Annie is the daughter of a serial killer. When she hands her mother over to the police she is fostered by Mike and Saskia and living under the name, Milly.

Milly struggles with the pain and suffering her mother caused both to the children she murdered and to Milly herself. Mike and Saskia have a daughter, Phoebe, who resents Milly and makes her life hell at school.

Milly has the trial to deal with and the aftershocks of guilt, suffering and immense pain at loving her mother and being the one to bring her to justice.

For a debut novel this was very well written and intensely dark. At times I found it very turbulent with the myriad of feelings Milly was going through. A brilliant read

A very dark and quite sinister book. An original story-line with great potential; certainly keeps the pages turning. A little bit disappointed by the slightly anti-climactic ending.

I didn't enjoy this book due to the content, but it was such a compelling read that I had to finish it. An amazing twist right at the end kept me riveted until the last page

Perhaps the first, most natural instinct that we all have is to love our mother. But what happens when that mother is a monster. How is it possible to stay sane when everyday life at home is filled with madness and evil.

This could have been just another of the many books in the "serial killer" genre but what makes it different is that it is told from the perspective of the daughter of the perpetrator and the action begins after all the crimes have taken place. There are no upsetting descriptions of evil acts, no gross details of what was done to whom. This is Milly's story and she is the innocent in all of this, but how innocent can somebody be after having lived with depravity for fifteen years?

I can understand and sympathise with Milly's desire to be part of a normal family but it didn't have to read very far into the book in order to work out exactly how it was all going to end. I kept waiting for a plot twist to prove me wrong but it never happened. The ending is obvious and disappointing because of the obviousness.

It is still an engaging read. The descriptions of Milly as she tries to escape her mother's influence provide thought-provoking moments that make her a sympathetic character. The difficulties she has fitting into a new life that involves a foster family, a move from a rural village to a big city and enrollment in a new school all ring true and help show the sensitive side of her character.

This book is trying very hard to be a fresh and different voice within the genre but ultimately I don't think it quite succeeded. However, it is still an engaging, interesting read.

I liked the book but, unfortunately, it didn't 'wow' me like it has done for so many others.

I didn't find it to be full of suspense and mystery. The story was told in such a way that there were no twists and turns. It was a little dark in places however which was good.

The characters were interesting and held some intrigue about them and their pasts. I would love to find out more about the history of Phoebe and Saskia.

The biggest issue I had with this book was the style of writing. I just couldn't take to it and felt slightly disjointed. It is probably a very good style to use when writing about someone dangerous and mentally ill but sometimes it felt like I was reading something written by Yoda.

I will look out for the next book by this author. 3 stars

Annie's mother is a serial killer. The only way she can make it stop is to hand her in to the police. But out of sight is not out of mind. As her mother's trial looms, the secrets of her past won't let Annie sleep, even with a new foster family and name - Milly. A fresh start. Now, surely, she can be whoever she wants to be. But Milly's mother is a serial killer. And blood is thicker than water. Good me, bad me. She is, after all, her mother's daughter.
This is one hell of a novel. I was compelled to keep reading until the early hours of the morning. The tension ratchets up as Millie/Annie gets closer to the time of her mother’s trial. But it’s not just that that Millie is battling with. It’s her upbringing and her genes that make her doubt herself, miss her mother while at the same time hating her. She feels guilty for not doing more sooner, if she had perhaps less children would have died. But she also realises that mother taught her lessons that she can now use to her advantage. By turns emotional and shocking, this really is a tour de force of a psychological novel. I loved the short, sharp writing style. In fact I loved everything about this novel. A fantastic read!

I thought this book was very good. Milly was a fascinating character, and to see the story from her point of view was really interesting. I loved the way the information was drip-fed to us, which ramped up the tension. Deserving of the hype.

Compulsive, gripping, disturbing and shocking. This book left me feeling quite uncomfortable

15 year old Annie has been suffering horrific abuse at the hands of her mother since the age of 5. When she is pushed further than ever before she bravely skips school one afternoon to tell the police what has been happening. The story she has to tell isn't just her own though, as her mother not only abuses Annie but she also abuses and murders young children, mostly boys, whilst making her daughter watch.
Now living with a new identity - Milly - in foster care, this book focuses on how she deals with the turmoil of displaced loyalty to her mother and the fact she is now star witness against the monster she ultimately is. All of this plus having to cope with settling in with a new family who have a daughter fiercely jealous of Milly, being bullied at school, and fear of her true identity being exposed.
Good Me Bad Me is a stunning debut novel by Ali Land. Despite the emotive story this isn't a book designed to pull at the heart strings, far from it. In fact this is very much a psychological thriller which had me gripped from the first page right through to the last. I predict this is going to be a hit with fans of the genre and I would very much recommend it.

