Good Me Bad Me

Product Information

I am going to be in the minority on this one. This book just didn’t work for me. I wish I could pin-point why, but I find myself struggling with specifics. A majority of the book felt like a drawn-out episode of mean girls. The bullying was almost too much. Was it the child abuse, the dysfunctional families...? Well it’s not like I don’t read these themes in books...because I consistently do. There was just something about this book I found unsettling.

Good Me Bad Me by Ali Land - Penguin Books UK Good Me Bad Me by Ali Land - Penguin Books UK

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?This book ended up being very different than what I expected. The creepy and disturbing parts of this story are handled extremely well and are done in a way that didn't give too much detail (which I was very thankful for). Phoebe is the fifteen year old daughter of Mike and Saskia. She is resentful of Millie and takes against her in a major way. At the same school as Phoebe, Millie's life is made difficult and she is bullied. It soon becomes apparent that the foster family is dysfunctional in its own way and Mike may not be as altruistic as first thought. On top of everything, a psychologically damaged Millie is under pressure as she is being prepared for the court case. The case is getting intense media coverage where her mother is referred to as 'The Peter Pan Killer'. Millie is having nightmares and sleepless nights. She has feelings of guilt as to her role in her mother's actions. She invites sympathy and compassion but then terrifies the hell out of you. It is not so easy to leave her old life behind. The burdens of her past and trying to keep it all secret is a lot to ask anyone to handle. Most adults would struggle to cope with the particulars of Millie's life. She wants to be good, but is it a feasible possibility? Right way, I knew this journey was headed down a dark, twisted path. I read with increasing trepidation, as Milly’s harrowing story unfolds. Milly’s mother, a female serial killer, whose voice is always running in Milly’s mind, planting seeds of doubt, is absolutely chilling.

Good Me Bad Me by Ali Land | Waterstones

I thought the events at the school with the bullying were very true to life and realistic and though most characters were very unlikeable they were excellently portrayed. As a thirty-something manager, John’s self-structure reflected the effects of his early life experience as graphically portrayed in the Interpersonal Circumplex (IC) above. Let me explain. 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.”

I’m hoping Ms. Land kept this quote by Carson McCullers, 1917-1967 in the finished product as it certainly provided the first hook: