Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - Good Girl Complex

So fun and sexy. Love the couple’s dynamic. Really liked how him being a trade worker was portrayed as such a positive thing! And that it’s okay to drop out of college and do what’s right for you.

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lauren610's review

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slow-paced

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

1.0

This book is so full of red flags and toxic relationship dynamics, it's not even funny. **Spoilers ahead**
Her first boyfriend treats her like absolute shit and she just takes it and laps up the crumbs of attention he gives her. Their relationship is extremely problematic, verging on emotionally abusive if not full on emotionally abusive. But ok, fine. Maybe this is her back story so that she makes better decisions in the future and we can compare her next relationship to this one and see how healthy it is in comparison. But NOPE. Cooper is almost as bad as Preston. He is constantly infantilizing her, disrespecting her, and then making *her* feel like she is in the wrong and needs to be the one to apologize being hurt from his disrespect. There are many scenes that display this, but the scene where he didn't stop to get ice before the party is so problematic. He tells her he will get ice, arrives without ice, then makes her feel stupid for being disappointed by this, saying, (not an exact quote) "I didn't get ice because I wanted to get home faster so I could be there to help you, would you have wanted me to take longer and not be here??" Everyone else even says Mac has a point and they still follow their pattern of Cooper being an immature piece of shit and Mac being a doormat.

On top of that, everyone in this book is so violent?? Someone is always slapping, punching, or throwing something at someone instead of just talking it out. Everyone in this damn book needs therapy. The author should probably get therapy as well if this is what they think reads as romance.

And if that all wasn't enough, the plot is bad as well. She created an app and apparently in the span of only 1 year it turned into a business that earns her enough to buy a hotel and renovate it? And like, did she sell the app or do they just like never need her help or input on anything ever? The only thing we hear about it is so everyone knows she's a successful business person.

She breaks up with her boyfriend who her parents adore,

and we don't really hear about their views on that after that night? Lots of plot holes and forgotten characters here that are only brought in when it's convenient to move the story along, not to establish any character development etc.

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kfmcf's review

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reflective tense slow-paced

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

2.75

Ugh. This book is kind of like that drawing of the horse where it gets progressively less detailed.
The first act of this book is good. I liked the characters, learning about them, figuring out what Avalon Bay is like, etc. The second act is...fine. it gets a bit muddy. And then the final act is a hot mess with a v stupid 3rd act break up and the quickest cleanest wrap up I've ever seen. A bit annoying.

I have never read anything else by Elle Kennedy - but I have The Deal really far up my TBR and I still plan on reading it. I so enjoy her writing style, even if the dramatics and finer details in this one were a bit much for me.

I liked the ML far far more than the FL. The FL was highly unbelievable and frustrating. I don't want to root for a rich girl who is "self-made" (she's not) and it wasn't fun to hear her complain about being privileged. Also, she's twenty. She's acting like she's so wise, no. And buying a rundown hotel? Really?
I also just...can't suspend my disbelief that she'd get so many millions for making a website about bf confessions nowadays (or app rather but they couldn't decide when writing about it). That was barely a popular idea 15 years ago - it just didn't compute with me.

I think the romance wasn't there. The attraction? Absolutely and I was all for it. But them being 2gEtHeR 4eVeR just didn't click.

I liked the side characters and enjoyed them for the most part (the ones we're supposed to like at least). That said - I most likely will give the follow up to this one a go because of them (the brother included).

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georginainvisablestring22's review

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adventurous funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.0

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kingrosereads's review against another edition

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lighthearted tense fast-paced

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

1.0

Honestly what even is this shit? Y’all really had me believing Kennedy was some kind of smutty romance god, but this was straight up garbage.

Just a heads up, this is all spoilers. I don’t care, and trust me, save your time and your eyes from having to read this trash.

We’ve got Mac who is a borderline “pick me girl” who doesn’t wear girlie clothes or have any girlfriends. Like can we kill this type of character already? Seriously, women have more depth then this. Anyway, 20-year-old Mac is coming from a gap year where she built a successful website and is making good money from (we’re talking $1 million good) and she comes from a VERY wealthy family. Her parents just want her to be this perfect housewife for their perfect, blue-blooded future son-in-law, who they’ve already picked out: Preston. This is Mac’s boyfriend of 4 years. Her parents are forcing her to go to the prestigious university, Garnet College. Where all the wealthy legacies and their future wives go (because that’s all the women at this university are, just future brides). Mac sees college as a waste of time as she’s already successful and wants to tackle another project.

Mac thinks she loves Preston, and says “he’s not like those other rich assholes” then proceeds to say how nicely he treats “the help” then a chapter later she’s sitting their listening to him snap his fingers at his maid and talking about how “giving these people respect makes them forget their place and we have to remind them of it”. Like what the actual fuck Mac?

Then we have Cooper, a “townie” from Avalon Bay, where Garnet is located. Copper and his friends HATE the students and they call them “clones”. Until one day Preston assaults one of his friends and he hits Preston then Preston promptly gets Cooper fired. This sets off Cooper in a vengeful rage, resulting in him and his friends concocting this ridiculous plan to seduce Mac, get her to break up with Preston, then shove it into Preston’s face in front of his friends.

The fault in the plan is a) Mac is a person and b) Cooper falls for her. Yes, Mac emotionally cheats of Preston which is wrong and just because she ends up with Cooper and Preston is a piece of shit, doesn’t make it right. Authors always have to write the boyfriend as a POS so we don’t feel sympathy for them and root for the new couple, but it’s just so gross and wrong. Preston is the worst as he infantilizes her and is so fucking condescending. But oh look! Cooper does the same thing when she does something like help fix a leaky roof during a storm. But Mac is fine with this as she’s lived her life as a doormat.

Cooper isn’t a “bad boy”, he’s just an all around shitty guy. And all this happens and Preston doesn’t even get his comeuppance. And Mac is like “as long as Preston and his new girlfriend are happy”. As if the women at this school aren’t groomed their whole lives to just be housewives without ambitions or expectations for love and fidelity. Which is another reason I’m so pressed about how Cooper and his friend talk about the female student body at this school.

The fact that Mac doesn’t want this life that her parents planned out with Preston, yet still obeys their wishes is beyond me. She’s so financially independent, she doesn’t even TOUCH her dad’s money or her trust fund, so why the hell is she doing what they ask? They don’t respect or love her, and she’s never been under any misgivings about that or that those things will ever change. So I ask again: WHY?

I just love how Cooper gets all bent out of shape when some rich kids treats the local women like sex objects and then he goes around and treats Mac as if she’s not a person. But it’s all okay because she’s “different” and “not like the other clones” and he actually starts liking her. Like give me a BREAK.

I don’t mind bickering, a little condescending quips, dark romances, or even degradation, but this? This was absolutely toxic ass trash that was in NO WAY okay. He calls her “princess” which is already cringe but I’ve seen it used in a way that’s hot before. However, when Cooper says it, it’s 100% meant as an insult the first few times, but it’s okay because it becomes a term of endearment. He’s just a walking, talking embodiment of toxic masculinity in like the worse way (if you read mafia romance and dark romances and like them, then you know there’s a right way to write toxic men). He literally throws a fit anytime Max offers money for his product or offers to help replace money stolen from him. He bitches about how “emasculating” it is for his girlfriend to have money and offer to pay for things. Your girlfriend is RICH, fam, that’s never going to change.

Cooper and his friends have a right to hate the students that literally harass them and treat them like shit, but they paint all of them with the same brush. They’re truly shitty people. They act as if they’re piss poor and morally above these rich kids. And they JUSTIFY their actions and cruelty against Mac (an innocent, albeit naive, party) in their vendetta. The fact that Cooper lied and had all of them lie to Mac was disgusting. And the girls in his “gang” had the audacity to befriend this girl and look her in the eye and LIE! Then act as if they’re not culpable in anyway when the truth comes out?! And Mac, with no character development (aka still a doormat) just forgives them and Cooper! And she also reconciles with her parents. And Cooper forgiving Heidi? Like she made a point with him being an absolute fuckboi but she’s still a goddamn shitty person and not a good friend at all.

The bet trope has ALWAYS been a problem with me, and I’ll admit I love She’s All That, Can’t Buy Me Love, and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, but the bet trope is DONE. Goodbye, let’s bury it. One too many of us have been asked out as a joke or on a dare and this shit is not funny. And it’s not romantic.

While we’re getting rid of tropes, can we please get over this idea that only the “emotionally damaged from having neglectful/abusive parents” sleep around casually? Like people can sleep around and not be damaged in anyway.

And can I say the dialogue and inner monologues were so cringe! Like the author was trying WAY too hard to sound “cool” and “in with the kids”. It just felt way too forced with the “Hella”s and shit. Not to mention the story was INCREDIBLY boring and predictable. And that’s saying something, since romance often is predictable. I didn’t read After, but I did watch that unfortunate movie, and this was pretty much that movie. This is basically a “can I copy your homework? Sure but change some of it so it’s not obvious”. The ONE spice scene was cringey as hell and laughable. There was no hot tension or buildup either so it wasn’t like them hooking up finally was satisfying in anyway. The ending was completely and totally rushed. Their entire relationship was rushed. There’s literally no romance just them shacking up and arguing all the damn time. 0% chemistry between them. And throwing in the fact their uncle is gay as if to be like “here’s time diversity” is such bullshit. This is some gross, toxic, white heteronormative shit.

One star because it made me laugh like twice and it isn’t the worst garbage I’ve ever read.

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sami_leigh's review

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emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

I had high hopes for this book, which were swiftly thrown off of a cliff with the first utterance of a cheating trope. While the unfolding backstory and subsequent character development of Cooper and his brother Evan were well thought out, these characters were left to carry the entire book solo. Mac showed some personal growth in her decisions to forge her own path, though her gullibility becomes a running joke, along with the joke that is made of her

when the revenge plot blows up. I could’ve gotten on side with this story if Cooper hadn’t known who Mac was when they met - perhaps finding out later and keeping it from her - but this revenge plot goes beyond toxic.

I had hoped the supporting characters - Coop’s ‘gang’ - would redeem themselves

after actively encouraging a plot to break down the character of a women they’ve never met all because her boyfriend is a certifiable asshole. Grow up.

They lacked depth, however, and Mac doesn’t develop a support system beyond her dorm mate - who isn’t much help

-meaning once the third Act comes this character is still alone, without anyone to help her pick up the pieces. So instead of going and picking them up herself, she runs to the people who actually sparked the whole revenge plot and convinced Cooper to continue with it…I am utterly lost.

The ending left much to be desired. Ultimately, people didn’t own their behaviour and work to become better, and while Mac wasn’t all that likeable as a character, after what she has persevered through in her life she deserved a better support system by the end.

I would consider reading the sequel if only to see the real love story play out; that between Evan and Daisy, their dog.

Tropes: Cheating, opposites attract, good-girl bad-boy.
Some good banter.
Some diversity rep.
🌶🌶

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xriekex's review

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adventurous emotional funny lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

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

3.0

Nothing too exciting, really. Fulfilled most beach read tropes. Did not like most main characters at first, warmed up to them a bit but we're not my favourites

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culzean's review

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challenging emotional funny inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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