A review by tiffandy92
Good Bad Girl by Alice Feeney

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

4.0

Good Bad Girl 


Twenty years after a baby is stolen from a stroller, the lives of four women intersect:

Edith in a nursing home, her daughter Clio who won’t speak to her, Patience who ran away, and Frankie who holds her own secrets. 

With every reason to distrust each other, the women must solve a mystery with three suspects, two murders, and one victim. If they do, they might just find out what happened to the baby who disappeared, the mother who lost her, and the connections that bind them.

•••

I’m an Alice Feeney fangirl forever and always so obviously had to pick this one up in Denver. 

What I liked:
  • Alice is the absolute queen of twists you cannot figure out. I usually passively read and “let” myself be surprised, but I genuinely tried to figure out the ending of this one and couldn’t. 
  • An all women main character list really did it for me. The mother/daughter bond in this one is a fascinating angle.
  • I’m always a huge fan of the multiple points of view. This one is told in 4 perspectives which kept it rolling smoothly.

What I didn’t care for:
  • Even as an Feeney fan girl, this one was one of her weaker books in my opinion. It was 100% a family drama/thriller and while it was still fun and fast paced, I find myself missing her psychological thrillers.
  • Typically Feeney’s books feel a little more… “meaty”? Maybe descriptive is the word I’m looking for. This one was much more dialogue driven and less atmospheric.
  • There IS a murder in this book but honestly? It needed more murder. And I know that’s a weird sentence, but it’s true. I wanted way more information on that. 

Overall, still worth the read because ✨Alice stan✨ but if you’re going to read one by her, read “Sometimes I Lie” or “Rock, Paper, Scissors” by her first!

“Sometimes bad things happen to good people, so good people have to do bad things.”