This was a powerful read for me, one of those books that stays with you long after you turn the last page. Milly in particular is still lingering in the back of my mind, clearly she captivated me even if I’m still not quite sure exactly how I feel about her. Good Me Bad Me is a unique story and one that left a lasting impression on me.

Milly’s mother is a serial killer and she’s had enough, so she turns her in to the police. We meet Milly as she’s getting ready to live with her new foster family; father Mike, mother Saskia and daughter Phoebe. To Milly, they seem like the perfect family, everything she’s never had. Mike doubles as her psychologist which is interesting but also seems to blur the lines a bit. Saskia is a flighty, disengaged woman and Phoebe is a classic high school mean girl. She is not pleased that her family has taken Milly in and she doesn’t even know the truth. The only people who are aware what Milly’s mother has done is Mike, Saskia and the headmaster at her new private school.

This is an intense character study inside the mind of Milly. She’s understandably struggling with many issues, but the biggest may be the guilt she feels about betraying her mother. She’s about to go to trial for the brutal killing of nine very young children and Milly knows it’s all because of her. There is a constant battle of good versus evil inside her head, she’s always wondering if the good part of her will win or will the dark, violent part from her mother overcome and consume her? Land has a peculiar writing style with subtle nuances, but it works brilliantly here as it really fits as to how you would imagine a damaged girl such as Milly to think and speak.

I can’t accurately describe how I feel about Milly. On one hand I feel extremely emphatic towards her, she was raised in a house of horrors where unspeakable things were occurring and to be honest, most times she comes across as shockingly well adjusted. She desperately wants to fit in to her new family and school, but unfortunately Phoebe makes it her mission to make her life a living hell. The cattiness is accurately frightening and I found myself thanking the stars that I’m well beyond my high school years. Then on the other hand, she will have a thought or a moment that makes me uneasy and chilled right to the bone. It’s unsettling to say the least and that’s probably the best word I could use to describe my entire experience here.

This is an impressive debut, with a slow burn and a sense of dread bubbling under the surface. Don’t mistake the slowness for weakness though, it surely delivers on all levels. It’s dark,tortured and obsessive and I still can’t decide if I trust Milly or not. It’s still haunting me days after I finished it, but I’m not terribly surprised as it raised quite a few deeply profound questions. Are we a product of our environment? Is it more about the DNA we’re born with? A little of both? Milly grappled with these questions continuously and was almost fighting against herself to push away the bad parts of her. I could blather on about this one forever, but I’ll spare you all for now and just end with this; if you’re looking for a highly intelligent psychological thriller that won’t let you out of its clutches, this is for you.

This disturbing, dark novel had me hooked from the start, and I was unable to put it down.
It is written in the first person, in the present, which allows the reader access to everything Milly is thinking, or almost everything...The style is short, sharp, and very easy to read .Her descriptions are sensory and visual, they frequently start off as normal observations, and then with a twist there is an horrific memory, or a chilling comment which pulls you up short. That is a shock,you do not really know your narrator at all.
Having gone to the police about her mother, you would hope that Annie, whose name is changed to Milly, would have a better quality of life, but instead she has to face horrific bullying, as well as the mental stresses of preparing for a trial where she is the witness, all while housed in a foster home which is itself dysfunctional.
Milly’s mother is ever present through the novel, with Milly continually speaking to her in her head, revealing her dilemma of fear versus love. This novel raises so many questions; is a murderer loveable? Why did she give up her mother to the police? What was the final straw? Can she be good?
Ali Land has written an amazing first novel, I read in an interview that she was a children’s mental health nurse for ten years, so is well qualified to write about young people’s issues.In doing so she provokes discussion around how to care for children who have been damaged by their pasts.

