A compelling page-turner - very tense, and well-written. I would absolutely recommend this to anyone who likes to be gripped but with the proviso that the title of the book rather gives the game away - because you know there's going to be a 'bad me' so the ending isn't so much of a twist as an expectation. Perhaps that's what the author wanted (also, having read a number of 'grip-lit' type books, you do also expect a 'twist' of sorts at the end - and you don't have to work too hard to work out what the twist in this one might be). Still, the journey is well-recommended and I would definitely buy this for others to read.

Good Me Bad Me is the kind of book where you have permanent chills down your spine. The feelings of unease - and the dark intensity that permeates this book - are never far from the surface.

The book follows the life of Annie who has been placed in a foster home after her mother was arrested for murdering young children. Annie herself was also a victim of this abuse.

Good Me Bad Me charts the build up to Milly's mother's trial, and the complex feelings she has towards the woman who raised her. These complex feelings are the crux of the story as Milly (formerly known as Annie) struggles with the "good" and the "bad" inside of her, as she grapples with the question of whether the child of someone so evil is conditioned to be "bad" herself - she had the disadvantage of both nature and nurture.

Good Me Bad Me draws comparisons to Girl on the Train and Gone Girl. This is partly due to the presence of a strong female protagonist whose motives we are never quite sure of.

Good Me Bad Me's similarities to Gone Girl also show up in the form of the reliance we have on Annie's version of events. Is Milly a reliable narrator and should we trust what she is telling us? We also get the most incredible insight into the torment of being the child of a serial killer, and the challenges of rebuilding a life afterwards. Is this secret something Milly can share with anyone? Can she have true friends, or will this always place a barrier in between? And what about the usual struggles of teenagers - boys, school, friends, looks - how do you cope with these when you are busy harbouring a deeper secret? We live all of this through Milly's very believable teenage voice.

Ali Land skillfully navigates all of these challenges without every resorting to too much gory detail - her approach towards uncomfortable and unpleasant details seems to be less is more. Or maybe that is another symptom of a mind so tormented that she is forced to shut out the most shocking and cruel details.

This book was compulsive enough to keep me reading and I finished it in one sitting. However, it was not very surprising and there were not really any twist. I was a little bit disappointed by this. I think this book had the potential to be a really interesting thriller. It did not meet my expectations.

A very disturbing story about a child who is trying to overcome years of abuse, now ended. Many of the dialogues and family scenes are very realistic and show the difficulty of a child trying to integrate in a family home and at school whilst preparing for the court case.

The secrets and distortions are many-layered and will keep you guessing as your sympathies shift back and forth.

Different and difficult subject to the books I normally read although I do read thriller. The book starts with Millie today and dips in and out of her past as it goes along to tell Millie's story, which hasn't been an easy one. I wasn't sure about it at first but something made me want to stick with it and I'm glad I did. Once I got into the book I couldn't put it down. Short quick chapters, a little predictable but I did enjoy it.

This was a good book but not a great book, the storyline was interesting and had a lot of promise...The subject matter was very dark indeed.
There were a lot of hints on the way through the book and the ending was a tad predictable and maybe a bit odd, or at least to me. I enjoyed it but it didn't blow me away

I loved this book, right from the start......Couldn't put It down. Easy read, worked out characters easily, kept me gripped right to the end plus lots of twists.....Didn't connect the outcome before it happened which is good

Ali Land deals with a difficult subject matter in this book and does so in an interesting and clever way.
She makes you battle with yourself as you read, by creating a character in Molly, who you feel you should like, due to what she appears to have been through, but who in reality you feel is not quite right. This battle of emotions carried me through the book, and on an emotional rollercoaster, that ended in a way that despite my doubts about Molly, I'd failed to see coming. We hear all the time how abusers often go on to become abusers themselves and yet it's a reality that is rarely portrayed in fiction. Most authors opting to create a victim that we feel for deeply, instead of choosing the harsher and much more complex approach that Ali Land has. The book was very engaging from the start, and incredibly well written with characters that were all believable and each perfectly flawed in their own right. I really enjoyed the book and it gave me a lot of food for thought. A resulted in a clever and intriguing read.

After 15 years of abuse and witness to nine murders, Annie has had enough of her mother's wicked ways and informs the police.
Eager for a fresh start with her new foster family Annie becomes Millie but will her life be safe or become even more troubled as she appears as witness for the prosecution.
This is a gripping story line where tension oozes from every page. Several clues throughout the book point towards the climax.
Although this is a complete story, I would be interested in seeing what happens next.

I really enjoyed rhis book. I have read a lot of physcological thrillers and this was among the best ones. It held my attention until the end and i found myself trying to guess what was coming next. The only thing missing was maybe a bit more detail of the mothers crimes.

