This was thoroughly entertaining. One of those books that delivers exactly what you want from a thriller - exciting and twisty!

Love all of Alice Feeney’s books and this new one didn’t disappoint.
It starts off with a baby disappearing from a supermarket on a Mother’s Day 20 years before then jumps forward to the present and is told from the point of view of 4 women signified by their names at the start of the chapter as well as a drawing which links specifically to them and helps you remember who is who. I haven’t seen that used before and thought it was really clever.
Edith, an older lady living in a car home.
Patience, Edith’s carer at the home.
Clio, a therapist.
Frankie, a librarian in a prison.
A death in the care home brings the woman together and tells the story of how they link together and where the missing baby fits into the story.
Cleverly done!

3.75⭐️

Thank you so much to Alice Feeney, Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for the Advanced Readers Copy

Even though I have Daisy Darker on my shelf, this was my first Alice Feeney read so it took longer for me to understand her writing style and get into the book

I spent majority of the first half of the book confused, but then again when are you not confused when reading a thriller? The changes from Pov and time jumps were continuously throwing me off

It had everything from twist and turns, to before and after, and of course. the plot twist at the end. I somehow didn’t expect it even though it was all there right in front of me so congrats on that one

I loved how it ended, it rounded up the whole book nicely but the book overall was a decent okay read

This book was quite different to what I expected.
I really enjoyed the different POVs and characters - it was interesting trying to work out how they were all connected. I liked the exploration of motherhood. The characters were well written but I didn’t feel emotionally connected to them.
The plot was okay. I feel like the mystery wasn’t really a mystery because it was quite predictable? There was a little twist at the end which did surprise me and I liked the way it ended.
It was interesting to read about how these characters reacted to their unfortunate situation. Sometimes good people do have to do bad things and I think this book portrayed that well.
Overall it was okay - I enjoyed parts of it but I expected more from it

Really enjoyed this quirky, character driven mystery novel.
Loved the women in it and enjoyed finding out how their lives linked through the story.
Recommended.

Thank you Pan MacMillan and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.
I have read all of Alice's other books and was so excited to receive this one.
At first I was a little confused by this book as it was not the usual book for Alice but the more I read the more involved I became and it was like "what is going on?", then things started to slot into place and I started to work things out - was I right yes.
I loved the character of Ethel she was just so great, and Dickens. I felt sad for Nellie/Patience and Frankie but certainly not Jude and Clio I couldn't warm to but eventually did.
This was such a different book to Alice's usual books and at first it was ok I'll read it but 1/2 way through that was it I couldn't put it down.
Well done Alice on another great book - more please.

OH WOW! I’ve read a few of Alice Feeney’s novels before and thought I knew what to expect – but Good Bad Girl is nothing like them and such a wonderfully original story. I was absolutely hooked!

I mean, you DO have to suspend belief a little at the vast coincidences at play in Good Bad Girl, but I think we can manage that for the sake of an excellent and thoroughly clever story!

We start with a scene in a supermarket some time in the past – a woman stops to have a chat with an old work colleague whilst the baby in the stroller is kidnapped. We then leap into the future and meet a series of women – Frankie, Patience, Clio and Edith. They are all battling with secrets and demons and just trying to do the right thing.

A woman is murdered in a care home and in comes Detective Chapman to solve the twisty and confusing case which seems to link all four women and the missing baby in the stroller.

At times verging a little close to confusing, I could not stop thinking about this book and how clever Alice Feeney is at keeping you guessing and telling such an interwoven and challenging story in such an exciting way.

The characters are brilliant – complicated women with regrets and motives based on love and wanting to give others what they didn’t have themselves. I could picture them all so vividly and enjoyed the little interludes of humour through some of things said by Edith and Detective Chapman.

The way each chapter flitted between the main characters’ points of view was great – the same scene would pick up from one character to the next and take over through their eyes which created more humour and suspense.

Just a stunning feat of excellent storytelling that I will keep thinking about and will stand out in my memory!

I have seen other reviewers report this is a convoluted tale, it certainly is which I believe is the authors plan to make you keep reading! You have to stay to the end!!

Alice Feeney is an author who’s premises always sound good but I feel something lacks for me in the execution. However, this time I enjoyed the book more than her other books. The book had me from the start and before o knew it the book had finished.