This review is written with thanks to Michael Joseph, an imprint of Penguin UK, and Netgalley for my copy of Good Me Bad Me.
Annie's mother has committed terrible crimes, and Annie has reported her to the police. She is given a new identity and a foster placement with Mike, Saskia and their daughter, Phoebe. But can Annie, now known as Milly, really escape from her past?
Good Me Bad Me is narrated by Milly, and it is in Milly's character where the strength of the novel lies. It is clear that the reader is given more insight into Milly's true feelings than the other characters in the novel, particularly Mike, who in addition to being her foster father is also her psychologist. The tension created by Milly's relationships with others makes the novel utterly compelling, and this kept me reading throughout, as I wanted to find out how Milly would cope in the situation in which she has been placed.
Despite not having been in Milly's situation, I found her character surprisingly easy to relate to, especially in terms of her mental health issues and the difficulty she experiences fitting in at school. This, alongside the vivid descriptions of her mother's crimes, helped me to feel sympathy towards her, which kept me intrigued as the plot developed.
It is clear from early on in Good Me Bad Me that Milly may not be a reliable narrator, and I found myself questioning her version of events throughout the novel. This increased the tension for me as I read as I wanted to discover the truth behind Milly's story. There are some twists along the way; however, at times, I found I was able to predict these, and this lessened the impact of the novel for me towards the end.
I enjoyed Good Me Bad Me and look forward to reading Land's future novels.

Fifteen year old Milly has a privileged new life, a year 11 place at a prestigious girls school, a beautiful new home with a perfect family, Foster Father psychologist Mike , Foster Mother Saskia, and Foster Sister Phoebe.

Milly however is struggling to leave her past behind, formerly known as Annie, the reason for her new foster family is her Mother.

A Mother on trial, a serial killer guilty of some truly heinous crimes.

The case has hit the headlines with Milly's Mother being dubbed 'the Peter Pan Killer'. A monster guilty of abusing, torturing and killing young children in the worst way imaginable.

Despite Mike and Saskia welcoming Milly into their family with open arms, Milly is struggling to fit in, struggling to escape her Mother's voice, deep inside her head, and struggling with Mike and Saskia's biolgocial daughter, Phoebe.

Phoebe hates Milly almost instantly. Milly shouldn't take this personally, Phoebe pretty much hates anyone who takes the spotlight away from her. She is young, blonde, pretty and has the luxury of being one of the most popular girls at school.

But Phoebe underestimates Milly, thinks that she is just another foster kid. Milly is a much more complex character, conditioned from a young age by her evil Mother. She is a fragile creature, struggling to cope in the outside world, and Phoebe may be the one that pushes her over the edge.

How exactly will she handle that?

Ali Land's debut is a dark and disturbing novel, that is sure to be a hit in 2017. It will be well deserved...

It is a cracker of a novel to start the year with, and I hope she has more like this up her sleeve.

This novel is set from the young persons point of view & is essentially the story of Milly in the aftermath of her mothers arrest for serial murder and her mothers eventual trial.
I found it to be more based around the emotions of the young girl & her unstable mental health that focused on the crimes etc. I am unsure what genre this would even fit into it's definitely not a thriller or a mystery. The entire book lacks pace & plotting. It's repetitive in places such as the constant hyperventilating type behaviour or mention of nipples! There is no twists or turns of substance.
Overall I felt I was just reading the diary of a 15yr old (albeit one how's mother was a serial killer) and it bored me to hell!
I don't like to post negative reviews or leave 1* reviews and I certainly don't make a habit of it. But unfortunately it just wasn't my cup of tea!

Good Me, Bad Me by Ali Land
4 stars!!!

“What did you see, Annie? What did you see?”

As most of you know I have been on a bit of a psychological thriller kick, expanding the genres on the blog and also to give my grey matter something new to churn over. I love it when a plot makes you think, having your brain run a mile a minute while you frantically try and piece together the little clues that the author deems noteworthy. Ali Land mastered the drip feed perfectly and certainly had this woman’s brain running a marathon, but that is the beauty of the thriller, and as usual, nothing I thought was right.

“What it saw was too ugly to love.”

Good Me, Bad Me does tackle some tough subjects that may be a trigger for some, namely child abuse and murder. While the actual abuse and murders are not explicitly expanded upon they are there.

We are first introduced to Annie when she is living at home with her mother who was a child serial killer. Annie is subject to mental and physical abuse too and having had to bear witness to her mother’s heinous crimes the last one tips her over the edge. Aged fifteen, scared out of her mind Annie escapes and turns her mother in to the police, she has taken the first step. Now a ward of the court, Annie’s name is changed to Milly and she is put into the fostering system.

“The only way out is through.”

This book covers Annie’s life from the time she takes that first step to the time she is finally free from her mother, but can she ever be free? Plagued by nightmares, her mother is never far from her mind and as trial dates loom the nightmares get worse. Milly fights hard to prove that she is not her mother’s daughter, as the Good Me fights with the Bad Me who will win?

