Good Me Bad Me

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All I'll say is if you enjoy reading psychological/suspense thrillers then you have to read this book. It's another one of those books where the least you know about it, the better. I know people say that all the time, but it really is. When Annie informs the police of this at the tender age of only 15 you can gasp and feel her emotions. SLVIA . . . decades ago, an AI program escaped the NSA Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, and has never been re-captured . . . true story.

Good Me Bad Me - Penguin Books UK

Starred Review. A deliberate pace and a skillfully woven plot conspire to create a visceral read that's at once a gripping psychological thriller and a devastating exploration of the damage wrought by childhood trauma.

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Unfortunately, I feel completely confused by my experience of this book, as my experience seems to have been somewhat different from most other reviewers. It is described as: We used to call this argument ‘the slippery fish’ on the adolescent unit where I worked. How to measure the unmeasurable. Even after a decade of working in mental health, I’m not sure where I stand. I don’t believe a child can be born evil, but I do believe certain traits are inherited and in a loving, nurturing environment can lie dormant. Put that same person in an abusive, violent environment, however, and those traits grow in strength. I’ve seen twins brought up separately who end up developing the same mental illness. I’ve seen children who you would expect to be ill, but aren’t; the factor of resilience muddying the water further. I’ve seen teenagers take on traits, not just from the parent they live with, but the absent parent they haven’t seen since they were a baby. I’ve seen all of that, yet I still don’t know. It has always, and will always be the greyest of grey areas, but even if it seems futile at points, we should never stop trying to understand or care for our young people, the product of both their environment and their genes. Milly's mother is a serial killer. Though Milly loves her mother, the only way to make her stop is to turn her in to the police. Milly is given a fresh start: a new identity, a home with an affluent foster family, and a spot at an exclusive private school. Told through Milly’s voice, little snippets of her relationship with her mother are revealed throughout. These parts are the hardest to read--at times, I had to put the book down and just walk away as the dark, brutal images got under my skin.

Good Me Bad Me: Does Valence Influence Self (PDF) Good Me Bad Me: Does Valence Influence Self

While the writing is sometimes problematic, Ali Land proves herself adept at pacing. Vague hints at unnamed past deeds are scattered throughout. Like breadcrumbs. Violence is never overtly detailed, only inferred. These choices create an increasingly chilling narrative. Nothing is more frightening than the unknown and Ms. Land skillfully uses that fact to her advantage. We remain poised at the edge of our seats waiting for the figurative shoe to drop--if a shoe exists at all. Perhaps Milly is simply a traumatized girl who with the appropriate care will flourish. Or does something darker lurk beneath the surface? Does Milly’s similarity to her mother extend beyond her appearance?I was a little nervous starting this one as I was afraid that the author would be too graphic about the murders and I really didn't want to go down that road but thankfully the reader is spared any gruesome details and the book is an extremely clever and well written Psychological thriller. This is a genre I had basically given up on in 2016 and delighted to say this is the second really well thought out thriller that I have read this year. Thank you to Netgalley & Penguin UK Michael Joseph for my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review* The family live in Notting Hill Gate and it is here that the teenager is coached on her role as star witness at her mother’s trial, on multiple charges of torturing and murdering nine children. Nature vs. Nurture…..or something in between. That’s the heart of Ali Land’s debut novel, Good Me, Bad Me. Are we doomed to repeat the sins of our parents? Can we start anew? Or is their legacy burned so deeply into our DNA that altering our fate becomes impossible? Annie is sent to live with a foster family and her name is changed to Milly. If Milly thinks her life will change for the better then she hasn't bargained for Phoebe, the teenage daughter of the family, who hates Milly on sight.