𝐓𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: Good Intentions by Marissa Walz
𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: Psychological Thriller
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: February 3, 2026

Unreliable Narrator
Bereaved Parents Group
Obsessive FMC
Descent into Madness

Oh my goodness this was a wild ride. I couldn't put this down! After the tragic death of her twin sister, we watch Cady literally SPIRAL (from her POV!) I kept thinking she wasn't all that crazy and maybe the grief was just making her act strangely, but she kept proving me wrong! We followed her descent into madness and I loved every second! While I felt like I was left with a couple of unanswered questions, the final twist made my jaw drop!

If you love an unreliable narrator, unexpected twists and a whole lot of crazy, add Good Intentions to your TBR!

Thank you so much St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the digital review copy 🙌

⚠️ grief, stalking, sibling loss, child loss, miscarriage

I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this one.
First off, I felt like nothing really happened until 20% of the book. We were just living with Cady & her grief. Once she met Morgan, some things started to happen but I still felt like there was no real plot to this. When we learned Cady was a bit batshit, it became more interesting. I don’t understand the point of William’s son & that scene, like why was that necessary..? I also feel like we didn’t get much answers at the end. Did Morgan know it was her, and did she become pregnant, and did her and Matt make it? Too many questions left!
Overall it was fine, I just felt like I was waiting for something & wanting more.

Marisa Walz writes in such a way that sucks you in to the storyline from page 1. She told such a complex story of the obssessive lengths a woman goes to while she navigates grief after losing her twin sister.

Cady is a successful event planner who owns her own business called “Eventually”. Her and her husband Matt both do remarkably well in their careers and are able to afford a life of luxury. Cady seems like she has it all until the day she gets a call from her twin sister, Dana’s, husband Sean telling Cady that Dana was in a bad accident.

By the time Cady arrives at the hospital, Dana is gone. Cady tries to put off her emotions by escaping to the ER waiting room where she encounters a distraught woman who has just lost her son.

A few days after the accident, Cady can’t stop thinking about the woman whose name she overheard was “Morgan”. Cady soon tracks her down and projects her grief and guilt onto Morgan in a very toxic, and manipulative relationship that was founded on lies and mistruths.

As the story continues it becomes evident Cady has some serious mental health issues with her need to control and lie her way through almost every situation she encounters. The end result is the loss of almost everything important to her.

When Cady hits rock bottom she tries to pull herself back up to get her career and husband back, but by the end of the story its evident to the reader, Cady will never change. Just when you think Cady has screwed up everything, the final pages reveal her motive for wanting to “help” Morgan and only always having good intentions towards her.

This is a 5 star read! I read this entire book in less than a day because it hooked me from the start to finish. I had to see how Cady’s story would end. She was a character I both loved and hated. Every cringeworthy move she made throughout the story had me shaking my head. Read this one. It is a fantastic story like none I have ever read before.

This was such a great book. A bit slow in the beginning but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The characters were great and the plot felt so original and unique to me. This is a great debut novel and I hope to be reading more from this author in the future!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of Good Intentions.

This was one of those stories that felt like a train wreck...you don't want to look but you can't look away. It was messy, raw, and propulsive. I flipped back and forth while reading between feeling very sorry for Cady and being horrified by her choices. Overall, a quick read that will have you saying "just one more chapter" every time you finish one.

4 stars.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

I devoured this book over the course of two days. Cady, the main character, has just lost her twin sister Dana in a tragic car accident. She is consumed by grief and slowly her life begins to fall apart. As we learn more about Cady’s relationships with those closest to her, we see a common unsettling theme and question if Cady is a reliable narrator.
This was tense and suspenseful! I enjoyed the short chapters and fast pace but ultimately, there were too many loose strings left at the end. I had too many unanswered questions to feel thoroughly satisfied.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martins press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Good Intentions by Marisa Walz was a solid debut. I thought the reveal at the end was fantastic, the writing was strong and I could completely envision Cady and who she was. Good Intentions had a lot of the elements I enjoy in a thriller.


However, I felt that the introduction of the unreliable narrator was introduced too soon and because of that, her downward spiral was almost predictable? We introduced the idea that something has always been “wrong” with Cady right off the top. So for that reason everything she does is almost justifiable. I think for myself I would have rather had this info given slower across the story. I hated that even her sister found her to be “too much”. Did anyone truly like her? Even if she wasn’t stable I wanted to like her. But instead I just felt frustrated the whole time. I definitely think I will pick up another by Walz I’m super curious with she’ll have to come

Cady and Dana are twins, as close as two people can be. When Dana dies, Cady's life is sent into a tailspin. But it seems that she finally finds an anchor with Morgan, another woman going through a devastating loss.
Whoa, I could not put this book down. I was never sure where we were going, and it kept my attention all the way through. It is a story of loss, devastation, grief... it is topsy turvy in the best way, and leaves you guessing until the very last page.
Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC.

I liked the premise and the story of Good Intentions. It was a sly thriller, that I wasn't sure where it was going at times. I really felt sorry for Cady at times, she lost her sister and had an unexpected miscarriage very close together, but she is obsessive about everything in her life. Her husband, her twin sister, her friend Morgan, and she really doesn't trust anyone, while wanting everyone to trust her.

Cady reminded me a bit of Scarlett O'Hara; she gets what she wants no matter who she has to step on or manipulate to get it. Definitely a good read.

