Reviews with content warning for Abortion - The Good Girl

This thriller was definitely a slow burn but it makes up over the course of the book. Written from three different perspectives while centering around Mia without hearing POV which I thought was interesting. If you have the patience, go ahead and read it. You won’t regret it.

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courtnieh's review against another edition

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2.5

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mariannaofthelion's review

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.5

Kubica is obsessed with furthering the harmful and untrue stereotype that Black men are evil and scary. It’s nauseating how much she obsesses over skin color when irrelevant and works overtime to write in a way that associates Black people with bad things and white people with good things. The obsession with the main character’s pale skin is gross, leave me out of your fetish. By the end of the book, I realize a good chunk was just “blah” that didn’t create any suspense. I found myself skimming the book to get past the boring parts. And finally, romanticizing rape to further a pro life an agenda is absolutely vile. Of course she writes the villain to be the only pro choice person so that the pro life person is a martyr. Boring book, except I was horrified and the bigotry and bad takes.

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astoriareader's review

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

SYNOPSIS:

Mia has been kidnapped. Mia is in her 20s. She’s the black sheep in her family. She’s a school teacher.
James and Eve are Mia’s parents. James is a prominent judge, and he cares a lot about image.
Grace is Mia’s sister, and she is the golden child. She followed in her father’s footsteps & went to law school.
Gabe is the detective assigned to Mia’s case.
Colin is the kidnapper, who is working for someone else. At the beginning of book, we learn he kidnaps her to actually help her & goes against the wishes of the person that hired him.

MY THOUGHTS

I had no idea this was Mary Kubica’s debut novel. Clearly, I have been reading hers in all kinds of order. She has quickly become one of favorite writers in the thriller/suspense genre.
This was set in Chicago, which I loved. Since I used to live in Chicago, it was easy to visualize neighborhoods and cross streets.
I read this in 24 hours, and I couldn’t put it down.
Excellent character development.
Multiple POVs. Told from perspectives of Eve, Gabe, Colin. In the epilogue, we are also offered Mia’s perspective.
All the characters are written really well. There’s no cheap writing tactics here. The perspectives come from each character’s world views. Although all the characters are flawed, Kubica deftly makes them understandable.
Well-plotted & expertly crafted.
Lots of twists, suspense, & drama. Complex family dynamics as well.

TL;DR: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️read in 24 hours. Kubica is Queen of character development & plotting a gripping story.

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