Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the complimentary e-galley of GOOD BAD GIRL by Alice Feeney!

GOOD BAD GIRL follows a few women, none of whom are being up front with the truth. Twenty years ago a baby was stolen and in the present a woman has been killed in a care home. The question is how these events could be connected?

Edith is an elderly woman who has been pressed into a care home by her family, a move she cannot accept. She’s befriended Patience, a worker in the home who is willing to help her out. Edith’s daughter Clio is not on good terms with her mother (or her brother) though some sense of family obligation does persist. Together these women could piece together what happened in the various mysteries surrounding them, but working together might be asking too much.

This is one of those stories where you don’t know going in who to trust. There is a need to suspend disbelief as these characters wind up entangled, but the book is so quickly bingable that I think it really works not to put too much thought into the details.

This does have some typical domestic thriller elements, though looking more at mother/daughter relationships than the standard married couple you tend to get. I found the relationships to add an interesting element to the story.

This had a few slow moments for me, but overall I had a good time with it. I did at times wish I had a physical copy to flip back and forth with given how quickly some of the twists hit between the different characters, but overall the audiobook was really well done!

GOOD BAD GIRL is out today!

Sometimes bad things happen to good people, so good people have to do bad things.
Edith, Clio, Frankie & Patience are all connected in more ways than one.
Three suspects, two murders, and one victim...

The worst thing that can happen on mothers day is your child disappearing.
You REALLY have to pay attention to detail on this book, the plot twist is CRAZY!!!
Child Abduction, Missing Persons, Murders, Family Secrets, & TEARS!!!

Thank you to Macmillan Audio & NetGalley for the advanced reader copy!

Good Bad Girl
By: Alice Feeney
Release date: 08-29-23
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Narrated by: Katherine Press, Stephanie Racine

Good Bad Girl is Feeney's sixth novel. My only previous exposure to her was last year's (2022) Daisy Darker.

This story is told from multiple points of view and in multiple timelines. Unfortunately, this made the story hard to follow at times, especially in the beginning. I started taking notes about family trees and major events pretty early in the game. The narrative was repetitive not only because of instances of the same scene being told by multiple characters, but even the same character recalling certain events multiple times. It became tedious. Some chapters make clear which character is speaking; others are labeled by timeline. While this was necessary to string us along, there is a fine line between creating tension and annoying the reader by overestimating their tolerance for stretching misdirection. I believe that telling a story across multiple timelines can be done well—sadly, I neither think it's the rule or that success was achieved in this case, with one notable exception.

There were, of course, red herrings.

Ultimately, the character connections are a bit far-fetched, but I couldn't help but enjoy them.

There is no way to significantly discuss the book without spoilers, so you'll just have to read it yourself. If you are a mystery/thriller fan and you're willing to relax and go with the flow, this is a solidly entertaining story.

The audiobook is quite well–narrated by Katherine Press and Stephanie Racine.

3.5⭐

Thank you, NetGalley and Macmillan Audio, for the audio ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review. Publication is expected August 29.

🎧Song Pairing: Good Girl Gone Bad - Rihanna (because like obviously! Hate that I can’t pair her music on Insta 😢)

💭What I thought would happen:

The gloomy cover had me all kinds of certain I’d adore it. Obviously someone good in a position to do something “bad” maybe vengeful or for cash flow?

📖What actually happens:

A baby girl is abducted, a couple decades later several women’s lives will collide based on said abduction. A murder of a care home worker intertwines them all, no one’s coming out of this the same as they started.

🗯Thoughts:

WOOF. I was under-stimulated to say the least. To be fair, I hold A.Feeney at a higher standard. She is an exceptional thriller author with mega twists 👅

This book starts off with a CHILD ABDUCTION. Maybe not the best book for this new mom 😂

There was a murder and I honestly didn’t care about it what. so. ever.

For many of the points I found it predictable but I was genuinely blown away by a couple twists as well so bravo to that!

I’ve read a couple rockin’ thrillers lately so I am coming off a high, instead of continuing the party this book halted it mid sprint. Hooo well! Better li l next time. 😭

"Being a mother is a curious case of love, hate and guilt"

First person POV with multiple POVs and a narrator(s) as good as my favourite Julia Whelan.

I think I went into this thinking that it was going to be a twisty thriller and should have been prepared for a cozymystery with a little creep. Think 'The Maid' by Nita Prose or "Traitor at Whitehall" by Julia Kelly....this book's success in my opinion will be how it is marketed because readers assume a lot based on past books and the expectations of a certain author delivering the same level or type of subgenre as the past.