“The things you did…broke my heart. You broke my heart. You broke my. You broke. You. And me.”

Ali Land delivers one intriguing, compelling read exacerbated by the fact that this was easily relatable, nothing farfetched and something we unfortunately see far too frequently in the press. You are given a first-hand insight into the struggles of a child that is battling her inner turmoil as to whether she is her mother’s daughter. Does DNA truly maketh the person or will that nature vs nurture effect take over? As the trial looms, ever closer, who is on trial, the informant or the perpetrator?

“Folie a deux – a madness shared by two.”

Millie not only has to contend with her inner thoughts but battles the troubles extended to her that come hand in hand with a new family and new school. Millie has so much on her plate and the struggle is real. With short, sharp, fragmented sentences at times, the author really accentuated the depth of struggle and fear that Millie is going through, especially with her inner monologue fighting against herself and her mother. You never truly understand the effect that something like this has on the witnesses and the families and Ali Land goes somewhat into showing just how widespread the repercussions truly spread.

This book side swiped me in the best way and for a debut novel Ali Land really hit the psychological thriller on the head. A great delivery.

www.theromancecover.com

Good Me, Bad Me is Ali Land's debut novel and it shows her to be an exceptionally talented writer. It has garnered much praise from other authors in the genre and it has been translated into 21 languages at the time of this review.

I love the cover of the UK hardback edition as it conveys the duality of the narrator's life as she attempts to be normal while knowing that she is far from normal. It also gives a sense of vulnerability to Milly's character that she likes to play on in the novel. It's a well-designed cover and it's very eye-catching.

Ali Land's writing style is captivating. I can't think of another way to describe it. The language and description that she uses just draws you into the story instead of making it feel as though you're merely observing the events of the story. Milly, the narrator, has a voice that grips you from the very beginning and does not let you go even after you've finished the book. She haunts you. I think that Milly's narrative voice is perfect for a book such as this and it proves that Land is a wonderful writer because you can really hear Milly in her narration, it's not just a flat, generic voice. I read this book over the Christmas/Holiday period so I couldn't dedicate any full days to reading it but I would like to go back and just read it nonstop. I found it difficult to put down even with my restricted reading time because it's full of suspense and I fell in love with Land's writing.

The characters are all very intense and complicated and I find that Land captures the cruelty of teenage girls very well. I often find teenage girls in stories too stereotypical in their meanness but Phoebe and Iz felt real. I went to high school with girls like that, I'm sure everyone did. I also found Phoebe's strained relationship with her mother very interesting because it adds so much to both of their characters. It adds a new dimension to each character.

Milly is a fascinating character. I'm not usually a fan of first-person narrative because I often find that the narrators are annoying. However, having access to Milly's innermost thoughts is both terrifying and amazing. Milly is such an intense character as she struggles with her own identity but also with her mother's actions. Her thoughts reveal her relationship with her mother as she talks to her mother continuously but they also reveal much about Milly herself as she considers her own role in her mother's crimes.

Land really focuses on the classic 'nature vs nurture' debate in this novel as she considers the way that Milly may have been conditioned by her serial-killer mother during her twisted childhood. The plot is exhilarating as you're left wondering 'what's going to happen next?' at every turn. I was just gripped by the plot from the first page to the last page.

I would just like to point out a few things though. This novel is not for the easily offended but most thrillers aren't. There's swearing in the novel but it's well placed in my opinion. Milly and many of the other characters are teenagers and most British teenagers swear. It's a fact. It's also a small act of rebellion which works well with characters like Phoebe and Iz. There's also some sensitive issues such as drug consumption etc. It never seems like Land just added it in for shock value and it always works as part of the plot in some way.

I loved this book. I just really loved it. It was a fantastic way to end 2016 for me and I can't wait for it to be released on the 12th of January because I'm going to buy it and re-read it when I get the chance to. Ali Land is definitely an author to keep an eye on in the future as Good Me, Bad Me has showcased her talent for writing excellent characters and capturing the perfect narrative voice.

I really do recommend this book. The writing is excellent, really captivating, and the plot is just fantastic. It's one of the best thrillers that I've read in ages and the concept is amazing. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I can't recommend it enough.

