⭐️ 3 ⭐️

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Alice Feeney is one of my top auto-buy authors, so I couldn’t wait to read Good Bad Girl, unfortunately, it didn't quite live up to my expectations.

There's no doubt that the writing is excellent; Feeney definitely has a unique way with words. It was an enjoyable read, but I wasn't gripped, or fully invested in the characters' stories.
 
I thought the main characters were fairly one-dimensional and had very similar voices — I sometimes forgot which one of the characters was narrating because they sounded so much alike.
 
Good Bad Girl is very much a character-driven story; I thought it lacked the pace and excitement of a plot-driven psychological thriller and plodded along at times. I did like how all the separate threads were woven together at the end (although I did guess the main twists). My biggest niggle was the constant use of Americanisms; they ‘bugged' me all the way through.
 
I did enjoy it, and it’s an entertaining enough read. I know plenty of people have loved it, but it's certainly not one of my favourites by Feeney.

It has such an interesting and unique plot with excellent pacing which kept me super engaged throughout. It is incredibly emotional, raw and beautiful. I absolutely love this genre and this was no exception, i will definitely be reading more from this wonderful author

I am hugely grateful to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC copy. I loved Daisy Darker by Alice Feeney so was keen to read her new book Good Bad Girl.
Having read it, I'm still a bit confused as to what to think about the book to be honest. It's a book that has stuck in my mind some time after I read it so it's definitely a book that made me think, and that had an impact upon me. I can't say that I loved it the way I loved Daisy Darker though.
The story revolves around a host of characters - Patience, who works in a care home, Edith, an inhabitant of the care home, a woman who lost her baby in a supermarket many years ago (as the story develops we find out who that woman is and also who is her baby - although I guessed that before it was revealed), a woman who works in a prison and clearly has troubles, including the loss of her own daughter, and a therapist. Initially a bit confusing to remember who is who. All are pretty unpleasant in their own ways. As the plot progresses we get to see how they all relate to each other - and thrown into the mix is a murder, so there's also an element of whodunnit too. I thought it a clever book and once I'd got past the early stages of feeling a bit confused about who was who and what was happening was intrigued to find out the ending. Overall I'd say a 3 1/2-4* but probably not a book I'd want to read again.

Good Bad Girl Was Better Than Good

I really don’t have anything bad to say about this author; Feeney has done it again. Oddly heartwarming with a killer twist, I can easily categorise this as a very good thriller.

Particularly well written and infinitely quotable, I felt immersed in the narrative Feeney created and keen to understand the people that inhabited it. Subtly building her characters from the ground up, there were stories in the spaces. Mystery and intrigue was created from what she didn’t say. Slowly, all was revealed as bombshells came thick and fast.

Now, I won’t say this was perfectly plotted. Not everything came as a surprise and I guessed early on where it was headed- BUT not everything! Good Bad Girl still had some surprises up its sleeve. And when the ending came, I could safely say I was wrongfooted.

Juicy and yet never unbelievable, this book is definitely one to watch out for!

Rating: 4/5 bananas

I love a multiple POV read so this one really hit the mark there. Although I enjoyed it I found it all slightly predictable which is reflected in my rating. Would still recommend to those who enjoy the genre though.

A dark psychological mystery ties a tragic event of the past when a child is kidnapped to something sinister happening at a nursing home at present time. A book to savour!

Good Bad Girl is such a twisty page turner read, I loved it! Years ago a baby was stolen from a supermarket and there is a connection to the present day. The novel then follows Edith who has been put in a care home against her will and she is planning her escape. Patience is working there and gets to know Edith but everything she has said is a lie! It also follows Edith's daughter Clio who she has a difficult relationship with. This novel has so many twist and turns and it's impossible to weigh up who everyone is and why they are behaving the way they are. I loved Edith in the present day and was rooting for her to get what she wanted. Patience is a fascinating character and I was so intrigued to find out more about her and why she tells so many lies but at the same time seems like a good person. I did work out some of the twists in this book but not all of them and it was such a ride seeing how it was all unveiled in the end. I loved this book and highly recommend it!

Good read. Reliable author for something slightly different and enough to keep you reading more. Liked the storyline and liked the characters. No amazingly surprising twists but still a good read!

As much as I wanted to love this, I struggled to connect with this book and the characters involved. I do however think this has the potential to find it's wide audience so have reflected that in my star rating.

'Ladybugs are so prolific, so determined to ensure their future and protect their legacy, that they sometimes give birth to pregnant ladybugs. Their daughters are born ready to have more daughters. Generation after generation, repeating and reliving the same lives as the last, never changing their spots.'

A baby snatched in a supermarket. A care home worker with a fake name. A lonely old lady. Her estranged daughter. A prison librarian with a mission. Their stories are inextricably linked but how?

