would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this strange book

a compelling story that you have to read to the end to find out what happens....its written in a style that i didnt quite like but its the actual storyline that reels you in...

9 murder committed and the murderer is dobbed in by her daughter...you are taken through the daughters life before the trial during and after

very thought provoking and just a bit scary

This read was well written,it was disturbing but good,couldn't put it down

Well written, but rather disturbing to read. If I had liked the subject matter a little more I may have given it another star, but I'm afraid it was just too uncomfortable reading.

A chilling thriller written from the. Victims perspective of her last present and future a good read although I found the ending a little predictable

One of the saddest books I've ever read. Also, the creepiest.

Good Me Bad Me is one of those books that I’ve been seeing all over social media with the general consensus being that readers found it hard to put it down – they were so right!

15-year-old Milly’s mother is a serial killer, and the only person who knows is Milly. It’s Milly who finally tells the police, Milly who is the sole witness and the only person who can see her mother brought to justice.

Milly isn’t her real name though. She’s been given a new identity to help to protect her from the huge media attention and contempt of the public. Only a handful of people know her history – his foster parents and her new headteacher.

She has been put in the care of Mike, a psychologist, and his family as she prepares for the upcoming trial. But Mike’s own teenage daughter, Phoebe, is less than pleased by Milly’s presence, even without knowing her history. Phoebe makes life even harder for Milly as she tries to forge a new life in a new city, a new school, a new family away from her mother’s abusive control.

This book is so hard to put down Told from Milly’s perspective we see a teenage girl trying to fit into a new life, a new school and make new friends. That in itself is a journey, a challenge for any teenager. But then we have the impact of Milly’s history, her battles not to miss the woman who has controlled her life, the woman who has murdered innocent children. We see Milly’s internal battle as she fears she is just like her mother and her preparation for trial, facing that woman again and doing all she can for her mother’s victims.

The writing style in this novel is very interesting and clever, Land adopts a style which seems to reflect the nature of Milly’s mind and further the reader’s experience.

There are so many issues packed into this book, I can in no way do them justice here – strained parental relationships, jealousy, self-harm, drug use, sexual abuse, bullying, all entwined within the story of one 15-year-old.

This is a truly gripping psychological thriller which, though it can be hard to read at times, and is maybe therefore not for everyone, is one that I can’t stop thinking about.

Milly has moved in with Mike, Saskia and their daughter Phoebe. She's their new foster daughter. But Milly is her new name because her mother is a serial killer and she'll be testifying against her in court. The book is from Milly's point of view and describes her time with the foster family in the run up to the court case against her mother. Gripping, dark, disturbing - a fantastic read from start to finish.

Thank you to Netgalley, Penguin UK and Ali Land for the opportunity to read and review this book.

An interesting read, but there was something missing. The idea was brilliant but I couldn’t connect fully with the characters.

Honestly the publishers have gone way over the top with the marketing blurb on this one. Yes it's a decent thriller yes it has somee shocking elements but controversial etc etc? No not at all. Three stars because the ending was just too predictable.

Couldn't put this down......however it wasn't an " enjoyable"read. Very well written, seen from a child perspective - but an utterly chilling but strangely compulsive read. Would highly recommend

One of the best thriller of the year , I don't believe this Ali Land first book , I can see she have a degree in Mental Health which why I understand how she analysed everything but made it accessible for us .
The atmosphere is terrifying, Milly is in foster care and you hear all her thoughts ( fascinating and scary). She is witness in her mum case. We hear small stories about the past but we don’t know the whole story. you feel sorry for her,but you are scared the same time.
Just hooked , you cannot stop reading. Even you are aware that something bad will happen. every time I am thinking Phoebe "please stop!!!" . Please NO!!!!!!!!!

I even read all night ,just to finish the last part. I promise you , this book is the one you finish in day.

Quite an unusual topic for me, whilst I would recommend this book to friends, I am not sure that I would buy it for them. It is a murder mystery twisted around child/teenager perceptions of how they should behave and respond to adults, be they their parent or psychiatrist. It shows up what influences the parent has on a child, be that immediate or shaping their future behaviours. I did find this quite a page turner always wondering where it was leading too and leaving me wondering how much is nature and how much is nuture.

Written from the perspective of Milly, the main character, Good me Bad me is full of suspense and anguish. As Milly faces the anguish of giving evidence at her mother's trial she battles with her demons of the two sides of her character. The good side is influenced by her desperate wish to be accepted as 'normal' whilst her upbringing with her evil mother keeps haunting her. The relationships between the different characters in the book is portrayed so vividly it is clear that the author understands the cruel bitchiness of teenage girls and the ability of adults to choose not to see the cracks in their lives. It is hard to believe this is a debut novel from Ali Land and I hope we will be seeing much more of her work.

Very excited to read this book as I had heard a lot of positive reviews. Cannot say I was disappointed, a gripping thriller with a a brilliant stand out main character who had been through a great deal and has to deal with this throughout the book.

You will not be able to put this book down with all of the tests and turns! A very different book as it is through the eyes of a child! This is definitely worth a read but be warned it is very chilling!