Well this is definitely a book with a different premise to anything I’ve read before. Annie’s mother is a serial killer and after the last killing she decides to go to the police and tell all. To protect her Annie is given a new name, Millie Barnes and sent to live with foster parents Mike and Saskia and their own teenaged daughter Phoebe.
This is a book that drags you into the action straight away with much of Milie’s narrative addressed to her mother, the reader is given an insight into what may have happened before she arrived at her foster home, but for the most part nothing specific is actually expressed.
As well as being a foster father of many years, Mike is also a psychologist who works with Millie as she prepares for her mother’s trial as a key witness. Odd as it may seem the foster family have their own problems which are revealed to us through Millie’s eyes.
Millie has clearly been damaged by her upbringing, she has problems forming bonds, struggles to react appropriately and is essentially living a lie. Maybe a necessary one but beyond Mike and Saskia and her new headmistress, no-one knows the truth about why she is being fostered and her absences for preparation are papered over with more acceptable excuses. As I was reading this book, the idea that a young fifteen year old who has taken the huge step of revealing the horror that occurred behind closed doors is then left with limited people who understand something of what she’s going through, and what she’s preparing for. And then there is the fact that this is her mother, that bond is still there, not completely severed.
This was a masterful piece of writing and although Millie’s narrative felt a little disjointed at times as it reflected her disordered thoughts for me, that just added to the sense of horror which fortunately is solely down to the writing rather than graphic images of what happened which are mostly referred to but not expressly discussed. Ali Land does a fantastic job of adding the tension by interspersing memories with an every day life which is quite frankly anything but normal.
With the main protagonist being the daughter of a serial killer the theme is that of nature over nurture rears its head in the most twisted way – what happens if a child has both sides of the coin loaded against her – can Millie by having reported her mother escape the pattern that her early life has set in place – after all we can all imagine what her future holds if she isn’t able to pull free.
The characters are a mixed bunch although the cast is relatively small, which suited the style of book and of course Millie’s background. With Millie obviously and understandably disturbed, Saskia seemed off-the wall and Phoebe a nasty cow. Mike was kind but he appeared to be Millie’s entire support system and there were some indications that he wasn’t looking after her for entirely altruistic reasons. Plus how can a man working in mental health not see that his wife is in bad need of help?
I can’t say I enjoyed this book, because that is entirely the wrong word. I was unsettled by what I was reading, I was unnerved by many of the characters and I read the entire book with a never-ending feeling of dread – was it a good read? Yes, not only was it an inspired premise, this book also captured the way teenagers behave, understandably given her background working as a Child and Adolescent Mental Health Nurse she has created a true to life replicas in her younger characters. So in conclusion this book is set firmly on the pile of books I’m glad I’ve read, and in all honesty I don’t think I’ll be able to forget Millie’s sad tale for some time to come.
I’d like to thank the publishers Michael Joseph for my copy of Good Me, Bad Me which will be published next week. This review is my unbiased thanks to them.

A compelling and occasionally disturbing read, I found myself unable to put it down. It's rare for me to find a psychological thriller I enjoy but I loved this. Truly chilling.

"The brain of a psychopath is different from most, I've weighed up my chances. Eighty percent genetics, twenty percent environment. Me. One hundred percent f*cked"

Would you invite the child of a serial killer into your life, into your family's? Is it fair to judge someone for the actions of their parent? Do you think you should keep their background a secret to protect them or should you warn people so they can be on their guard?

These were all questions I found myself considering as I read this dark and chilling psychological thriller by Ali Land. It's a gripping and addictive story that I found myself reading late into the night, scared to keep going but unable to put down. I felt so much sympathy for this 15 year old girl who had been so horrifically let down and abused by her mother but every so often there were these sudden chilling moments where I found myself wondering just what she could be capable of (and what involvement she'd had in her mother's crimes).

The author shows real skill in keeping the tension throughout the story and also in creating such a distinctive character and voice in Milly (aka Annie) our narrator. For the most part Milly comes across as scared, quiet and unsure and generally just someone who wants the love and friendship she didn't get from life with her mother. Every so often however there is this glimpse of something off about her, an inner strength and lack of fear but also a coldness and a lack of empathy for others. There are scenes that make for some seriously uncomfortable reading and a couple of occasions where I wasn't sure I wanted to continue it was so disturbing, which sounds bad but to me is actually the mark of a great thriller.

