Good Me Bad Me by Ali Land Book Review

Blurb:

'NEW N A M E.

NEW F A M I LY.

S H I N Y.

NEW.

ME . '

Annie's mother is a serial killer.

The only way she can make it stop is to hand her in to the police.

But out of sight is not out of mind.

As her mother's trial looms, the secrets of her past won't let Annie sleep, even with a new foster family and name - Milly.

A fresh start. Now, surely, she can be whoever she wants to be.

But Milly's mother is a serial killer. And blood is thicker than water.

Good me, bad me.

She is, after all, her mother's daughter...

MY THOUGHTS

In Good Me Bad Me, Ali Land has created an incredible voice in the protagonist of her novel, Milly. Milly’s mother is a serial killer and Milly has to testify against her in court as the only sole witness to her crimes. But can she testify against her own mother? Milly has to deal with seeing her mother’s name in the press and in the news, which her foster parent Mike does his best to shield her from. Mike convinces Milly she doesn’t share any of her mother’s traits. But is Milly more like her mother than she realises?

Whilst Milly awaits the trial, she is taken in by a foster family, but her foster sister, Phoebe isn’t the shiniest of characters. I loved how Ali built tension in her writing, particularly in her scenes when Milly and Phoebe are together; there were definitely scenes when her writing had me on the edge of my seat. Milly finds solace in her friend, Morgan, but even there, there are tensions and Milly has to fight her demons.

I thought Ali drew on Milly’s character superbly. Quietly, Milly resents the thought of having to testify against her mother and she has to face her demons when Phoebe draws on this at school. But the worst of Milly’s trials is yet to come. Ali delivers a surprising ending which I didn’t see coming.

Good Me Bad Me is an extraordinary debut, and I encourage everyone to get their hands on it. There is no doubt about it; this book will definitely be a hit. Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the advance review copy. 

Publisher: Michael Joseph

Publication date: 12th January 2017

Print length: 400 pages

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Good-Me-Bad-Ali-Land/dp/0718182928/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1471444308&sr=1-1&keywords=Good+me+bad+me