⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
The majority of us go through life with good intentions, and wow, this story really leans into that idea. The premise hooked me right away, and the beautiful cover only added to the intrigue. This book is intense, gut wrenching, and at times frustrating, especially with the main female character, Cady. I found myself going back and forth with my empathy for her; she could be so relatable one moment and so incredibly annoying the next. The story is told entirely through Cady’s perspective, and we’re inside her head the whole time, digesting every thought she has. I love trying to figure out plot twists, but I didn’t see this one coming. Looking back, maybe I should have, but the surprise made the ride worthwhile. This is a true psychological thriller, digging deep into the human mind after a tremendous loss and showing how one character copes with her sister’s death.
Thank you to @stmartinspress for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review. Pub Date: February 3, 2026.
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I enjoyed the story as it unfolded in "Good Intentions", but occasionally found it to drag on a bit. Being in the mind of a grieving, unreliable narrator made for an interesting read. The ending revelation was surprising to me, I thought it was well done and recast the entire book, in a good way. Solid debut, just could use a little tightening up.

Oof, this book. It is an addicting read, like watching a train wreck that you just cannot turn away from. And that's ending! O-M-G. I would highly recommend this book to fellow mystery/thriller lovers!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Good Intentions was a crazy, brain wracking story that had me confused and questioning everything. It did such a good job of moving steadily plot wise and keeping things interesting. It felt like we bounced around from gone girl vibes with grief and a sinister underlying. Cady’s identity was so tangled and wrapped up, even she had a hard time fully understanding herself. The plot twists were abundant and kept things fresh. I really enjoyed this one and it was a solid suspense.

This novel follows Cady as she snaps out of her masterfully cultivated existence to walk through a jagged, narrow tunnel of grief after the sudden loss of her twin sister Dana. This compelling storyline evokes all that loss can and resonates in so many ways . . . reflecting on our bonds within relationships, self-awareness, work, how and with whom we choose to spend the precious hours of our lives. Sometimes we become laser-focused in one aspect of our lives or find ourselves sleepwalking through each day . . . losing sight of what matters most. Cady is now fully awake and shaken to her core. She must come to terms with her new reality, heal and recalibrate . . . or she may lose it all.

I highly recommend this book for fans of psychological suspense and domestic drama.

I thank NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of Good Intentions for my unbiased evaluation. 5 stars

Good Intentions is a new psychological suspense from debut author Marisa Walz. This is a story about one woman’s unimaginable grief and disturbing obsession. The author does an excellent job of creating a mysterious and unsettling atmosphere. It had me hooked from the beginning and eager to see how things would play out. I had several theories along the way but I was actually shocked when the truth was finally revealed. I was a little disappointed that so many things were left unfinished but that’s just me. Overall this was an interesting and fast paced read and I enjoyed the writing style. I’m looking forward to what this author comes up with next.

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this story early!

I enjoyed this psychological suspense story. Cady was successfully portrayed as a woman whose life was coming undone, and her obsession with a woman she'd met in a hospital waiting room formed the central arc of the story.

I was quickly invested in the tale; there was enough "crazy" to draw me in, but also enough reality to keep this realistic. Interestingly, the story was told in a conversation with the main character's sister, something I don't recall reading before.

The concept of grief was a central theme, and was explored by the author in an interesting way, leading to many of the moral choices faced by the main character.

All in all, for a first novel, this is very well-done.

Will I read more from the author? Yes.

I received a complimentary copy of the novel from the publisher and NetGalley, and my review is being left freely.

BOOK REPORT
Received a complimentary copy of Good Intentions, by Marisa Walz, from St. Martin's Press/NetGalley, for which I am appreciative, in exchange for a fair and honest review. Scroll past the BOOK REPORT section for a cut-and-paste of the DESCRIPTION of it from them if you want to read my thoughts on the book in the context of that summary.

Wow.

TOTALLY did not see that ending coming.

Good on you, Marisa Walz!