🐞𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐁𝐚𝐝 𝐆𝐢𝐫𝐥 𝐛𝐲 𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐅𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐲 🐞
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫
𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫: 𝐓𝐨 𝐁𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝟑𝐫𝐝 𝐀𝐮𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑
𝐓𝐚𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞: 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘉𝘢𝘥 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘏𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘛𝘰 𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘗𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘚𝘰 𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘗𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘏𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘛𝘰 𝘋𝘰 𝘉𝘢𝘥 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴.

𝐌𝐲 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝟑.𝟓 ⭐️ 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝟒⭐️ 𝐭𝐨 𝐍𝐞𝐭𝐠𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐲 & 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬

I squealed when I found out I was approved for this book by Netgalley, so I wanted to love this book, as I have all of Alice Feeney other books, but I don’t know how to describe it, I enjoyed it as it was a good book…

Don’t get me wrong, it had me turning those pages still as I HAD to know what the HELL was going on. The twists that came were a little predictable but that was okay because it fit well into the story, they weren’t too outlandish and they made sense.

Told in different POV from Frankie, Patience, Edith & Clio. Short snappy chapters so you could read this quick, it was a steady paced book which turned up the pace just after half way.

I didn’t rate this lower because I loved the characters, even when you had no reason to love them. They were all very very flawed but I loved them for it. This did make me emotional a few times but I think it hit home a bit about mother/daughter relationships.

My favourite quote from the book: 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘶𝘱. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘳, 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥, 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘣
𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰

Check trigger warnings before reading please. Would still 100% recommend!

What’s your favourite Alice Feeney books?
Mine in order has got to be
•His&Hers
•Daisy Darker
•Sometimes I Lie
•I know who you are
•rock, paper scissors
•good bad girl

Thanks so much too @netgalley & @panmacmillan for this ARC 🥰🐞
#netgalley #netgalleyreads #netgalleyreviewer #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookblog #bookworm #goodbadgirl #booklover #bibliophile #booksbooksbooks #booktok #thrillerbooks

If you want a book that will keep you reading well into the night, look no further. The plot of Good Bad Girl is so convoluted that you just have to read on to find out the answers to the many questions that are posed. - and the final answer does not come until the very end of the book. I kept thinking I'd worked out what was going on, only to have the story do a quarter turn so that everything was out of sync again and I was no further forward in guessing the outcome.

It's a little frenetic and I wasn't totally convinced by the plot, but it certainly kept me hooked. Lucid prose that doesn't get in the way of the action carries you through chapter after bewildering chapter. Whodunnit? I'm not telling. Read it and find out.

"One person's truth is rarely exactly the same as someone else's. Truth tends to stretch and bend out of shape to best fit its owner."

Alice Feeney is one of the few authors that I can genuinely say always manages to fool me — they are the absolute queen of twists and turns so I had painfully high expectations about this book considering the way that Daisy Darker had me ranting for days afterwards. And thankfully, I was not disappointed.

Good Bad Girl is a grey, blurry story where nothing is as it seems — our main characters are lying to us, to each other, to themselves and they exist somewhere outside of being entirely good or bad in the most exciting and confusing ways. There’s secrets we know are being kept from us, and then even more just waiting in the shadows. But even with all that, I loved them; and desperately wanted them to have their answers and closure as much as I wanted them for myself.

The story moved quickly but quietly — the tension settling in the small details and the doubt, building up to something feverish and intense as the mystery starts to finally piece together. The narration was clear but had this way of making every single thing feel suspicious, framing every normal scene as something sinister that had me on edge from the very first page. We jumped between people and places in a way that was almost disorienting but engaging — Feeney doesn’t let you relax for a single moment, constantly making you question if you’ve FINALLY got everything figured out before throwing something else at you. And underneath all the murder and betrayal is a lot of emotion and heartbreak that was so human you couldn’t help but smile.

This is a story about bad things, but damn it’s good. To quote the author themselves, "A good book can cure loneliness, change minds, or even change the world. A good book is nothing less than magic."

I’ve been hooked on Alice Feeney’s books since her first. I was not disappointed with this one.

