Review: Good Bad Girl (by Alice Feeney)



My Rating:  3.5 stars

 

Having read all of Alice Feeney's previous books, I of course couldn't pass up her latest, Good Bad Girl, even if it already came out several months ago.  Ever since I read Feeney's debut Sometimes I Lie (which blew me away) back in 2017, she has been a "good-to" author of sorts for me when it comes to the thriller/suspense genre.  With that said though, her books since that debut have been somewhat of a hit or miss for me – only one has gotten close to the level of her debut in terms of story and ending "twist" (that would be 2021's Rock Paper Scissors); the rest were al largely enjoyable (and all were very well-written), but didn't grab my attention like the aforementioned two did.  For me, Feeney's latest book falls into the latter category – definitely not her best work, but not her worst either.

 

As this is a thriller where you want to go in knowing as little as possible, all I'm going to say about the plot is that the premise revolves around a "mystery with three suspects, two murders, and one victim."  While I'm not necessarily sure that I agree with this premise now having finished the book (the "explanation" of this in the story was a little bit of a stretch in my opinion), I guess it does work to describe the plot overall.  Speaking of the plot – this is one of those "slow-burn" stories told from the alternating perspectives of multiple characters, which adds some complexity, but the plot also meanders in places, which made it harder to maintain my attention at points. 

 

To be honest, this one didn't really feel like a thriller/suspense novel to me, at least not in the same vein as Feeney's earlier works that were chockful of twists and turns and usually had me at the edge of my seat anticipating what would come next.  Instead, this one seemed to focus more on the complexities of mother/daughter relationships as well as the notion that each person has both good and bad qualities that motivate our actions – while I appreciated these insights (and in any other book, probably would've liked to see these ideas explored more), I felt like it waxed a little too philosophical and ended up bogging the story down a little.   Perhaps this is also why the ending felt somewhat anticlimactic to me (though it could also be that I had already figured out how the different threads would come together by that point).

 

I would say that overall, this was enjoyable and I'm glad I read it, even though it didn't have all the twists and turns that I usually expect from Feeney's thriller/suspense novels.  The writing, as usual, is good though -- Feeney writes in a way that is smooth, flows well, and not choppy – which is why I like reading her books even if I'm not necessarily keen on the story.  I continue to look forward to her next book and will definitely read it whenever it comes out.