Good Days Bad Days by Emily Bleeker was a very powerful book.
The story follows Charlie (Charlotte/Lottie) McFadden, who is a reality TV star ala Chip and Joanna Gaines.
Charlie was removed from her family's home at the age of 15 and placed in foster care due to the serious hoarding issues in the home.

Her father calls to tell her that her Mom, Betty, is in a memory care facility and he needs help with the house or he will lose their home.
Charlie has just experienced a crisis in her own marriage, and goes home to help.

This book was great on so many levels.
It explored marriage and healing after infidelity, dementia and how a family is affected, and how to heal a long-held trauma.
The book does a great job of helping the reader to understand how truly overwhelming a hoarded house can be and how challenging it can be to part with things. In one room alone, they talk about taking our 60 bags of trash.

What resonated the strongest for me was the Mom, Betty, who is dealing with dementia. My own mother was also named Betty, and struggled with dementia in her final years, spending time in a memory care facility as well, so this really spoke to me.
What was interesting was that when Charlie's mom was having a "good day" it meant she remembered who Charlie was and was mean and agitated. When Betty was having a "bad day" she just thought Charlie was her friend Laura, and was a pleasure to be around. I thought it was very interesting how the definition of whether a day was good or bad depended on the person who was relating to Betty.

I also loved the setting of Lake Geneva! I am from the Chicago area and the descriptions of Lake Geneva were so on point, it was like I could see a movie happening in my head! Several of the locations I have been to over the past years (Sugar Shack-I'm looking at you! LOL)

I also like the true to life details about things that went on in the past,
There are some really deep truths in the book.
In Chapter 16 it says "Necessity is a harsh but precise teacher" so true!
Bleeker uses beautiful prose throughout in various sections, "The setting sun has turned the world to pink and orange, the sky filled with creamsicle-colored pulled taffy clouds"

I will close with another deep truth from Chapter 29: "Love is a matter of substance. It takes great effort and time to build and needs a strong foundation. It requires constant tending."

Loved this book, thanks very much to NetGalley, Lake Union, and of course Emily Bleeker for the ARC. My opinions are my own.

This was an enjoyable read for the most part, and I kept reading to find out what Betty's history was and why it contributed to her hoarding. But some of the sections I thought were too drawn out and murky, especially the chapters by Betty's husband/Charlie's father. I felt more connected to Lottie and her story. Would like to have seen the other side of the story from Betty's point of view instead of her husband;s. I think that would have made me feel more emotionally connected to Betty because I didn't get that from this novel.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher, for an advanced reading copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This starts with the story of a little girl who was removed from her home when she was 15 because of her parents extreme hoarding and unsafe living conditions. She grew up in foster care and never forgave them for abandoning her. As an adult she has a very successful home renovation show with her husband. One day she gets a call from her father to see her mother who has dementia. He needs help to clean up the house or he’ll lose guardianship. The novel continues with the family trying to get rid of the belongings that took years to accumulate. Infidelity, lies and secrets plus family drama made this book interesting. Do we ever really know our parents before they became our parents? Thanks NetGalley for an arc.

,I’ve never came across a book this unique nor have I wanted to write a review before I even finished this book! I went into this book blindly,thinking this would be a good read to explore new genres.I was not excepting a LIFE CHANGING reed like this! Like I wanted to read the full story quickly but I also never wanted it to end 😢.
The title is also so appropriate .”Good days” are not exactly good days for Charlie as they are the days where Betty remembers Charlie and hates her.”Bad days” are when Betty doesn’t remember Charlie and think Charlie is a mysterious girl called Laura?
Instead of your average “both love interests’” pov ,this book shows Charlie’s (our main lead) her dad’s pov from all the way back back when he was working .While Charlie is trying to uncover the piece of her family’s history that was never told to her after she was taken away by CPS because of her mother’s hoarding disorder,we see the story from her dad’s pov.From here,we can understand other of their feelings.How Charlie is willing to go through a lot just to uncover her family’s history and why her dad(Greg) seems to want to keep it from her.
I love the “and kids, this is how I met your mother “vibe and love his yearning for Betty(Charlie’s mother)It made me tear up reading their love story.They had been through so much 🥹🥹
I also love the love triangleish vibe going on at Charlie’s pov.Like between Ian(HER HUSBAND)and Cam (her first bf).I hated how Ian treated her and gave her mixed signals.Like what do you mean you married her and then sent messages to some chick online although taking Charlie out for a fancy dinner made up for it .I was team Cam at first but jealous Ian?🫢
Charlie’s friend group is also goal!Like supportive best friends that are fun and willing to watch hundreds of tv tapes about your mother’s old show to find out your history together?Awesome
Also I love the new perspective this book came with.Charlie is 47 years old and has 2 twins and a daughter!This is relatively new to me since I tend to stick with high-school/ya books with younger leads.
Can we also talk about all the loose ends being tied up??At first I was weirded out about Betty calling her own daughter Laura.Like who is Laura.As the story progressed I discovered more and more about Betty.And God,the twists in Betty’s history are insane!
This book is amazing in so many ways I can’t even explain!You just have to wait for its release on October and find out yourself!