Wonderful, multi-layered book. It follows the main character, Cady, in the year or so after her twin sister's death in a car accident, and how her grief, her guilt over her last interaction with her sister, and her obsession with a woman she sees in the hospital where her sister died, all lead to her life falling apart. Although some of her behaviors seem strange or even inexplicable at times, it all becomes clear in the last few pages in a way that keeps you thinking about it long after you finish the book. The book is written as though Cady is talking to her dead sister, but this device is not at all overdone and I thought it was really effective. I also loved the descriptions of her party planning business. Although the topic is not a joyful one, there are many instances where the writing is so amusing and clever that it lightens it up and makes the book very enjoyable to read. Many thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an e-ARC of this book.

This was a train wreck of a great book! I loved that Cary conversed with her dead twin sister throughout the novel. I kept cheering for her but every time I had hope she went off the deep end again. I couldn’t put this book down! The ending walloped me in the head! Just wow. I hope to read more from this author.

This was an addictive read. While reading, I didn’t love it— it was hard to read Cady’s first person account. She is clearly not well (and we learn she really wasn’t well before the tragedy that she experienced). I really should’ve guessed the twist before the ending, but I didn’t- and to be honest, the twist really added quite a bit to the story for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a scary concept and enjoyed the overall feel of this book, it had that element that I was expecting in a psychological thriller. I thought this was so well written and had that tension that I was looking for and was hooked from the first page. The characters were realistic and worked in this universe. I was glad I was able to read this and thought the overall feel of this. Marisa Walz has a strong writing style and hope to read more from her as this was everything that I was hoping for.

"Good Intentions" is described as a psychological thriller, but I don't think that's accurate. To me, it reads as a story of a woman who is intense by nature, and whose intensity is compounded by overwhelming guilt and grief after a sequence of events culminating in multiple deaths.

In her sadness and desperation, Cady clings to a woman who caught her attention in the hospital on the worst day of both their lives, a grieving mother she begins to stalk and befriend. As Cady makes a series of seemingly inexplicable choices (because grief doesn't behave rationally), her life slowly unravels.

At times, this reminded me of the main character in "Single White Female", whose obsessive behavior is a twisted attempt to recreate the relationship she lost when her twin sister died. At other times, it felt a little like "Gone Girl", where each action is really a manipulation of the people and circumstances surrounding the main character. But the plot is wholly original to me. I can't think of anything I've read that follows the same beats and I admit that the final chapter came as a surprise (although it definitely made sense in hindsight.)

I appreciate NetGalley and the publisher for access to a digital ARC. My honest review is my own opinion.

Good Intentions is a dark, gripping psychological thriller that explores grief, obsession, and moral ambiguity with skill and suspense. Marisa Walz keeps readers on edge as Cady’s fixation on a stranger grows increasingly unsettling and unpredictable. The tension is relentless, with twists that make you question motives and morality at every turn. Provocative, intense, and impossible to put down, this is a must-read for fans of psychological suspense.

I liked the start of this book, but as it went on it lost my attention. At around the 46% point I gave up. I was having to force myself to read it and I didn't enjoy the book anymore. The writing was very good, it's just the story that I couldn't get into.

Wow… what a trip this book was.
The downward spiral of Cady made this book impossible to put down.
If you enjoy a high paced thriller where you become immersed into the characters world, I would highly recommend this book!
What a debut!

This has the elements of a great story with the starting point of the hospital ER setting. I think it was just too sad and depressing for me, The habit of the author saying 'Dana' repeatedly interrupted the flow and it the story went on too long. Good plot, didn't suspect the end but I have to admit that I skipped some pages.

Thank you for the ARC!

Good Intentions by Marisa Walz

Rating: ⭐️⭐️ ⭐️.5
Recommend? Yes
Finished: August 16, 2025
Format: Digital Arc; thank you, NetGalley & Marisa Walz, for this copy
Read this if you like: suspense, complicated family dynamics, unreliable narrators, tension, anxiety-inducing logic, twist ending, obsession
Triggers: child death, miscarriage, death of main character, grief, obsessive behavior

Cady has it all: hot-shot hubby, booming event planning business, thriving social life, and a twin sister who is her literal other half. But when her sister tragically dies, that carefully cultivated life falls apart around her. With the help of a grief group, a new bestie and her doggedly supportive husband, can she pick up the pieces before they are scattered to the wind?

Though Cady is a thoroughly unlikable person, the tense journey through her crumbling life leaves you with a palpable anxiety. Walz writes her as though she has been in the trenches with that deluded anxiety. I would have given this a higher rating if I had not been able to guess the 2 major twists coming, though my husband had no idea & happily gave it a 4.5 star rating.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Good Intentions by Marisa Walz was one wild ride! Let’s be honest—Cady made some terrible life choices… but I was absolutely here for it, popcorn in hand, waiting to see how the whole shi*t show unraveled. And wow, did it unravel in the juiciest way possible.

This book made me reflect on the eerie reality that you may never truly know someone—even your twin. That unsettling layer of “what if” had me side-eyeing everyone and questioning just how well we ever know the people closest to us.

The last 20%? Forget sleep. I stayed up way too late flipping pages, and that ending? Mind. Blown. Walz really stuck the landing, and now I’ll be stalking her backlist (and future list) because I do love a good psychological thriller that keeps me guessing.

Big thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC—I had a blast with this one!