The one and only criticism I have of this book, and the reason for knocking off that half star, is that occasionally I found the writing style and sentence structure a little bit off putting.

This is a book with a lot of hype around it, to quote the blurb "One of the most extraordinary, controversial and explosive debuts of 2017", which is something I'm generally quite suspicious of but honestly in this case I think it's definitely a book worthy of hype. I'm often let down by thrillers with a lot of hype (I didn't like the Girl on the Train) but I doubt many will be let down by this. Read it.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. It's released on the 12th January.

Good Me, Bad Me is Ali Land’s debut novel and predicted to be one of 2017’s popular/most hyped books on the market and will appeal to anyone that loves a dark and thrilling read. I can see this will definitely be a book club pick for a lot of people as there is a lot to discuss which we will get to later.

Our story follows 15-year-old Annie or should I say Milly. Annie is under witness protection with a new identity known as Milly. Milly’s mother is a murderer and awaiting trial for killing 9 children and her face is all over the newspapers and TV as being this horrendous human being. Along with Milly’s new identity comes a new foster family, new school, new friends and a chance to start afresh. Milly’s foster family are rather dysfunctional with Phoebe the daughter who takes an instant disliking of Milly, Saskia the mentally unstable mother and then there is Mike her psychologist who is trying to hold everything together. Phoebe being the popular girl at school makes it very awkward for Milly to make new friends and will go out of her way to make Milly’s life as miserable as possible.Throughout the book we discover how much abuse Milly has been through and what she witnessed when she was living with her mother and how her upbringing has shaped/influenced her.

I liked this book but it had its flaws. I felt that the author played it safe on this novel, I wanted the story to be more gritty, darker and more thrilling. The story is told from Milly’s perspective which I enjoyed and I appreciated it when she was thinking about her mother it was like she was talking to the reader which made it feel eerie. What I think would have been great would have been some other perspectives such as Mike and Phoebe’s just to break it up a bit and to come from a different angle,It would have been nice to their thought process. Also I wanted more of a back story, this was just glanced upon and felt that it could have been so much better, as in reasons why the mother killed all those children and also the back story of Saskia and Phoebe’s relationship which once again was only touched upon. For me a truly great novel is when an author covers all aspects and doesn’t leave me questioning things at the end.

I didn’t feel any connection with Milly, there is something about her that didn’t make me feel an empathy for, she is a smart young girl that has had a traumatic upbringing and wants to move on with her life but there was just something stopping me from liking her which I can’t explain.

I did like the psychological aspects of this book in that we see how much of an impact years of abuse has had on Milly. The way she feels guilt,self harms and still yearns for her mother was definitely well written.

The relationship or lack of between Milly and Phoebe felt very realistic and could see how hard it was for both of the girls.

Ali Lands writing is very enjoyable to read and is a page turner alright but there were some parts in the dialogue that got a little confusing and wasn’t sure who was saying what.

Overall this book is dark, twisted and powerful read that will keep you gripped and turning those pages until you have devoured it in one sitting, This is a really good debut novel and will read future work from Ali Land.

I rated this 3.5/5 stars

A gripping story told by a compelling voice. 3.5/5 stars.

Thank you to Penguin UK – Michael Joseph and NetGalley for giving me an e-copy of this book. My review is unbiased and honest.

Good Me Bad Me will be published on 12th January.

My difficult relationship with the thriller genre continues! Again, another book being universally lauded fell a little flat with me.

I understand why so many advance readers love this book and it’s already being tipped as one of the great successes of 2017. The story is gripping, told in Milly’s first-person voice which is entirely convincing and compelling. You find yourself following her eagerly, whizzing through the chapters to find out what’s next. Also, whereas in other thrillers I’ve read, I’ve been annoyed by implausible character decisions, there’s none of that here. Everything Milly, her foster parents and sister, kids and teachers at her school do is believable.

However, readers should be warned that there is some highly disturbing content here, including first-person insights into the activities of a serial killer whose victims are all small children. This is not a fun, enjoyable read.

I didn’t find the story as “twisty” as billed and I was hoping for more from the ending. Without spoilers, I was hoping that Milly would find a cleverer, more manipulative way to solve her problem with Phoebe.