This book was so easy to read and didn't want to put it down. Refreshing storyline that had you intrigued from the first page. Fabulous read.

The story of Milly, a troubled teenager who is dreadfully abused by her mother. She summons up the courage to give evidence against her and is taken into foster care, somewhat unbelievably, by her therapist and his family. Things, predictably, are not all they seem and things do not go well for Milly, or indeed the rest of the family she is staying with. Many of the characters are flawed by past events and lead a troubled existence. Which is then reflected in their behaviour. The book is fast paced and easy to read. Despite some of the characters doing awful things, one can't help but feel a little sympathy for them.

I received an ARC copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

It’s been a little while since I’ve stayed up late to read a book. With Good Me Bad Me, exactly that happened. I started at exactly 8pm on a weekday, thinking I’d read for an hour or so in bed before I fell asleep.

Fast forward 80% of the book and I look up thinking it’s around 11pm, when it was really 2am. Oops. Cue a very broken night’s sleep, snoozing the alarm around 5 times before I could drag myself out of bed, and a day full of yawns, coffee, and deadlines to meet when all I want to do is finish the book.

The premise here is brilliant; a girl brought up by a serial killer breaks free, but how much has her time with her mother affected her personality? It’s the nature vs nurture argument taken to extremes.

Though formulaic (I’d be extremely surprised if you don’t guess the ending within the first 30%), Good Me Bad Me was an easy and entertaining read. My only quip is the way the copy was written. Don’t get me wrong, the stunted prose Land uses to display her emotionally-broken and damaged mind was clever. It was just overdone.

This was never going to be a work of literary art but it’s good read for the commute into work or to kick you out of a reading slump.

OMG talk about a page turner. This book had me hooked from the off and I devoured it. Page after page I raced through it hoping it would end well. I love psychological thrillers but have never read one about child abuse and murder. As this is a debut from Ali Land she should be very proud. Her writing style is taut and the story is well paced. Milly and her foster parents, Mike and Saskia, leap off the page. In her role as narrator Milly struggles to come to terms with her own abuse, the abuse she witnessed and her mother's insidious influence and this taps into your compassion. But then there is always that nagging feeling that all may not be as it appears. Despite the thankfully low incidence of female child abusers and murderers this story is all too believable. Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin Michael Joseph for the ARC.

I loved this book, its a roller coaster of emotions! Its a book that you will always remember and that you will be thinking about for a long time after you have read it. Its a must read for anyone this year.

Terrific

This book is the sort that torments you with the persistent question: are you the product of your upbringing, your nurture, or the product of your genes? I used to have a teacher who once said that she hoped that we, her students, were products of our environment because otherwise her teaching would be, for the most part, pointless. I remember thinking of the huge implications of her words: if we are, in fact, a result of our nature so many of us stand no chance. This is what I especially liked about this book, and what made it as controversial as it was: Milly was brought up terribly, and her mother has severe psychopathic tendencies and raised Milly with a dangerous kind of 'love'. While her environment can change, she's pretty much screwed either way.

This book follows the life of Milly (real name: Annie), she's fifteen, and all her life she's lived with a psychopath of a mother. Her mother is a nurse who used her position to lure children into her home, by establishing the trust of their parents and families. So far, she's killed nine children. It would have continued had it not been for Milly's decision to report her mother's crimes to the police. This certainly qualifies as a high profile case.

Now, this is when the story becomes interesting, in a terrifying sort of way. Milly has to go to court and stand as witness against her mother. To ease the process she is placed in a foster family and is introduced to a new school environment. Her foster father, Mike, is a huge help especially considering he's a psychologist, and he's using Milly to further his career: he has plans to write a book about her. Saskia, her foster mother, is mostly in the background. Then there's the daughter or foster sister, Phoebe, who immediately dislikes Milly for the way she takes up her father's time.

All through the book we observe Milly's personal behaviour, we hear her thoughts, how she begins to believe there's something corrupt living within her, something dark, something from her mother. She still hears her mother's words, often encouraging her to hurt her new friend, or lie, or manipulate the situation. Pushing her to make her mummy proud. We see her tackle the voices with strong willpower, but perhaps she enjoys her mother's plans more than she lets on?

When reading the book, I felt as though I were part of the jury - in on the action, trying to figure out the truth. I was intrigued, I couldn't help reading on (like that feeling you get when you're doing something or hearing something not meant for your ears). But, at the same time I felt I was her. Like, I understood where she was coming from. This is a book that captures you completely.