Also good on you for capturing the essence of that whole high-end party planning world, not to mention what it feels like when someone who is literally a part of you dies and then you’re left behind wondering why you thought anything work-related mattered, ever….

Hurry up and write some more books, please.

DESCRIPTION
A deft and immersive psychological suspense debut about a luxury party planner who becomes obsessed with a woman she encounters in a hospital waiting room.

Cady has worked hard to have a good life. She has a thriving luxury event-planning business, the man she’s loved since she was seventeen, and a social calendar she can barely keep up with. She also has Dana, her identical twin, her beyond best friend, her most trusted confidante. When Cady gets a call that Dana has been in a serious accident and arrives moments too late to say goodbye, her world falls apart.

But to Cady’s family’s growing concern and confusion, it’s not Dana’s death that consumes her. It’s Morgan, a grieving mother Cady encountered in the hospital waiting room, the day her sister died. It can’t be a coincidence, that they both experienced tragedy at the same moment, in the same place—Cady doesn't believe in coincidences. Instead, she is convinced that she must help this stranger overcome her tragedy, in order to come to terms with her own.

Or...is there more to it? Is it possible that Cady wants something else from Morgan? Something she can’t even admit to herself?

“Good Intentions” by Marisa Walz is an intense thriller about a successful high end party planner who becomes increasingly unbalanced when her identical twin sister dies in a tragic accident. I was uncomfortable and cringed many times reading this intense and creative thriller, which kept me turning the pages and engaged in the story.
It is a bit drawn out in the middle, but still a strong debut. I am looking forward to reading this author’s next book.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Good Intentions is a fantastic debut, well done, Marisa Walz!

I was so gripped by Cady, a luxury event planner, and her inexplicable fascination with Morgan. Cody loses her twin sister and becomes obsessed with a woman she encounters in the hospital waiting room on the same day, one who has lost her 12 year old son, Christopher.

She becomes obsessive and loses herself utterly in a tumble into crazy that Walz captures perfectly.

My only critique? I like that Cady continues to speak to her twin sister, Dana after death but the overuse of her name became irritating to the point of distraction. Perhaps that can be reworked prior to publication? I cannot stress strongly enough how much I recommend it.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for gifting me a copy. It is my pleasure to share my honest opinion.

This was a wild ride. I love psychological suspense books and this one was a really great one. Kept me on the edge of my seat. I really enjoyed the writing and story.

Good intentions. Are we compassionate and caring to others with good intentions.? Are is there agenda to every good act we do for someone

I love me an unhinged main character, and Cady is just that. Just when you think she won't cross the line in her obsessions...the line goes missing!
The story depicts Cady's life unraveling after the passing of her twin sister. Her extravagant party planning business, her marriage, her entire image continues to disintegrate as she plows through one bad decision after another under the guise of good intentions...and then left to deal with the consequences. After all, the road to hell....
Thank you, Netgalley, publisher, and author for the ARC.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for gifting me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

WHAT A DEBUT!! I absolutely devoured this book and I loved every strange, unsettling, sinister emotion associated with it. This story is the ultimate occurrence of trauma bonding and it goes right off the rails quickly. There are so many different emotions and feelings that were consistent throughout the pages of the book and I think readers are just going to obsess over it. It's a slow burn with a walloping conclusion that will more than satisfactory for anyone looking for a twist. I don't want to spoil anything - but read this book!

Good Intentions is an intense thriller that I could not put down. I loved Cady, she's such a trainwreck and I loved every minute of it! I can't wait to read more by this author. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review.

I wanted to like this psychologica suspense story, but it just drug on for too long. I finished it, but I lost interest in the characters. The same episode in Cady life seem to play over and over. The reader knows Cady is looking for something with her actions, but the big surprise at the end just fell flat. This is not a book I would recomment to anyone.

This is a remarkably uncomfortable read from the very beginning. Cady, a high-end event planner, crashes when her twin sister dies. After a chance meeting with a mother who lost a child, Cady becomes increasingly unhinged. The discomfort while reading is almost immediate. I cringed listening to her making decisions so many times, and was so bothered by her choices, I had to stop reading occasionally. I did have to skim here and there because places felt a bit longer than they needed to be, but well done debut.

Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review the ARC.

Who doesn’t love a good twin story? You know, the good twin and the bad twin. This is a new spin on an old tale. Cady has an identical twin named Dana. She has a successful and very lucrative event-planning business she oversees and gets the job done. With Cady’s busy schedule, she barely has time for her husband, Matt, but he has his own set of issues being the CEO and brand of his own company. The McKennas were living the dream.

That is, until Cady receives a rather urgent phone call advising that her twin has been in a terrible car accident. Although Cady is quite aware that something is wrong, she tries to hurry to her sister so she can be by her side. Once she arrives at the hospital, and despite desperate attempts to reach her husband, who was nowhere to be found, she sits and waits to hear the news from Dana’s surgeon.

Finally, Matt arrives at the hospital along with her parents and they are anxiously awaiting the news about Dana, only to discover the news they receive isn’t what they wanted to hear. Devastated and in shock, Cady is lost and grief stricken beyond belief. While she’s trying to make sense of her new reality, she sees a woman speaking with a doctor about the fate of her loved one and the scream she hears that comes from the woman’s soul would forever be etched on her memory bank. Her blood curdling screams leeched down in deepest depths of Cady’s body. She was mesmerized by the sound this woman made. She wasn’t aware that a person could release such a sound that didn’t quite seem humanlike.

It was at that moment Cady decided. She had to meet the woman who was so grief stricken such as herself. She wanted to let this woman know that she felt her pain too, even though they were mere strangers. One would think Cady would be so enthralled in Dana’s death but what she ends up doing is becoming obsessed with the mother and her blood curdling scream. And that, Nerds, is where our story takes off.

I must say I really disliked Cady McKenna. She was self-centered, hardheaded, and possessed narcissistic ways. Once she set her sights on a subject, there was no turning her around. But through it all, she had the best of intentions or so you might think. You’ll have to read the story to find out the rest.

I figured this story out early on, but it was still a good read. I truly enjoyed it. There were so many times I wanted to reach through my Kindle and shake some sense into Cady, but characters aren’t designed that way, literally. 🤣 They were made by their creator and Walz did a great job conveying to her readers just what we needed to know.

Good Intentions is about Cady who loses her identical twin and becomes obsessed with a woman, Morgan, whom she meets in the hospital waiting room. As she slowly insinuates herself into Morgan's life, the further away she gets from her own business and husband. This is a really fast-paced read that i think would make for a great book group discussion. I was surprised by the twist but also felt like there were too many loose ends left dangling. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

I was seemingly impressed and disappointed with “Good Intentions” by Marisa Waltz, which follows the day to day life of Cady after the death of her twin sister Dana, in which she becomes obsessed with a woman (Morgan) who’s at the hospital when she learns the fate of her sister after a car accident. Within days, she starts researching Morgan, becoming obsessed with her every move, to the point of where she befriends her. Her obsession and dedication to Morgan, starts to interfere with her life, her marriage, her high profile career, and you can tell she’s on some type of unhealthy path. In the end, her friendship with Morgan comes to an end once she realizes Cady has crossed too many lines. This only makes Cady even more obsessed to continue to help Morgan, but all she’s doing is being destructive to herself and cutting everyone she loves out of her life. The end lands with a complete plot twist, that completely blows your mind and makes you go back to the beginning of the book to piece all the pieces together. While the ending was disappointing because it just ends abruptly, it does leave an opening for a sequel, which if you ask me, it’s definitely needed. I was unsatisfied with how the book ended and was like, is this it?! There are too many loose ends. Where’s the rest? There needs to be some type of closure. So hopefully, theres a sequel in the works.

The book is written in first person, in Cady’s perspective, which I’m not use to reading. So this was a new reading experience for me and took some time to get use to. But overall, I was happy with the storyline and couldn’t get enough of it.

Thanks you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC of “Good Intentions” by Marisa Walz.