I liked that it switched between the different characters, and working out how it all fit together. I found it *slightly* predictable but still entertaining. I had trouble putting it down!
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
*ARC from Netgalley *

Alice Feeney has easily become an auto-buy author for me over the past few years and with Good Bad Girl she surprised me again! I'm not going to talk much about the story because I think it is best to go in blind. I was hooked from the beginning even though I was very confused for the first 70 pages, because I had to stop and think about how the characters were related to each other. The story is told by four POVs and takes place in past and present. It was a real page-turner for me and I kept making the wildest guesses while reading. Close to the end I was like "what?!" and I was flabbergasted by twists and turns. The characters definitely made some bold decisions but I still can't say that I disliked them. They all had their unique charm to them.

"Sometimes bad things happen to good people, so good people have to do bad things."

A very fun and fast-paced mystery in my opinion!

Thank you to Alice Feeney, Pan Macmillan and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I was hooked from the first chapter. Full of twists and turns the story weaves fantastically, I would highly recommend.

Holy guacamole!

This story kept me hooked from beginning to end and I absolutely loved it. It almost felt like pieces of a puzzle, slowly coming together to paint a picture of a rather broken family.

Good writing, intriguing characters and a cleverly executed plot make this a must-read.

An easy going detective thriller perfect for beach reads.

Having read all of Alice’s work I think I’m in a good position to be able to firstly say this is not her best work. It’s an easy read and for most parts enjoyable but it has quite a few issues which didn’t match up to Alice’s previous work.

Told from multiple points of view, this story uses that element to be able to keep the reader guessing at to the connections and the who, what, why and when. For me, this was the first struggle of the book as none of the characters, I felt, had distinct voices. Sure they had their quirks which clearly identified their character but in terms of personality they were a bit flat. It would’ve been far more interesting to really explore why Frankie has such an obsession with numbers? Why does she count everything? When did that start? Will she be able to stop? Is it her personality or is it her upbringing? I can only describe it as if we only saw surface deep of each persona and they weren’t truly explored.

I’d like to set a trigger warning for women who have suffered or are suffering from post partum depression. This part of motherhood is mentioned quite frequently throughout and plays a bit part of some of the characters roles. This, I feel, could’ve been handled with a lot more sympathy and care. It’s almost like it was used an excuse and dropped in as required for effect rather than as a case for exploration. It felt a bit heavy footed in places and I don’t think it will sit well with those who have or are currently suffering.

Overall the book is about connections, redemption and women! Unlike her other books Alice’s secrets aren’t as well hidden or disguised so the book is quite predictable and the plots twists aren’t as effective as her previous books. That said I did really enjoy reading this story and it was a great way to pass the time - I’m just not feeling that this book will be remembered or chosen as a best seller.

Thanks to NetGalley for my advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

'Good Bad Girl' by Alice Feeney is a story of secrets and lies brilliantly told with a cleverly constructed plot line. The story does examine the effects of pregnancy at a young age and how it fashions life and uses flashbacks to 20 years ago to good effect. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the chance to ARC this book in return for an honest review. It is not a long book and I completed it in a couple of days.

Sometimes bad things happen to good people, so good people have to do bad things.

Frankie: A librarian at a prison

Patience: A dogsbody at a care home

Edith: A resident of the care home and former store detective

Clio: Ediths daughter who put her mother in the care home. 

Twenty years ago a baby was stolen from her push-chair and then a woman in a care home is murdered. These 2 events are linked and Edith, Patience and Clío need to solve the mystery. 

I have read a few books by Alice Feeney and having loved them all I was so happy to have been picked to read this arc via NetGalley. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley.

Anyway back to the book which had so many bumps and twists I felt like I was on a rollercoaster. My brain got scrambled trying to work out the connections with the characters but this wasn’t a bad thing because it just had me in a choke hold and I just couldn’t put the book down.

Did I expect the ending? Nope and I’m glad because it would have spoiled it a bit for me. Another brilliant book by this author which I highly recommend.

I really enjoyed Daisy Darker by the same author and although I havent read any of her other books, I was looking forward to this one but I didn't like it.

I thought, from the blurb, that it would be a bit lighter but I found it all quite sad and upsetting I especially disliked the grim and so depressing description of the care home and the staff so I just skimmed those bits and possibly missed things as a result.

I was confused by the characters and what their secrets were and in my opinion the book was slow and took too long for the connections to be made clear. I am sure it is skillfully written with twists but it is not for me.