Our Score:★★★★★✩✩✩✩✩
GENRE: Psychological Thriller
Selected by Gemma -August 2017
SYNOPSIS:
How far does the apple really fall from the tree?
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.
But Milly has secrets, and life at her new home becomes complicated. As her mother's trial looms, with Milly as the star witness, Milly starts to wonder how much of her is nature, how much of her is nurture, and whether she is doomed to turn out like her mother after all.
When tensions rise and Milly feels trapped by her shiny new life, she has to decide: Will she be good? Or is she bad? She is, after all, her mother's daughter.
(Synopsis taken from Goodreads)
STORY BEHIND THE BOOK:
Gemma:
I am always drawn to psychological thrillers so when I saw this one I knew it must be on my 'to read' list. Having read the synopsis and reviews, which were promising, I decided to select it for my next book choice.
QUESTIONS:(Contains spoilers)
1) Milly is placed in a foster family that, on paper, looks ideal but behind closed doors is anything but. Do you think a different foster family would have changed who Milly became?
2) Lord of the Flies is referenced a number of times in Good Me Bad Me and particularly in the school scenes. Do you think the prevalence of mobile phones and social media has made school a more savage place?
3) Phoebe is painted as the bad cop in the book. To what extent could you say she is also the product of her mother? Was she justified in her feelings toward Milly?
4) Milly testified in court against her mother but she didn’t have to; she could have given evidence by a video link. Should she have been allowed to take the stand? Should any minor be allowed to? Why did she want to, need to, do this?
5) Following the court case, Milly makes a devastating confession to the reader about Daniel. Were you shocked by her confession? Did it make you feel differently about her?
6) The nature/nurture debate rages on. Are there particular points you think the author is trying to make about this debate? Has reading this book changed your opinion on nature versus nurture? 7) Compare how you felt about Milly at the beginning of the book with how you feel about her at the end. Both the opening and closing lines of the book are "Forgive me." Does she need forgiveness? Do you forgive her? The ending was deliberately ambiguous; what do you see for her future?
Here you will find an interview with the author Ali Land.
REVIEW: (Contains spoilers)
Gemma's Thoughts:
I was instantly hooked by the opening chapter and intrigued about how her life in the foster home would pan out. I took a dislike to Phoebe and wondered how a dysfunctional family like theirs could have fostered children. Obviously, it was only the father Mike who held everything together. This was one of the many discrepancies within the novel that made it unrealistic and dampened my enjoyment of the novel. Some of the others were a school outing to the London Dungeons (surely given her history the school and Mike should have prevented her going?), her attempted suicide and returning to the foster house (would this really happen???), and after the death of Phoebe would she still be allowed to stay with a grieving family? Anyway putting that aside, I did find the book hard to put down. I enjoyed the court case and wished the book was focused more on that rather than around Milly's schooling. It was a book that was horrific in parts and made my stomach churn. It had lots of twists and turns, from the truth behind Daniel's death to Phoebe's own end. Did I hate Milly? No. Do I feel she had a justified reason for doing what she did? I'm still thinking about that! A thought provoking read that I would recommend to others.
THE SCORES:
Gemma: 7
Karen: 5
Nic: 5
Pamela: 5
Sandra: 7
Average 5
Let us know what you thought about this book. We would love to read your reviews and hear what you would score it.
If you enjoyed this book why not try:
We Need To Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver
Into The Darkest Corner by Elizabeth Haynes
Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
What Have I Done by Amanda Prowse
The Good Girl by Mary Kubica
Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty
Happy reading!
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