And finally, I return to my on-going issue with dark psychological thrillers: I need someone to like! Come on, authors: give me a character I can root for because they’re decent and appealing. This book is another example of the genre featuring a cast of scheming bitches and absent, selfish adults.

Overall: a gripping story told by a compelling voice. A disturbing rather than enjoyable read which could have been served by a stronger conclusion.

I would like to thank Penguin UK for providing me with an advanced reading copy of this book.

I enjoyed Good Me, Bad Me at the time of reading, but I was left feeling a bit let down on finishing it. The premise was interesting enough to hold my attention at the time, but I guessed almost right from the start where the story was heading and found it rather predictable as a result.

I couldn't connect to the characters, they didn't have enough depth to make them feel real and there were too many different elements to the storyline. I think it would have enjoyed it more had they been narrowed down and more depth and detail invested in the few rather than skimming the surface of many. I wasn't able to get into the headspace of the main character because there was so much going on around her, her character lacked the complexity and detail needed to portray her situation.

That being said, it wasn't a bad read. The premise was a good one and it was an easy, quick read, but it was lacking the suspense, thrills and tension that I love to experience in a good psychological thriller, and was too predictable.

Not one I would recommend.

Wow!! Struggling to get my breath back after just finishing this one! Just when I thought the psychological thriller genre couldn't get any darker, chilling or twisted then this book comes along to raise the bar yet again!! Astonishing work for a debut thriller too!

The main character, Annie, is 15 and is making the brave decision to go to the police to make a statement over what has been happening in her house, as she is the daughter of a serial killer. Her mother has been torturing young children and the details as they are revealed throughout the book are shocking and depraved.

Annie, or Milly as she is now called in her foster home, is having to go through the trial process while trying to regain a normal life at school and with a new foster family - Mike, Saskia and their daughter Phoebe. Mike is a psychologist so is also there to help Annie/Milly with her thoughts and how to cope, but all is not well with his own family and we get to see Annie/Millys' take on her new family with shocking clarity for someone so young.

The pace of this book is quite steady and that really helps build up the tension and shock factor throughout as small snippets of what happened in the past, and how this has affected her state of mind are drip fed to the reader at the right time to keep you turning the page for more! Annie/Millie is such an interesting and complex character that you have difficult reading her at times as she seems conflicted over her thoughts towards her mother and that seems difficult to appreciate as you find out what her mother made her witness over the years through the peephole and the abuse she'd made her suffer from the age of 5 - they do say that blood is thicker than water!

This is a book that has you on edge from start to finish and leaves you with a chill down your spine as the story unfolds. Highly recommended!!

Imagine your are a 15 year old girl whose mother is a serial killer and who has had to witness things no one should ever see. Imagine if you have been physically and psychologically abused for much of those 15 years and one day you finally tell someone and put a stop to it all.
Milly is that 15 year old girl. Placed in a foster home Milly finds herself living with Saskia, the unstable foster mother, Phoebe the foster sister who hates her and foster father Mike, the psychologist, who attempts to unlock her mind and prepare her to give evidence at her mother's trial.
Milly also has to contend with a new school, no friends, a past that she is unable to talk about and an uncertain future.
Milly is a Jekyll and Hyde character, unwilling to allow the effects of her mothers unrelenting psychological abuse affect her actions yet in some ways unable to stop it so ingrained is it in her psyche.
It is this that makes Good Me Bad Me such a deeply unsettling, yet gripping and thrilling read. If I hadn't had to go to work I would have read the book in one sitting.
It is begging for a sequel either to continue Milly's story or to focus on Milly's mother and how and why she became a serial killer.

Rating 3.5/5

I will start off by saying that this story is utterly gripping, once you get into it you don’t want to put it down. There is always a danger of a story being too hard to swallow when it deals with such a delicate subject matter; because the victims of Milly’s mother were children; but I feel that in this case Ali Land has managed to get it just right, as you can’t stop yourself from being immersed in this book.

It is easy to see that there is some prior knowledge or a lot of research done, about the handling of a situation such as the one that Milly finds herself in. Especially with regards to the process of her placing in a foster home with relative anonymity, dealing with the lawyers and support workers and then eventually being a witness in the case. I found this a really fascinating part of the storyline. However a lot of the narrative was also based around Milly’s time at school, and I felt that these sections were at points just too clichéd for my liking.