Good Days Bad Days by Emily Bleeker
Charlie was removed from her home when she was 15 because of her parents extreme hoarding and unsafe living conditions. She never forgave them for not making things better and getting her back and she’s never went back. Now as an adult her father calls on her to come see her mother, who’s in a nursing home with dementia and to help him ‘clean’ up their ever deteriorating home. In doing so she meets a mother she never really knew. A very good read!
I work w the elderly and some with dementia so this one really hit home.

This was a heartbreaking read! Charlie has not been in contact with her parents since CPS came and removed her due to her mother's hoarding. Now, 30 years later, Charlie's dad reaches out needing help with the house. Betty, Charlie's mother, is suffering from memory issues and is in a memory facility until the house is safe for her return. As Charlie and her father work through the house, memories and secrets come up to the surface. This is the story of not only Charlie and her parents but also Charlie and her daughter and the legacy of secret keeping.

This was a heart wrenching read! It has great characters and I was dying to find out all of Betty's secrets. I really enjoyed the way the story moved from the present time and back to the past of the parents' love story. Betty was such a complex character that I grew to understand and love. This was a good read!

This book follows Charlotte, who is a successful TV personality with her husband Ian on a home renovation show, reminiscent of HGTV. The story alternates between her life and what she is experiencing, and her father Greg's younger years when he met his wife Betty, Charlotte's mother. Greg has called Charlotte to have her come into town to her childhood home to help clean it up, as Betty has suffered from hoarding disorder since Charlotte's childhood. Now that Betty has been put into a rehab facility, and the house has been deemed unsafe due to the hoarding, Greg needs help saving the home and his guardianship status for Betty. Despite any resentment she might feel she promised her father that if he wanted to fix things with the house, and the hoarding that she would be there to help, so she came. Greg's call couldn't have come at a better time as Charlotte and Ian are suffering some difficulties in their marriage and Charlotte just needs to get away for a while. Charlotte came to help her father, but she ends up learning so much about the parents she never fully knew, as well as learning about herself and what really matters. This book was hard to read because Betty reminds me a lot of my own mother in many ways, and I had many of the same experiences with how my mother would treat me at times. That being said, I loved the development of the story, and how it still makes you think that maybe in the end things happen they way they were meant to whether it's good or bad. After all, we all have good and bad days!

Good Days Bad Days by Emily Bleeker is an interwoven story of the past and present so much so it's almost like you are reading two books that is beautifully brought together as one.

A touching story filled with so much depth and emotion, realness of hoarding, dementia, loss, love and second chances that you can feel with each turn of the page.

I highly recommend reading and learning more about Greg, Betty and Charlie.

This was easily one of my top reads of 2025 so far! While the majority of my preferred reads are ones that I fly through in a sitting or two, this was more of a slow burn that took me a bit to get through - not because the pacing was slow or that the story wasn't interesting, but because it was emotionally heavy at times, especially as a young mom feeling caught between the pressures of raising my own child while watching my own parents age as the years pass.

"Good Days Bad Days" follows Charlie, an HGTV- esque star, as she returns to her hometown to help de-clutter her parents' home while processing her recent separation following her husband's betrayal. While it may seem like common struggles that many of us face as we get older, we soon learn the complex and messy side of Charlie's past, including her childhood in foster care resulting in estrangement from her parents, especially her mom. Told in parallel storylines that alternate between Charlie's POV and her father in his 20s, we learn more about the complexities behind their family dynamics.

Like I said, I absolutely loved this one. The characters, the pacing, the storyline - everything! Thanks so much for the ARC - can't wait to follow Bleeker and see what she comes out with next!

Good days bad days by Emily Bleeker

Charlie vowed to never go home again........until....
Charlie was taken from her family home and put into foster care because of unsafe home conditions. Her dad assured her they'd fix it and bring her home. That did not happen.
Charlie grew up, moved, and now has a popular tv show.
She has no contact with her mom at all. She's still bitter about her teen years in foster care.
After a frantic plea for help from dad, Charlie reluctantly returns home to help her parents.
This story was so emotional, with dementia and OCD.
It was told in parts, past and present.
I devoured it.
I loved Charlie and while I was frustrated with some of her decisions, as I was her parents decisions, I could not stop reading.
We get to know Charlie today and her parents, both today and before.
The story was just emotional and gripping.
When reading the past parts of the story, I learned quite a bit and my feelings toward some of the characters changed a bit.
I never did like Ian though.
So if the reader wants a good emotional story with family issues, drama, and some heavy themes this fits.
It was not a dark story though there were a few parts that were super emotional.

highly recommended

thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for this compelling emotional story.

In Good Days Bad Days, Charlie McFadden returns home after 31 years of estrangement from her parents. Her mother's OCD and hoarding, and her father's enabling, forced her to cut them out of her life. But when she returns to help her father clear the house, she learns secrets about her parents that change the way she sees them, helps her understand her mother's illness, and forces her to rethink the broken relationships with her family.