I was really excited to read this as I’d heard so many good things about it but actually I was disappointed by it. The premise from the blurb sounds brilliant - a girl forced to change her identity as her mother is a serial killer and about to go on trial. This book follows from the point of her reporting her mother to the police to the conclusion of the trial. You can tell that the author has worked with adolescents in the mental health services as her portrayal of the social care system was accurate and well developed. My frustration came with the voice of the narrator - she was supposed to be a 15 year old girl but a times the writing style didn’t match her age. This could have been to represent the trauma of her childhood and how she was still so young and damaged on the inside bhut I just found it difficult to read. The ending was good but didn’t live up to the hype I was expecting - in my opinion it’s not the new ‘Girl on the Train’.

'Good me, bad me' by Ali Land is a psychological thriller that will pull on your heart strings whilst leaving a bitter taste in your mouth. This was going to be a 5 star read for me but the predictability of the ending brought it right down to a 3 star for me. I loved the originality of the novel so for it to end so obviously and somewhat rushed was a huge disappointment. The bullying also troubled me. Yes I know I am no Spring chicken and I understand technology is making it easier for children to bully each other but the extend of the bullying was unrealistic and far too extreme. I refuse to accept this height of bullying would take place and not one person would intervene.

If it wasn't for these 2 points "Good me, bad me" would receive 5 stars from me because; up until the finale it was SO original, Lands choice of language and story telling meant it flowed so well that it was extremely difficult to put down, his character building made you so interested and intrigued in every character even if they weren't the most likeable and finally his achievement of sensitively, raising the topic of child abuse without making it too graphic and still managing to capture the horror of the abuse.

I would like to thank the publisher for a free ARC in return for an honest review and I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys psychological thrillers if they aren't too worried about a predictable ending.

Good Me, Bad Me had me interested from the first line, and delivered a suitably thrilling look into the mind, and motives, of a child left behind after the killings have stopped.

Milly is the daughter of a serial killer. A serial killer that she's helped to put away. Given a fresh start away from the past, and thrown into a normal family life, Milly hopes to move forward and leave her demons behind her. However, when her new family life begins to fall apart behind closed doors, will Milly be able to keep her bad side in check? Or is she more like her mother than she'd like to admit?

I enjoyed the plot for this. We see Milly go from the early days away from her mother with a middle class foster family, up to and beyond her mother's trial for the murder of several children. As the story develops we see more of Milly's background and childhood, and begin to understand who she is, and why she behaves the way she does. The murders are, thankfully, left largely to the imagination, but I really felt the claustrophobia Milly must have experienced while living with her mother, and the desperation that resulted in her going to the police. At times these flashbacks were quite intense, and I admit I had to put the book down several times to catch my breath. It wasn't an easy read.

The story is told from Milly's point of view, as if we the reader are inside her head. Because of this, the writing can be difficult to get into with short staccato sentences. This sometimes made the story jumpy and confusing - much like Milly's frame of mind, and at times I found this hard to wade through - although I felt it added to the overall feel of the story. We also only see the other characters from Milly's perspective, who at best could be described as an unreliable narrator. Milly's mother is never properly introduced, and we only see flashes of her in Milly's nightmares and flashbacks. This made the mother appear as very enigmatic, and perhaps even more intimidating.Her total control of Milly goes above and beyond. We also never get any insight into what the other characters are really feeling, which I might have appreciated - although I admit this is definitely Milly's tale to tell.

Milly really carried the story well for me. As a character she's vulnerable and yearning for love, yet her manipulation of her foster family, especially her foster mother, is delicious. It's the off-hand comments and subtle remarks that lead her family to doubt themselves that show she's really coming into her own. The student becoming the master. The slow unravelling of her foster family's life, and Milly at the heart of it, begs the question - is Milly the puppet or the puppet master? I thought this was wonderfully done.

Phoebe, her foster sister, is another great character. In some ways she's Milly's twin - yearning for the love of her mother, yet not receiving it in the way she craves. Acting out, bullying Milly at school, reflects her insecurities with her home life - and you can see the jealousy she has with regards to Milly muscling in on her taken-for-granted family time.

The ending I found strong. The build up to it paid off in such a way that I knew something was going to happen, but not quite what and when. The consequences of actions pans out perfectly.

A great thriller, that I feel has rightly been called one of the best this year.

Crikey I feel thoroughly emotionally exhausted after reading this. It's sinister, creepy and has enough suspense to keep you turning until the last page.

The main character is the daughter of a child serial killer. If that isn't bad enough, the parent was the MOTHER. I know, heartbreaking or what!!! The author only had to hint at how the crimes were committed, it's only as gruesome as your imagination.

Great beach read, definitely not one for a raining camping holiday.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.
Milly's mother is a serial killer and is awaiting trial. Milly is to be star witness for the prosecution and has been placed with foster carers until the hearing. As the book progresses we learn more and more about the nature of her mother's horrific crimes against children. Milly, however, is conflicted. Her mother is a cold and callous killer but she is family and she is inside Milly's head.
This is an incredible read with great twists and well developed characters..I couldn't put it down!