grumble it would be that this book is a bit wordy for my liking and uses words that I haven’t come across in books before. That said I was able to guess at the meaning of certain words by reading the context in which the word was used.
In short and overall I did enjoy the book. I would definitely recommend this book to readers, who love a slower pace of story. I will be reading more from Amanda Brookfield in the future. I look forward to catching up with the books that she has already released. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a well deserved 4* out of 5*.

Sisters .. can there be a more complex relationship? This is the story of Katherine and Eleanor from their younger years - and so much more!

Kat Keating, the 'little' sister has grown up to marry a rich man and produce three perfect, wonderful children into her perfect life. Elly, on the other hand is too tall, too awkward, very clever and sports a degree from Oxford, but has a poorer life in more ways than one. Despite being close as children, they have lost that in adulthood and now we are privy to all their innermost secrets . . .

This is a nicely written, gentle book exploring family dynamics. It's not a novel to race through, but one to be read slowly and savoured. I admit to struggling a little with the gentle pace - I'm used to speedier reads where lots happens but this was different; no less touching though. Definitely recommended for those who enjoy the softer side of women's fiction! After considerable thought, I am happy to give it 3.5 stars.

My thanks to Boldwood Books for my copy, and the opportunity to contribute to this blog tour. This is my honest, original and unbiased review.

This has been a difficult review to write. Whilst I didn’t hate this book I didn’t love it either. I had a touch of confusion over the genre of this book and I’m still not entirely sure which I would categorise it as.

There were things I genuinely enjoyed, the characters although not likeable are very real and flawed. I just wish the one character who was the little bright spark of this book hadn’t committed suicide.

I normally like religious aspects, but this felt more like being preached at in a sermon reading than a religious take which can be done well. For example The testament of Gideon Mack, The Shack and more recently Little Siberia.

I have always prided myself on my wide range of vocabulary but this made me feel uneducated and a bit dim . I think a thesaurus was used heavily and the over use of the word insouciance at the start drove me bonkers.

I hate being negative as I’m normally such a positive person who loves raving about the books I read. But unfortunately this just wasn’t my cup of tea.

I think this would be enjoyed more by readers who love family drama and sibling rivalry.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. I normally like everything that this author has written but this was not the best must be honest.

Two sisters, once close, but who have become estranged as they grew older. Eleanor, the older has her reasons, but she’s never understood her sister Kat’s. Drawn together again, by a cruel stroke of fate, is it too late to reconnect?

This is an excellent family drama, with dark family secrets that devastate the once close sisterly bond. The story begins with Eleanor rushing to be with her sister, and them drifts back in time to the mid-1980s when they were young girls, and then the early 1990s, when Eleanor left for university.

The historical events slowly illuminate the present discord and misunderstanding, but all is not revealed until it is in some ways, too late to make amends. Serendipity plays a part in this story, as it often does in reality, and Eleanor gradually comes to terms with her past and the possibility of a hopeful future.

The cast of characters resonate, they all play a part in Eleanor’s life but have their motivations and flaws, which makes them real. The story is realistically peppered with laughter, sadness, anger and despair. It is a poignant reminder that you cannot sometimes trust those closest to you, and of the rollercoaster nature of life.

An emotional family drama, with a realistic plot and memorable characters.

I received a copy of this book from Boldwood Books via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I found the story to be a slow burn. The story is one of a dysfunctional family with great friction between two sisters Kat the perfect one and Eleanor struggling through life. Its told through multiple points of view which I love. However I had a hard time connecting with any of the characters along with the depressing plot and slow pace of the story it just wasn't the right book for me.

I was initially pulled in by the cover of this book and the synopsis sounded promising, but sadly this one just wasn’t for me.

I really struggled to get through this book and found myself reading it just to finish it. I found the majority of the story to be depressing- and I felt sad reading it. I set it aside several times before picking it back up, hoping the mood would lift- it never really did.

This story follows a dysfunctional family and centers around the tension between the two sisters- Kat and Eleanor. It is told through different points of views which I appreciated, but I just couldn’t connect to any of the characters. The ending did bring some rays of hope, but for me it just took too long to get there.

Thank you Netgalley and Boldwood Books for my advance reading copy. This book will be published 10/8/2019.

This was quite a different read with unlikable characters and their dysfunctional family. The Keating sisters and the friction between them. Kat and Eleanor. Kat was the perfect one and Eleanor was still struggling in life. This was the story of their relationship.

My first book by Amanda Brookfield, the story moved at a slow pace, jumping between the timelines with most of it being narrated by Eleanor and Nick, an old friend of the sisters.

Secrets stayed hidden in the first half. I hoped it wouldn't be what I had suspected from the thoughts of the secondary characters. And it exactly was. The second half dealt with the repercussions of such a revelation and the way Eleanor found her way to move ahead in life.

The story needed patience to hear what the sisters were telling me. I could feel pain, anger, sadness, helplessness in their voices. There was jealousy and power games as they were growing up. The author provided adequate backstory to understand their lives.

As the pages unfurled, I was pulled more into the book, especially when the emotions were laid bare. This was not a happy book to begin with, but for some of us, life is not a bundle of joy. I could understand the sisters more as I have gone through those parts of life. I knew where their anger stemmed from.

For me, the author wrote an honest story, showing me facets of the relationship between sisters, as seen from a different angle. Life could be viewed in more ways than one.