I thought this book was well done. The story is told in dual timelines, and the author does a really good job of holding the reader's attention in both timelines. I especially loved the story of Betty and Greg. I thought the characters, especially those from the historical story, were well developed and relatable.

I don't have any major complaints about the book. There were some parts that did drag, some parts that could have been better developed, and some parts that probably could have been left out altogether. Overall, it was a quick read that I enjoyed.

3.5​⭐s rounded up.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for this advanced copy. The book is scheduled to be published on October 7, 2025.

Emily Bleeker delivers another emotionally resonant and beautifully layered novel in Good Days and Bad Days. With her signature blend of heartfelt storytelling and suspenseful pacing, she captures the complexity of grief, healing, and the power of second chances. The characters feel authentic—flawed yet deeply relatable—and their journeys tug at the heart without feeling overly sentimental. Bleeker excels at weaving past and present, unraveling secrets just enough to keep you turning the pages. This is a story about resilience, love, and what it means to move forward after life takes an unexpected turn. A deeply moving read that stays with you long after the final page.

After being removed from her home by child protective services at the age of 15 and placed into foster care, Charlie McFadden believes she has taken control of her life. However, in reality, things are beginning to spiral.

When a call from her estranged father asks her to come home to say goodbye to her mother and help him with their family house, Charlie runs to her hometown to escape her problems. She soon begins to realize that perhaps her own childhood trauma and family secrets are having more impact on her adult life than she thought.

The story unfolds through dual timelines, alternating between the present day, where Betty resides in a dementia ward, and the late 1960s and early 1970s, when her parents first met. These flashbacks reveal a completely different Betty compared to the woman Charlie remembers.
The author’s depiction of dementia and OCD/hoarding compulsion is well-researched. I found the early storyline about Betty and Greg compelling, forming Betty into a likable and well-developed character that I rooted for. Where I struggled with the book was the present-day Charlie, who often came across as grating and shallow, with superficial relationships. At times, I found myself eager to return to the 1970s chapters, delving into Betty and Greg’s backstory and uncovering their secrets.

In the end, the narrative ties together as long-hidden truths are revealed, leading to a sense of relative happiness and resolution. 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for providing me with a digital ARC for review.

This was not my favorite Emily Bleeker book. I felt like it was a little bit choppy, the flashbacks especially felt like they were written in a different rhythm than the current era chapters. I also didn't get connected to the whole Ian side story line. It felt like it needed more. But maybe I am just spoiled by her previous two books which I absolutely loved!

This is a story line that I am willing to bet many people can relate to. As you learn about Greg, Betty, Lottie/Charllotte, you will learn a number of things about the characters and will follow the twists and turns and there are even a few suprises in store!

I received a copy for review. All opinions are my own. I absolutely loved this book. The past and present timeline was so helpful to understand the plot. This book is very relatable for me and does a great job of putting you in the main characters shoes. At times it made me smirk and at others it made me frown. Definitely a worthy read!

Emily Bleeker’s *Good Days Bad Days* is a deep dive into family struggles, memories, and the process of healing. The story centers around Charlie McFadden, who seems to have it all together as a wife, mother, and reality TV star, far removed from the chaos of her childhood. After being taken away from her parents’ messy home when she was fifteen, Charlie has always felt unwanted and emotionally abandoned by her mom, Betty, and her dad.

The real emotional weight kicks in when Charlie is pulled back into her past after her dad asks her to visit her ailing mom in a memory care facility. This isn’t just another trip down memory lane; it’s a chance for her to rediscover everything she thought she left behind. Betty, now battling dementia, swings between hurtful comments and rare moments of warmth, giving Charlie glimpses of a loving mother she never truly knew. These moments not only reveal deeper family secrets but also add layers to the story.

Bleeker really captures how memories can be both a struggle and a lifeline. The book steers clear of clichés and goes for a more honest approach. *Good Days Bad Days* doesn’t wrap things up neatly with forgiveness or closure but offers something more genuine: a real look at coming to terms with the past. Fans of family dramas like those by Jodi Picoult or Kristin Hannah will find a lot to appreciate in this moving novel.

This beautifully told story moves between past and present, piecing together the fractured relationship between Charlie and her estranged parents. As Charlie returns home after decades to say goodbye to her mother, now in a memory care unit, she’s pulled into a journey of rediscovery, painful truths, and moments of unexpected love.

The depiction of her mother’s dementia, along with the long-standing obsessive-compulsive behaviors that led to extreme hoarding, was incredibly well done. It’s easily a 5 star read!

Good Days Bad Days had an good story that kept me interested. There were more layers to it than I expected when it started. I got a little frustrated with some of the choices that Charlie made (why does there always have to be a hometown love interest?). So I think I preferred the 1969 story a little more. Thank you NetGalley for this ARc.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest feedback. I always enjoy this author’s books and this one was no different. She digs in about real subjects and writes with heart.