Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'

Good Bad Girl by Alice Feeney

6 reviews

christygsp's review against another edition

2.0

This book felt scattered for 80% so it’s only fitting if my thoughts are just as scattered… here we go. 

Confusing a reader to the point where they can’t pick up even a thread of what’s going on until the very last 20% of a book is not a good thing. Having mystery and intrigue is great, but making a reader so turned around that they can’t even grab hold of the larger plot was so disjointed that I wanted to quit so many times. 

The overall story was clever and characters were unreliable and deeply flawed. It was an only okay book, with only okay characters, BUT with an amazing reveal sequence. 

Nitpicks:

Truth is OBJECTIVE. Anything else is opinion, perspective and experience. I hate that people dilute the meaning of this very important word. 

Faith and fear are OPPOSITES, not interwoven similarities. 

The Sea and Sky both follow rules - the tide and atmosphere levels for example. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Kidnapping, Murder, and Death of parent

Minor: Child abuse and Toxic relationship

syazahaniss's review against another edition

mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

2.5

Very confusing family histories and family dynamics. None of the characters were really relatable nor likeable.

The revelations at the end of the chapters had the potential to be impactful but they were instead borderline cringey for me. Not the author’s best work.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship

Minor: Abandonment and Death of parent

katyannreads's review against another edition

mysterious

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Kidnapping, Murder, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Abortion, Infidelity, and Pregnancy

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

    I really enjoyed this book, and while some parts were predictable others weren't. The characters were unlikable but in a way that made them enjoyable not ones you hate.
    The narrators were good, but their voices were too similar and made it harder to keep track of whose POV you were in if you came back to the book in the middle of a chapter. Luckily the chapters were named for the character whose POV it was from.
    Overall a good book, I just wish it had been a bit less predictable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Murder, Death, Kidnapping, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Child abuse, Confinement, and Death of parent

Minor: Mental illness, Abortion, and Animal cruelty

lovelymisanthrope's review against another edition

emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

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

4.0

As an avid reader of Alice Feeney's work, I was so excited to pick up this new title from her.
"Good Bad Girl" follows a cast of women who are all hiding something. Twenty years ago, a baby was kidnapped in a grocery store, and in the present day a woman is murdered in a nursing home. These two crimes are somehow connected and the entire cast of women are about to find out how their stories are meant to come together.
I was very invested in this story from the beginning. All of these characters are somewhat morally gray, and they made decisions that I was not entirely on board with, but that is what made them interesting. I really empathized with Patience because she has such a good heart and it is evident from the first page how much she is struggling. She is working so tirelessly to save up enough money to be able to start a new life, and my heart just went out to her. I was also sympathetic towards Edith in the beginning. She feels like her family just left her to die in the nursing home, and she wants nothing more to just go home and be with her dog around her own things.
 

Something many of these characters had in common was that they are mothers, which I think provides interesting discourse on what it means to be a mother. Edith, Clio, and Frankie are all mothers who have made sacrifices for their daughters, and they all have strained relationships with their own mothers. It is impossible to be the perfect mom, but they each have been a good bad mom. 

 
Even though I anticipated some of the twists in the story, I was still entirely invested, and I did not anticipate everything that ultimately happened. Alice Feeney is great at creating amazing turns and character developments that I do not see coming.
I look forward to enjoying more from Alice Feeney in the future. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Abandonment, Child death, Kidnapping, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Grief, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment

Minor: Pregnancy

kris386's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, Mental illness, and Medical content

Minor: Blood, Body shaming, Dementia, Miscarriage, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Infertility, Vomit, Pregnancy, and Abortion