Alice Feeney's latest novel is part thriller and part domestic drama, with plenty of twists and red herrings adding intrigue and energy to the convoluted story of four women and their tangled, tumultuous relationships with each other.

The overlapping, intertwining narratives - taking place across multiple timelines amd told by five different narrators - are an impressive feat of story planning. Like a puzzle where you are missing the lid of the box, the reader knows that all the pieces will ultimately fit together to form a picture but Feeney keeps them guessing as to what the final image will be. Lies are heaped upon lies, until you wonder if you can trust any of the characters, or even the author.
Just when you think you're on solid ground again, another twist knocks you sideways, keeping the story moving at a breathless pace.

Some of the twists and misdirects work better than others: by the latter part of the book the author has lost the element of surprise and, at times, I got the sense that some of the turns were there to prolong the story - or because the audience was expecting them - rather than because they were particularly effective. Some feel particularly contrived, with characters speaking or acting in a very unlikely way to serve the plot, reveals that have no pay-off and a couple of truly eye-rolling red herrings.

The four main characters, Patience, Edith, Frankie and Clio, are all interesting, and their separate storylines - and the emerging connections between the women - held my attention throughout. It may be because of how the author unspools the thread of the story so slowly and deliberately, but each of the women is quite ambiguous, leaving the reader plenty of time to decide whether each is a bad person or a good person who has done bad things.

Some of the minor characters worked less well for me, including a scenery-chewing detective who speaks only in riddles, Instagram proverbs and snark, and a charicature of a Cockney character who speaks exclusively in rhyming slang, which she then explains the meaning of - presumably for the benefit of international readers. On this note, I found some of the language very jarring; some characters use old-fashioned English words which don't quite work in the context in which they are presented, while at other times they use improbably American vocabulary, the most obvious example being the ubiquitous use of 'ladybug' rather than ladybird.

The 'ladybug' motif is an effective allegory for the fascinating, complicated dynamic between a mother and her daughter, and, as an exploration of generational trauma, navigating the shifts in the mother-daughter relationship as the daughter becomes an adult or the mother becomes elderly, and how we are shaped by our family, the book is sensitive, poignant and relatable.

Thank you to NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of this book.

An enjoyably twisty mystery written from three different viewpoints. Memorable characters and an unusual storyline. Kept me guessing to the end. Highly recommended.

Thank you to Netgalley and the author/publisher for this ARC copy.
I loved this book, could not put it down. Fast paced and easy to follow story - please note trigger warnings before reading as it does include some topics people may find difficult.
I thoroughly enjoyed this and I would have picked it up in a shop based on the cover.

A quick paced read with lots of twists and turns throughout - I loved it! It’s been a long time since I’ve given 5 stars.

Thanks to Netgalley and Flatiron for the Arc. Unfortunately, this book fell flat for me. The issues of child loss, kidnappings, miscarriages, etc. Was too triggering.

I love this author and saved the book for a couple of weeks for my summer break. Gutted. I read it in one day haha! That’s a record for me. I couldn’t put it down. Another 5 stars and a huge recommendation.

Well, I had to step back and take a breath after reading this one! It was am absolute mind bender of a read but I thoroughly enjoyed unravelling all the mystery!
It didn't feel like such a threatening plot, as it seriously had Mrs Marple vibes for me, but as much as this was a suprise, I came to love the quirky characters
I enjoyed being kept in the dark, even when the characters leaked information, as absolutely no one in the book us reliable, but they are, (mostly) all likeable enough for you to invest in the story and try to work out where its going.
The twists are excellent, the characters are expertly formed, and it's one you won't put down in a hurry!

Wow, i love a good psychological thriller and this was sooooo goooooodddddd!!! It's deep, dark and twisty, it'll have you on the edge of your seat and totally gripped

5 stars!

I absolutely loved this book and could not put it down! I have read several of Alice Feeney’s books and this ranks as one of my favourites by her so far.

The plot was fast-paced and the different character perspectives kept it very exciting and interesting. The plot twists were brilliant and I loved the way everything came together in the end!

I had a lot of fun reading this book. It might be my favourite from Alice Feeney, maybe second to Rock Paper Scissors.
I really enjoyed following the different characters and trying to guess how they were connected, what had happened in the past and what was actually going on. I had a lot of crazy theories and I just couldn't put the book down, I found it very addicting and enjoyable. There were several things I didn't see coming, however I was expecting something even more huge to happen in the end. The main big twist was definitely unexpected, even if maybe a little too convulted for me.
Still, it was a great book overall, and I would really like re-reading it in the future to catch all the clues.

A great read, three mothers, three daughters, three generations of secrets and lies. Who’s lost their daughter? Who’s a murderer? Multiple points of view and travel back and fore in time reveals the truth.