One daughter stolen in a grocery store, another runaway daughter and the daughter who puts her mother in a nursing home...it's mothers and daughters with murders that you're trying to connect. The slow burn happens because there is also 20 years between some of the events.

I really enjoyed it but I definitely went into it knowing that another reader had told me that it was a cozy mystery.

I enjoyed this book. You think you have it fully figured out but the twist is truly shocking. I have read Rock Paper Scissors and I do like Alice Feeney. She has a good way of writing twisty stories. I liked that it had each POV from the 3 mains characters. The OCD that Frankie had makes it interesting, the secrets that all of them had and the end where the secrets are known. The story is about an infant daughter who went missing from her basket in a grocery store. It fasts forwards 20years, occasionally going back 20years, where you learn how each character is connected in some way. The secrets nursing home hide is pretty shocking which I think makes it a different kind of story besides the shocking truths that a revealed at the end.

I agree with the other reviews I've seen that this book was a bit confusing to follow for the first half of the book, particularly when listening to the audiobook, due to the chapters alternating between four main female characters and various timelines. Also, certain things were left intentionally vague in the beginning, and these factors made me begin to lose interest. However, the plot and the connections between the four women all start to come together during the latter half of the book, and the pace accelerated significantly.

Overall, I enjoyed the twists and turns, which continued all the way to the very end of the story. I also appreciated how this novel focused on the psychological aspects of motherhood, delving into tougher topics such as teen pregnancy, adoption, single-mothers, and complex parent-child relationships. In the end, this was a worthwhile slow-burn read, which made me elevate it to 4 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, Flatiron Books, and Alice Feeney for this audiobook arc to review!

Another fantastic, twisty offering from Alice Feeney! Since getting back into reading, she has quickly become an autobuy author for me. This newest book did not disappoint. There were a few predictable twists, but also some that I did not see coming! The narrators in the audiobook are fantastic and really made the characters come to life. If you are a fan of any of Feeney's other work, or books that keep you guessing, this is a can't miss read!

First I would like to thank NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the chance to listen to the audiobook Good Bad Girl in advance - in exchange for my honest review.

I have been on a kick of giving super high rated reviews - but that’s because I’ve been lucky enough to read/ listen to some great stories .

This is my first Alice Feeney novel and I understand the hype. Every time I thought I had figured this book out.. surprise.. I hadn’t !

Mother-daughter relationships are some of the most complex and often difficult. As a daughter and a mother myself I found myself empathizing with each of these characters and their desires to be better at their assigned roles.

20 years ago a baby was kidnapped from a shopping center and never found

Present Day -

Edith has been forced into a care home by her estranged daughter Cleo.

Patience - - works in the care home and has a lot of secrets of her own .

Frankie - Has lost her daughter and is not sure she even deserves to find her .

All of these stories are intricately connected and you won’t be sure how until the very last minute .

The narration on this audiobook is top notch. I am not always a fan of thrillers or multi character-Ed stories on audio but this is done just right . Literally - no notes.

Decent thriller! I actually expected it to be a little twistier, but while most of it was what I suspected, there were a few surprises at the end. Audiobook narrator was good - always love a British accent. Also I guess it's the way Alice Feeney writes but there were so many good quotes!

Thank you NetGalley for the ALC of Good Bad Girl.

This was one of my most anticipated releases. I’ve struggled with a lot of Alice Feeney books in the past but recently have liked her releases. This one was not it. For someone who is struggling through slow loving thrillers, this was way too slow.

We are following many women in this story. We are following a baby that went missing 20 years prior. There is a mother and daughter in present day. The mother has been put in a care home and the daughter seems to not really care that she doesn’t want to be there.

Now a women in the care home is missing/murdered and it’s somehow connected to the baby’s disappearance.

I struggled. Edith said about 100 times that Clio better not have sold her house because she was going to come back to it. And Edith had her rights taken away and Clio was the one responsible for her. I didn’t care at all.

Alice Feeney is a favorite author, and Good Bad Girl did not disappoint! A slow-burn mystery told from the perspective of several involved women, this book is a page turner I could not stop reading. The characters were well-developed, and the intertwining of their lives was revealed at a perfect pace. While the one of the major reveals is somewhat predictable, there were plenty of plot twists I didn't see coming. Definitely a 5-star read for me!

This story was different than I expected! I think I was expecting a bit of a darker story. That being said, this was a great read. It definitely kept me interested.

Fantastic narrator. I did find this format made the reveal towards the end a bit confusing, so I had it go back a few times, but not a huge deal.

Would I recommend this book? Absolutely!

The plot of Good Bad Girl is a little complicated. To avoid giving anything away, I'll keep this as brief as possible:

A baby was kidnapped from a stroller at a store 20 years ago, and now a murder has occurred at a nursing home. Two distinct murders, but they are linked by a group of women who must solve the murder in order to discover who abducted the baby all those years ago.

The ladies are: Edith, 80, who believes she was duped into living in a nursing home, Patience, 18, who works at the nursing home, Clio, Edith's estranged daughter, and Frankie, a prison librarian.

I really enjoyed this book, and Alice Feeney never disappoints!

This book is so full of twists and turns that I was a bit lost in the beginning but so grateful I kept going because it all comes together in the end. The book is not just an unfolding mystery about a missing person but also dives deep into the complicated relationships between mothers and daughters of all generations . The narrator is an excellent storyteller not over exaggerating each character while at the same time injecting the slightest bits of personality and heart into each voice to fit the various ages and originality of each individual. This is my first time reading Alice Feeney and I’m definitely going to read her backlist!

Good Bad Girl by Alice Feeney is about a kidnapping of a baby twenty years ago and how it ties into a murder in the current day. Full stop, it's best to go into this knowing nothing more.

The characters were so well-developed, it was not hard to keep track of who's POV I was in between each chapter as each character had their own thoughts and personality. In total there were four points-of-view and each felt distinct. I think the narrators also did a fantastic job with her voice work to make each character sound distinct. This is truly a story about motherhood and its many challenges, and the relationship between mothers and daughters.

The novel was very well-paced and I never grew bored. The arrangements of the different character chapters was crafted exquisitely. The plot left enough kernels of information so I never felt unjustly blindsided when a reveal was made, but also not so obvious that I guessed everything early on. I think the pieces Feeney does allow the reader to guess isn't so huge as to make the reader feel disappointed when they find they are right, something I tend to feel if I guess a twist, but just small enough that the reader feels rewarded that they caught the nuggets of information Feeney left.

The ending to this was extremely satisfying and justified. I truly enjoyed this one and this might be my new favorite of hers. It is hard to top Sometimes I Lie, but this may have done it. Other readers say they are disappointed by this one, but this novel is more toned down than some of her previous novels, and has more of a Domestic Drama feel to it a la Sally Hepworth, and I'm very okay with that.

A baby is stolen on Mother’s Day; twenty years later, a woman is murdered in a care home. This is the story of how those crimes connect.

This was more of a domestic suspense story than Feeney’s last two novels, so it wasn’t my favorite of hers. But it was filled with Feeney’s signature twists and kept me reading. It was a fun ride.

Patience works in a care home and befriends a patient named Edith. Then there’s a murder, and Edith disappears. We eventually find out how everyone in the story is connected. I’m a huge fan of Alice Feeney, but Good Bad Girl left me disappointed. Sure, it had some unexpected revelations but none of the edge of my seat twists that I’ve come to expect from Alice Feeney!

Mother's Day is a complex and emotional day for many. At the beginning of this new title from Alice Feeney, a woman is at the supermarket on Mother's Day and the infant in her care disappears. Who is the mother? What happened to the baby? We don't know. There are three mothers in this story: Edith, Clio, and Frankie. There are two daughters: Clio and Patience. Who belongs to whom? I One clue seems to be a ladybug ring. 🐞This is a multi-layered story with surprises throughout. Feeney is so good at keeping the reader in the dark, then shedding just enough light to help us find our way to the end. Kudos to Macmillan Audio on casting two narrators to give us clarity on the characters as we listen. 🎧

I've always enjoyed Alice Feeney's works, and this one was no exception. I liked how the narrative was recounted from the perspectives of three different women and in two different historical periods. This is the story of two dysfunctional mothers and their daughters. This book is about hope and forgiveness, but it's also about how far our mistakes may reverberate. I enjoyed the characters in this novel, even the ones who weren't particularly likeable. I'll admit that it wasn't the most twisty book I'd read by this author. I liked how the tale gradually came together. This is a murder mystery as well as a kidnapping that was never solved.