A dark story exploring Millie's journey after informing police about her mother's lifelong abuse.
When her mother is charged and imprisoned, awaiting trial, Millie is placed in foster care, and the book focuses on her making friends (and enemies) in her new environment. She is cruelly bullied at school, but due to her mother’s influence, is resourceful and skilled at exacting revenge.
Millie fears that her mother's behaviour has influenced her and feels she is becoming like her mother. The story constantly flips back to scenes of terrible violence and abuse that she has experienced and witnessed throughout her young life.
The book deals with child abuse, and is dark and depressing - not for the faint-hearted! A chilling, compelling story, which is hard to put down. Readers hope for a good outcome for Millie, but feel uncertain this can be achieved.

Thank you for kindly providing this review copy.

I wanted to like this more than I did but, for me, the style was quite jarring and annoying. It's written in a very informal way with similar inflections and turns of phrase as you'd expect dialectically, and I found that grating. However, it was a compelling read. The book unfolds slowly and the protagonist's struggles with herself are quite gripping. I found her relationship with Morgan to be very touching and I also found myself scared for Morgan, so this is obviously a good work. The real viciousness and torture of teenage girls next to the murders of the children were also an interesting contrast.

Good Me Bad Me is an intriguing book, with a disturbing subject matter but sufficiently well written to draw you into the story and keep you there until the end. I enjoyed the story but found the style of writing a little disjointed, which possibly was deliberate on the part of the author to increase the reader's sense of unease - and on that level, it succeeded. Overall, a well told story with a good ending.

Where to start... What a clever book, this is a chilling novel that is quite detailed in the picture it paints in your mind

Milly aka Annie is the daughter of a serial killer and what we the reader follow is her journey as her mum is on trial for the murder of nine children, Milly's main worry, will she turn out to be just like her mother.

I found myself constantly second guessing what was going to happen next, every time I thought I'd figured out just where Ali was leading us, another spanner was thrown in the works.

This is a psychological thriller like no other. The subject matter is quite dark and I think should come with some trigger warnings but I have to say I was utterly engrossed.

I'll admit by the end I had guessed what was going to come on the last page but that wasn't a bad thing, in-fact I think it's left it open for a second book if the author wishes to write a sequel.

A fantastically controversial debut novel.

Annie is a 15 year old girl living with a foster family, she is there because she contacted the police and got her mother arrested. Why? Her mother is a serial killer who is now awaiting her trial and Annie will be the star witness. This taut, psychological thriller offers the reader something new, as it is told from a young girl's perspective, who herself is damaged. A compelling read.

This is a dark thriller at around an unsettling story about a child who is the subject of vicious psychological torture and her redemption as the star witness in her mother's trial. It's a stunning read and a real page turner. Had difficult themes of child abuse and bullying, intertwined with all the good that humanity can provide such as love. A surefire blockbuster.

Gosh! This is a deeply disturbing read, not for the faint hearted. However, it's so well written that, every time I wanted to stop reading, due to the subject matter, it had me hooked.
A real page turner. Just don't expect to sleep much, once you've picked it up, or for a good while after.

4.5/ 5 star.
Ali Land's debut novel is the best psychological thriller I have read this year.

Milly has told the police her mother is a serial killer, her mother has been arrested and Milly has been placed in a foster home whilst waiting to act as a witness at her mother's trial.

This is not an action packed thriller, but rather the emotional thoughts of Milly as she learns to live without her mother's physical presence. Milly has to decide how much of her mother resides in her and is she herself good or bad. Milly also has to deal with the realities of settling in to life with a foster family who have their own issues. It is hard not to feel involved with the characters.

This is a fast paced novel that pulled me in from the first page and spat me out exhausted and drained at the end.

I received a copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Having slightly fallen out with psychological thrillers as a genre, I approached ‘Good Me, Bad Me’ with extreme caution, but I fell under its spell and was soon thoroughly enjoying the whole experience.

Milly’s mother is the vilest serial murderer that Britain has seen for decades, she has abducted, tortured and killed no less than 9 defenceless children while they cried for their mummies; she has mentally, and even sexually, abused her own daughter, she is a monster. Finally Milly snaps and finds the courage to report her mother to the Police and this is where the story begins, the machine takes over, she is given a caring foster home and the chance to make a new life for herself, but is the teenager as innocent as we would like her to be, or does she have her own agenda? At the end of the day is she really just her wicked mother’s daughter?

‘Good Me, Bad Me’ is full of horrible anticipation and chilling suspense - will we find out exactly what happened in Milly’s old home and what was done in the killing room that her mother christened ‘The Playground’? Was the abuse she suffered as bad as we suspect it was? Will she crack under the pressure of having to testify at the high profile Old Bailey trial? Will her new friends and schoolmates find out who she really is?

A classic page-turner and a disturbing but entertaining read.

Many thanks to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

A well written psychological thriller. Firstly, top marks for whoever designed the cover. it grabs you straightaway and says 'I want to know more.'
The storyline, is certainly different. How hard must it be to be the daughter of a female serial killer. I felt sorry for Milly having to take on a new identity with such an obviously dysfunctional foster family. I really think that the character of the step father Mike who was obviously not very good at his job was portrayed well, as were the other characters. I think in places the pace of the writing could have been better, and in places the outcome was a little predictable, but overall a good read. I would recommend.