I could understand there being animosity between Milly and Phoebe. In the book you are told that Phoebe’s parents had said there would be no more foster children for a while, and then Milly comes along; that I find perfectly acceptable. I just felt that having Phoebe as the instigator of a tirade of bullying at school, and some behaviours that weren’t directed at Milly but had quite severe results were just too unbelievable. Whilst I know that the stereotypical mean girl does exist in the real world, I just felt that in this story there was no way that Phoebe could push it to that extent without someone other than only their peers noticing.

For me this also meant that Phoebe, who does play a big role in the story felt a bit underdeveloped. There is a lot of hinting to a softer side and some troubles of her own, but none of it gets properly explored, apart from the fairly obvious parent issues. I feel like the scenes that involve her that are supposed to make an impact, sometimes fall a little short because of this.

Another thing that I had difficulty with was the staccato style of writing. Constantly stopping and starting, I found it hard to follow at points and felt like I had to concentrate on it a lot more than should be necessary. Whilst I could see that this style is possibly being used as a symbol of Milly’s personality or to make the writing more impactful, personally I felt like it made it harder for me to connect with Milly. Or maybe the point is to keep you detached but it did hinder my experience slightly. Having said that, I don’t know if it’s because I did eventually get used to this style or because it’s not as prominent in the second half of the book but eventually it read a lot easier.

Despite these issues that I did have with the book, one thing that I really admired was that it didn’t sensationalise the abuse and actions toward the children. Instead of being told exactly what has happened in grim detail, there are hints here and there. From snippets of Milly’s memories and how her mother interacts with her, it is left to your own imagination and you are able to draw your own fair conclusions. I think this makes the book stronger, as for me it really built to the suspense of the trial. Not being given all the exact details at once meant that you were conjuring your own beliefs over what happened, especially to the last child, and that really kept me hooked into the story.

Good Me, Bad Me is definitely a book that is going to cause some controversy and a lot of discussion. Whilst I had my issues with it, I would still urge others to read it, as it is an enthralling read and a voice and story such as Milly’s is rare.

Chilling! Interesting psychological thriller with a few unexpected revelations. Very readable, but quite disturbing. How did I feel at the end? - interested in how a child could be warped in that way. It's a difficult but compelling theme which I think was handled very well by the author.

I'm pretty tired today and it's due to this book....thought I would read the first couple chapters and then before I knew it was was desperate to finish it so I could go to sleep! The blurb for this book really interested me... a daughter turns in her serial killer mother to the police but are they more alike that she thinks?

Straight away from the first chapter I was hooked, with fifteen year old Annie finding the courage to go to the police. She has suffered a lot, having had to watch many children die under the hands of her mother and not being able to prevent any of them. Her death of the last child triggers her into action.

Annie is soon renamed Milly and sent to live with a foster family while awaiting for the trial of her mother. She is trained for the trial concerning the questions are going to be asked, remembering what happened to her and the children all the while trying to fit in at a new school. She is desperately trying to be good while having dark thoughts and worrying that she may well the bad person her mother always wanted her to be. The popular daughter of the foster family takes an instant dislike to her and Milly soon begins to be bullied by her.

Make no mistake this is a chilling and dark read. Milly is psychologically very damaged, this is well conveyed in the book, she sees and feels her mothers presence, speaks to her as if she were there and thinks back often to the time they spent together. As the book progresses, more information is revealed about the physical and psychological torture Milly has suffered which is extremely heartbreaking. For any that may be worried about reading a book about a child murderer the torture and deaths of the children and Milly are not spoken about in graphic detail, really only the last child taken is discussed out of necessity and shouldn't put you off reading it. The only negative I had is that I felt there were perhaps too many upsetting bullying scenes (kinda made me glad I went to school before mobile phones and social media were a thing) both towards Milly and other people, I understand why they were needed and i'm sure others will disagree but as a personal view it got a bit too much.

There is a lot of dark humour from Milly in this book which I enjoyed, she is scary and also someone you feel for....however you're not quite sure what she is going to do next which makes it so addictive. Does she really want to be good? With more than a few twists, it had a lot of 'oh my god!' reveals although there was one where I could see where it was going and was dreading it being confirmed. Just when you think the book is winding up, there is another element of surprise, loved it!

Good Me Bad Me is going to be on the top lists of 2017 and could definitely see it being optioned as a movie. I'd highly recommend it and I can't wait to see the next offering from Ali Land.

