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 Bad Girl by Alice Feeney Published by Flatiron Books on August 29 2023
Genres: Adult, Mystery, Thriller
Pages: 306
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: Alice Feeney explores mother/daughter relationships in this highly entertaining mystery, full of twists and plenty of emotion.
“My daughter is the villain in my life, and I am the villain in hers. We both believe our stories are true.”
After absolutely loving Daisy Darker, I couldn’t wait to read something else by Alice Feeney. Good Bad Girl came out last summer, and I’m so glad I decided to finally read it. Daisy Darker is still my favorite of the two books, but Good Bad Girl is an excellent story as well. This is a twisty, emotional and sometimes funny ode to mothers and daughters and their fraught relationships, and I can’t recommend it highly enough. And if you love stories where the characters are all connected in surprising ways, you definitely don’t want to miss this.
The story opens with a chilling scene. A woman and her baby are shopping at a grocery store, but when she turns away for just a minute, someone steals her baby out of the stroller. The reader doesn’t know the identities of the woman and the baby at this point, but this scene sets the stage for everything that comes after. The story jumps ahead twenty years, and we meet our four main characters. Frankie is a lonely woman who works in a prison library. A year ago, her eighteen year old daughter ran away from home, and ever since she’s been trying to find her. Frankie has a big secret and she’s trying to get up the nerve to finally confess the truth. Patience is a young girl who works at Windsor Care Home in London. She has befriended the woman in room thirteen, an eighty-year old named Edith who calls her “Ladybug,” and even sneaks Edith’s terrier Dickens in to visit her when she can. Patience also has a few secrets, including the fact that “Patience” isn’t her real name.
Edith claims that her daughter Clio forced her to move into the care home and gave away her dog on top of that (Patience found Dickens and rescued him!) Clio, of course, has a different version of the story. Clio lives in a beautiful pink Victorian house and runs a therapy practice out of one of the downstairs rooms. Clio is worried because she’s running out of money and will no longer be able to pay for Edith’s expensive care.
Frankie, Patience, Clio and Edith are joined by several side characters, including Clio’s brother Jude who manages an art gallery (and Jude lets Patience live in the attic) and Joy, the horribly mean care home manager. A detective named Charlotte Chapman plays a pivotal role in the story, especially when someone is murdered at the care home and nearly every character becomes a suspect. If you’re confused, that’s ok, because eventually the author explains the intricate and tangled relationships between each character. Half the fun of this story is getting to the truth, and Alice Feeney makes the journey extremely entertaining.
I loved trying to guess how all the characters are connected, and I wasn’t always right. Feeney keeps these connections under wraps for a big chunk of her story, only later revealing the true events of the baby kidnapping and each character’s involvement. Good Bad Girl takes place on Mother’s Day, which is appropriate because the story is full of mother/daughter relationships, all of them steeped in emotion and sometimes heartache. And because the characters are hiding so much, it’s hard to tell who’s telling the truth and who isn’t. For example, Clio and Edith seem to have a horrible relationship. Edith insists she’s the victim, being removed from her house and forced into a care home. She blames Clio for her unhappiness, but it isn’t until we hear Clio’s side of the story that we wonder if it’s Edith who’s to blame for everything. Most of the characters have heartbreaking events in their past that have followed them into the present, but don’t worry: this story isn’t the downer you might expect, because Feeney gives most of the characters a satisfying and happy ending (except for the ones who don’t deserve it, of course!)
And I was surprised to find the story is a sort of madcap caper at times, especially when someone is found murdered in Windsor Care Home. With several suspects and one very smart detective, the story turns into a light-hearted murder mystery, as Feeney continues to reveal the truth about Frankie, Patience, Clio and Edith during the aftermath and investigation of the murder.
Feeney also explores the theme of “good people who do bad things,” a recurring motif throughout the book. All the characters are inherently good, but sometimes circumstances force them to do something “bad,” and it’s these decisions that usually lead to heartache.
There’s a late-in-the-story shocking twist (some readers might see it coming, but I didn’t) and I absolutely loved the ending. Once the reader understands the relationships among all the characters, and once all the characters’ secrets are revealed, the author allows them a tear-worthy happy ending that gave me a warm glow. Highly recommended!
Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.
That quote from the book though…it’s so short but so deep
I agree, love the quote:-)
This sounds like a really interesting read and already I’m curious as to how everyone ties together. I may pick Daisy Darker up first, especially as you preferred it, but I definitely do hope to check this out sometime too. I can’t believe I haven’t read anything by the author yet.
For me it’s hard to beat Daisy Darker, it just was my perfect book:-)
This sounds like it really delivers with the twists about who’s who. I definitely want to read more by Alice Feeney because Daisy Darker was so good. 😀
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Yes, you would really enjoy this too!
With such a tangled web of relationships it’s certainly a plus that, as a reader, you were not always able to see where the author wanted to take you – and your mention of the unforeseeable twist near the end makes this a book I must keep on my radar. Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…LONG LIVE EVIL, by Sarah Rees Brennan – DNF@25%
The twists were really good!
So happy this garnered such a high rating!! I’ve been meaning to check this out
Rebecca @ Powder & Page recently posted…Currently Reading: 5/27/24
I loved it! Now I need to read the rest of her backlist:-)
I loved this! It is certainly twisty. Each character believes their truth which isn’t the whole truth.
Yes, I love the way she showed how each person’s truth is so different.
I’m glad you said in your review if you’re confused that’s okay because I was JUST thinking that. It’s a lot of names but I’m sure when you’re reading the book and are into the story it gets easier. And I love a good late-in-the-story shocking twist, especially when I don’t see it coming so now I’m wondering if I would guess it beforehand or not. But anyways… it sounds like a really good read. Thanks for sharing, Tammy!
I’m not that good at figuring out twists, but oh well! I think I enjoy the story more because I don’t always see it coming:-)
I love the quote! This sounds so good. I have a couple of her books on my TBR, but haven’t read them yet. Daisy Darker is one of them.
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Start with Daisy Darker!
I wasn’t a fan of Daisy Darker so I am now leary of trying something from this author but I do need too. 🙂 Glad you enjoyed it!
Stormi recently posted…Week in Review #83
This was pretty different from Daisy Darker, you might like it!
This sounds really good, and love that quote!
I love the quote too! I just love her writing and her story ideas:-)
I love the theme of good people doing bad things because isn’t that pretty much a snapshot of moments from most of our lives? Granted, sometimes the bad things in stories can far outweigh most of our bad things, or at least I hope they do. 🙂
I liked the way she made the “good people doing bad things” play out. It made sense for the story.
I’m so glad you read this and loved it. It’s great, I think Daisy Darker is still my favourite but I really enjoyed making all the guesses with this one – and usually being wrong.
Lynn 😀