Though I have to say what really kept me immersed in the story wasn't just the plot, it was the writing. The subtle word choices that hinted that there's more to come, how they had me thinking the worst every time, imagining all sorts of scenarios and plot twists. Still, I have to say the ending was hugely unpredictable. Many readers may also appreciate how Ali Land writes in the perspective of Milly throughout the book, there's no shifting of perspectives. This is something I had forgotten my strong preference for, it meant that we had access to Milly's thoughts throughout. It meant the character was massively developed, in a way that revealed the different facets to her personality. The story's focus was her throughout, and with the ending it seems that the attention Mike is paying her has gotten to her head: she has other ideas in mind. No doubt, she'd be keeping his book interesting.

I think that there's potential for a sequel.

I received this book through NetGalley.

great book.. wanted to read it but didnt at the same time but glad i did. uncomfortable as you would expect with the storyline however unputdownable.

Annie's mother is a serial killer and she witnessed things that no child should ever have to. Her mother killed children and Annie was powerless to help them. At the age of 15, she couldn't deal with it anymore and tells the police about her mother's crimes.
She is sent to live with a foster family and her name is changed. She is now known as Milly and her mother's case is about to go to trial.
Brilliantly written, a little too harrowing for me in places but I can definitely see why this book is going to be huge. One most definitely to recommend. My thanks to the publisher & NetGalley for this advance reader copy.

The age old question arises in Good Me, Bad Me. Does nurture win over nature? Can the environment change what years of nature have defined and formed?

It’s actually quite interesting that Annie has become Milly. In a way the two names and identities are a symbol for the two sides warring within her.

Annie represents the old life, the life filled with abuse, pain and killing. Milly represents the new life, a family with no ties to her dark past and the possibility of a normal life.

I have to admit I wanted Bad Me to come out to play more often when it came to Phoebe. After all those dark years with her mother Milly is then subjected to the horrors of high school bullying. On a level, which would break even the hardest of people. Good Me tries really hard to keep Annie at bay, but ultimately she peeps out now and again to defend herself.

Throughout the book we see Milly struggle with her emotions. She is happy to finally be free of the horror and yet at the same time her greatest desire is to see her mother again. Is that evidence of her inner conflict and her inability to comprehend the destructive nature of their relationship or is it an indication of something more nefarious?

What Land does really well is make the reader feel sympathy for someone who might not be worthy of it, but then the world isn’t really made of black or white scenarios. It’s the shading and the grey that makes for the unusual exceptions in life. Milly is most certainly an exception to the rule.

The other aspect Land excels at is the question of guilt. To what degree is Annie the victim and to what degree is she as guilty as her mother? Will the child raised by an abuser and killer possibly follow the same path in life or will she gladly settle into obscurity and a normal life.

This book will probably make readers sit on the fence and watch with bated breath as the story unfolds, and yet in the end they still might not be able to decide whether Good Me or Bad Me wins. I know who I am rooting for and it probably isn’t the one you think it is or the one I should be rooting for.

Well done to the author for the fascinating read.
*Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my copy of Good Me, Bad Me.*

‘But the hearts of small children are delicate organs. A cruel beginning in this world can twist them into curious shapes.’

Well this was certainly a psychological thriller that packed quite the punch. It felt unique and the writing was compellingly different, short and sharp sentences where every punctuated word hits you hard. Harrowing, disturbing, chilling and haunting. Nothing detailed, most left unsaid, yet the simplicity of the thought provoking words conjuring up a thousand pictures of a horrific childhood, a parental serial killer and a heart-breaking tragedy. The imagination runs rampant.

‘The word ‘no’ lodges in my throat, won’t launch. Can’t say it, doesn’t work anyway. No meant yes, meant you always got what you wanted. Took it anyway.’

Human conditioning through violence and pain. Your empathy will be questioned as you try to lend support to a girl’s fight against the emotional grip from the only parent she has. Mummy dearest….chills run up the spine. A mother’s love which disregards everything good, decent and loving.

“How come no one knew what she was doing?” “She was clever. Spectacular.” “In what way?” “People liked her, trusted her. She knew how to fool them.”

Twisted, daring and through provoking, this is a must read for anyone who loves to read with one eye open. Milly’s voice will shock you, it’ll frighten you, and it’ll break your heart. It’s a voice that reflects every second, minute, hour, day, week, year she’s spent being frightened and forced to play a part from the strong hold of her Mum’s terrorising ways. Milly’s voice questioning, conflicted, separated into good and bad- in her own words. Trying to be different to everything she’s known. Trying to desperately find normality in a world in which she feels lost, lonely and isolated. Human compassion and understanding up against everything that came before. Trying to grasp at any human decency and contact she possibly can. Is everything as it seems?

‘I welcome the contact. I am real. See me, feel me, but know that I come from a place where this is merely a warm-up.’

Bravo Ali Land- this debut novel set in London ticks every box for originality. An intriguing chilling account by a teenage girl brought up in a house of horror. This is a story that’ll be discussed and dissected till the early hours of the morning.

‘I can do this, I can do life after you.’