Thank you Netgalley and Penguin UK for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: Good Me, Bad Me

Daily Life,Serendipity,Books




We are delighted to start working in collaboration with Michael Joseph - Penguin UK (Publishers) through Net Gallery. We were pre approved, to read and provide an open and honest review in return for a copy of this book. We always delay posting reviews until just before the book is published.

This is the first books we have read and reviewed for Penguin. Good Me, Bad me is written by Ali Land and is to be published on 12th January.

Many thanks to Net Gallery, Michael Joseph - Penguin UK and Ali Land for the advance copy of this book in exchange for an open and honest review.

Our Review






Annie, a teenager, has just moved in to a foster home. She has taken a new name, identity and is joining a new school. Annie becomes Milly. The family she moves in with have a daughter the same age, a mother and also a father who is a psychologist and works with Milly to prepare for her mother's trial.

Previously Annie lived with her mother. Annie believes her mother is a serial killer and is a witness to her latest murder. She reports her mother to the police and prepares to give evidence against her. The newspapers are covering her mother's story and Milly is concerned and desperate not to be like her mother and be good, but she is the daughter of a murderer. This causes much turmoil, sleepless nights and concern for Milly.

What makes this book Different?

The story is told through the eyes of Milly, a teenager who is in foster care and she shares her feelings on settling in with a new family. How she feels and copes with starting a new school and feeling isolated, fights herself not to become like her mother and be good, seeing details of her mother's forth coming trial in newspapers and how she feels preparing for a court case and giving evidence against her mother.
All the above parts of the book make for good enjoyable reading and the story moves quickly. There are a few psychological twists, as the story builds.
This book does cover some sensitive and difficult topic - murder and abuse of children. Had I been looking for a book to read and picked this up in a supermarket and noticed this topic, I would have put it back. However:

Am I glad to have read it? Yes. Why? There is not alot of detail about the abuse or murders. And what is contained in the book, can be left unread without losing the story. I skipped paragraphs to avoid reading anything.
Would I have preferred for the topic not to have been there - Yes definitely.
Please note: This is a personal preference of mine. Not everyone will feel the same but to give an open and honest review I need to include this.


This is Ali Land's debut novel, and I have a feeling it will not be the last we hear from this author. Despite the sensitive topic, this book makes for an addictive read.

We have also been approved to read Sister Sister by Sue Fortin, for Harper Collins UK, this book review will be posted later this week and is due for publication on 6th January!

Serendipity Loves xx

Thank you Netgalley and Penguin Michael Joseph for an ARC of this novel for an honest review.

Milly, real name Annie has been placed in care after her mothers arrest for a series of child murders. Only 15 herself and dealing with the fallout of her own abuse and feelings of guilt she needs help and a safe place to live whilst waiting for her mothers trial where she will be the star witness as it was she who informed the police what her mother had been doing. Unfortunately for her the family she is placed with has many of their own demons to deal with. And the daughter Phoebe hates Milly on sight and sets out, not knowing or caring about Millys history to make her life hell.

This is told in the first person and is both disturbing and heart breaking. Milly is a complex character who struggles to keep her mothers voice from her mind. One of the things I liked about the book was although disturbing we are not subjected to graphic descriptions of what Millys mother did. We are given enough information to understand the evil that she has endured. And crucially the writer is emphatic enough to make Milly both easy to sympathise with and to be a little scared of.

A tense and dark thriller, an easy 5 stars.

Millie is a new foster child in the care of Mike, a psychiatrist, and his wife Saskia, she has been placed with them because Mike is helping her cope with the trauma she has been through. Millie is not her real name and she is a key witness in the trial of her mother, a female serial killer of young children. However Millie is haunted by the presence of her mother and the fear that she too is wicked. When her foster parents' daughter Phoebe starts bullying her Millie is afraid of the consequences.

The synopsis of this book sounds terribly hysterical and overwrought and indeed the plot sometimes veers very close to that. However it never crosses over and remains scarily believable all the way to the last twist. Land has created a character that inspires revulsion and pity all the way through the book, a girl abused and trying to sort out her life, and I was completely hooked. I can't say that I found the final few pages a satisfying conclusion because I didn't, but I'm not sure what Land could have done to end this book given the plot lines leading up to it.