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A review by saarahnina
Good Me, Bad Me by Ali Land
5.0
Terrific
This book is the sort that torments you with the persistent question: are you the product of your upbringing, your nurture, or the product of your genes? I used to have a teacher who once said that she hoped that we, her students, were products of our environment because otherwise her teaching would be, for the most part, pointless. I remember thinking of the huge implications of her words: if we are, in fact, a result of our nature so many of us stand no chance. This is what I especially liked about this book, and what made it as controversial as it was: Milly was brought up terribly, and her mother has severe psychopathic tendencies and raised Milly with a dangerous kind of 'love'. While her environment can change, she's pretty much screwed either way.
This book follows the life of Milly (real name: Annie), she's fifteen, and all her life she's lived with a psychopath of a mother. Her mother is a nurse who used her position to lure children into her home, by establishing the trust of their parents and families. So far, she's killed nine children. It would have continued had it not been for Milly's decision to report her mother's crimes to the police. This certainly qualifies as a high profile case.
Now, this is when the story becomes interesting, in a terrifying sort of way. Milly has to go to court and stand as witness against her mother. To ease the process she is placed in a foster family and is introduced to a new school environment. Her foster father, Mike, is a huge help especially considering he's a psychologist, and he's using Milly to further his career: he has plans to write a book about her. Saskia, her foster mother, is mostly in the background. Then there's the daughter or foster sister, Phoebe, who immediately dislikes Milly for the way she takes up her father's time.
All through the book we observe Milly's personal behaviour, we hear her thoughts, how she begins to believe there's something corrupt living within her, something dark, something from her mother. She still hears her mother's words, often encouraging her to hurt her new friend, or lie, or manipulate the situation. Pushing her to make her mummy proud. We see her tackle the voices with strong willpower, but perhaps she enjoys her mother's plans more than she lets on?
When reading the book, I felt as though I were part of the jury - in on the action, trying to figure out the truth. I was intrigued, I couldn't help reading on (like that feeling you get when you're doing something or hearing something not meant for your ears). But, at the same time I felt I was her. Like, I understood where she was coming from. This is a book that captures you completely.
Though I have to say what really kept me immersed in the story wasn't just the plot, it was the writing. The subtle word choices that hinted that there's more to come, how they had me thinking the worst every time, imagining all sorts of scenarios and plot twists. Still, I have to say the ending was hugely unpredictable. Many readers may also appreciate how Ali Land writes in the perspective of Milly throughout the book, there's no shifting of perspectives. This is something I had forgotten my strong preference for, it meant that we had access to Milly's thoughts throughout. It meant the character was massively developed, in a way that revealed the different facets to her personality. The story's focus was her throughout, and with the ending it seems that the attention Mike is paying her has gotten to her head: she has other ideas in mind. No doubt, she'd be keeping his book interesting.
I think that there's potential for a sequel.
I received this book through NetGalley.
This book is the sort that torments you with the persistent question: are you the product of your upbringing, your nurture, or the product of your genes? I used to have a teacher who once said that she hoped that we, her students, were products of our environment because otherwise her teaching would be, for the most part, pointless. I remember thinking of the huge implications of her words: if we are, in fact, a result of our nature so many of us stand no chance. This is what I especially liked about this book, and what made it as controversial as it was: Milly was brought up terribly, and her mother has severe psychopathic tendencies and raised Milly with a dangerous kind of 'love'. While her environment can change, she's pretty much screwed either way.
This book follows the life of Milly (real name: Annie), she's fifteen, and all her life she's lived with a psychopath of a mother. Her mother is a nurse who used her position to lure children into her home, by establishing the trust of their parents and families. So far, she's killed nine children. It would have continued had it not been for Milly's decision to report her mother's crimes to the police. This certainly qualifies as a high profile case.
Now, this is when the story becomes interesting, in a terrifying sort of way. Milly has to go to court and stand as witness against her mother. To ease the process she is placed in a foster family and is introduced to a new school environment. Her foster father, Mike, is a huge help especially considering he's a psychologist, and he's using Milly to further his career: he has plans to write a book about her. Saskia, her foster mother, is mostly in the background. Then there's the daughter or foster sister, Phoebe, who immediately dislikes Milly for the way she takes up her father's time.
All through the book we observe Milly's personal behaviour, we hear her thoughts, how she begins to believe there's something corrupt living within her, something dark, something from her mother. She still hears her mother's words, often encouraging her to hurt her new friend, or lie, or manipulate the situation. Pushing her to make her mummy proud. We see her tackle the voices with strong willpower, but perhaps she enjoys her mother's plans more than she lets on?
When reading the book, I felt as though I were part of the jury - in on the action, trying to figure out the truth. I was intrigued, I couldn't help reading on (like that feeling you get when you're doing something or hearing something not meant for your ears). But, at the same time I felt I was her. Like, I understood where she was coming from. This is a book that captures you completely.
Though I have to say what really kept me immersed in the story wasn't just the plot, it was the writing. The subtle word choices that hinted that there's more to come, how they had me thinking the worst every time, imagining all sorts of scenarios and plot twists. Still, I have to say the ending was hugely unpredictable. Many readers may also appreciate how Ali Land writes in the perspective of Milly throughout the book, there's no shifting of perspectives. This is something I had forgotten my strong preference for, it meant that we had access to Milly's thoughts throughout. It meant the character was massively developed, in a way that revealed the different facets to her personality. The story's focus was her throughout, and with the ending it seems that the attention Mike is paying her has gotten to her head: she has other ideas in mind. No doubt, she'd be keeping his book interesting.
I think that there's potential for a sequel.
I received this book through NetGalley.