I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Good Girls Don't Die by Christina Henry Published by Berkley on November 14 2023
Genres: Adult, Thriller
Pages: 320
Format: Finished paperback
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
The nitty-gritty: Christina Henry takes on cozy mysteries, slashers and dystopians in this fun page turner.
You never know what Christina Henry is going to do next, and with Good Girls Don’t Die she’s come up with something completely different from her other books. This was a fun, fast-paced thriller that is almost meta in the way it subverts certain literary tropes and genres, and I had a lot of fun reading it. A couple of elements didn’t completely work for me, but the entertainment value was enough for me to give the book four stars.
The story revolves around three different women, not related to each other, who find their lives turned upside down and must figure out how to get out of some very dangerous situations. First we meet Celia, who wakes up one morning and has no idea where she is. A little girl is calling her “mommy” and there’s a strange man getting ready for work. Does she have amnesia? If this is her family, why doesn’t she recognize them? Celia pretends she knows what’s going, but nothing is familiar to her. When she discovers a dead body at the restaurant where she (supposedly) works, Celia suddenly finds herself a murder suspect. Now she’s trapped and can’t trust anyone, so how does she get back her real life?
Allie has plans to spend her twenty-first birthday at a beach house with her two best friends Cam and Madison, until Cam’s boyfriend Brad crashes the party and takes them to a secluded cabin in the woods instead. At first Allie is just pissed at Brad for changing their plans, but soon she realizes someone is stalking the cabin. Even worse, there are no locks on any of the windows or doors, so there’s no way to protect themselves. And why aren’t there any bird or insect noises outside? Something is very wrong, and Allie is determined to figure out what it is.
Finally we meet Maggie, a young woman who has been kidnapped, drugged and taken to a secure facility. All she knows is that the men who took her also took her daughter Paige. If Maggie doesn’t participate in dangerous obstacle course, Paige will die. Maggie and nine other women must compete against each other and try to make it through the course alive in order to save their loved ones, but there are deadly elements to the game that make it nearly impossible to survive.
At first it seems these three women have nothing in common, but the author drops hints along the way to show how their stories are tied together. Each one observes that they seem to be stuck in a familiar story. Celia feels as if she’s in a cozy mystery; Allie finds herself in a teen slasher flick, and Maggie (who is a school librarian and well versed in YA fiction) is clearly reliving a Hunger Games type dystopian story. I loved the idea that Celia, Allie and Maggie are all smart women who aren’t afraid to figure out the truth, as bizarre as that truth may be.
Henry’s theme of “strong women unite” doesn’t end there. The story includes some very toxic male characters that readers will love to hate, and it was nice to see they eventually got what they deserved. True, the men were more caricatures than actual flesh and blood characters, but I think they served their purpose for what the author was trying to do.
Each woman’s story is tense and exciting, and it was honestly hard to put the book down, I was having so much fun. Sure, there are predictable beats, but they worked because the author was clearly going for predictability on purpose. I also loved that Henry did a great job of making each story feel different, even though the characters’ situations are actually very similar.
At the end, the reader finally leans the truth, and this is where the story falters, unfortunately. After such a thrilling set up, I was expecting a better twist, and it was underwhelming to say the least. But I had such a great time for ninety percent of the time, I can almost forgive the silly ending. For pure, escapist fun, I’m still recommending this book.
Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.
Great review, Tammy! I’ve read a few Christine Henry books and it’s always a hit or miss with me. This one does sound quite different from her other books. Only too bad that the end wasn’t the best. That always sucks. Thanks for sharing!
Stephanie @ Bookfever recently posted…My Favorite Nonfiction Books of All Time
Thanks! Yes, I agree, her books can be a mixed bag.
It’s been some time since I read something from Christina Henry, and I would like to… re-acquaint myself with her works through this novel, that sounds very intriguing. Pity that the ending does not fulfill the story’s promises, but with a 4-star rating from you I can be assured of a compelling read 🙂
Thanks for sharing!
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…MUSIC MONDAY – SciFi Month Edition #SciFiMonth
Sometimes you have to give a book four stars even when something big like the ending doesn’t work.
I love this sound of this, very novel. It’s a shame that the ending was underwhelming, that can really make a difference to the overall reading experience. I’m really curious about how it does all get explained though because the set up sounds really good. Great review 😀
Pages and Tea recently posted…Book Review: The Lighthouse Witches by C. J. Cooke
I loved the concept, and for me it was mostly a win.
So glad you enjoyed this one. I need to make time for it soon.
I think you’ll enjoy it too:-)
I’m glad to see your four stars! I usually love C Henry’s books, and have this one queued up and ready — looking forward to it!
I hope you enjoy it!
Sounds almost great. Too bad the end is too flat
Emma @ Words And Peace recently posted…Nonfiction November 2023: Book Pairings
It was a lot of fun, and worth it for me even though the ending wasn’t great.
I agree, I had so much fun reading the three separate narratives and the cliches were what made them fun because they were intentional and satirizing genre conventions. But then came the end and it was like, WHAT THE HECK WAS THAT?! The reveal felt pretty low effort in comparison to what came before.
Ha ha I know, it’s like she fizzled out by the time she got to the end:-P
How interesting! A mix of cozy mystery, slasher, and dystopia is not one I knew I needed, but I might have to check this out just for that reason. What a strange mix! Sorry the twist was disappointing. I find myself disappointed by a lot of the “twists” I’ve been reading recently. The concept might still be worth it for me, though.
It makes sense when you read the book. And yep, twists are hard to get right, I’ve found.
You’re so right about christina Henry, you just never know. I love the sound of this and will pick it up 🙂
Greg recently posted…Sunday Post #531
She always writes something different, right?
This does sound like some crazy kind of fun. I am a fan of Christina Henry, so I’ll definitely be reading this one sometime soon. 😀
Lark recently posted…Dead Mountain by Donnie Eichar
I hope you enjoy it!
I’ve only skirted round your review because I will be picking this one up next. Currently reading the Beatrice Bird book which is good so far.
Lynn 😀
I’m curious to see what you think:-)
It sounds up my alley, but a weak ending after such a build-up…um. I’m not sure.
Yeah, it was disappointing. But the rest is so good!
It seems crazy trying to meld together those very different tropes, but a very interesting idea. Glad to see you enjoyed it even if the end didn’t quite bring it all together as nicely as it could have.
It was a really good idea, and she succeeded mostly (except for the end)
I am sorry for that underwhelming ending Tammy!
The book would have been excellent if the ending had been more believable, but I still had fun:-)
I agree that things were a little underwhelming at the end, and I sort of expected a bigger twist as well, but overall I had a really fun time with this one, too! I think I’d recommend it for similar reasons.