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Good Me, Bad Me
Jun. 11th, 2024 01:46 pmGood Me, Bad Me by Ali Land tells the story of Annie (always a bit disconcerting when protagonists share your name, especially in this case...), the 15-year-old daughter of a female serial killer, who goes to the police to turn in her mother.
The book follows her going to a temporary foster family while she's preparing to give evidence at her mother's trial. It focuses on her relationships with the couple fostering her (one of whom is her therapist, though I'm pretty sure that wouldn't be allowed...), their also 15-year-old daughter, and a young girl she befriends from the neighbouring estate. It also goes into detail about her own inner conflicts regarding the voice of her mother in her head, her choices about how to act and present herself, and most importantly how to treat the people in her life.
It's a fascinating character study of someone who's not the most reliable narrator, and who is struggling to figure out what kind of person she wants to be, majorly hampered by the abusive and violent upbringing she's just escaped from.
It got a bit repetitive in the middle section, but the presentation of the trial was very effective, and I was engaged all the way through, wondering how things would turn out.
I saw the first twist coming, but it was still impactful in the way it was revealed. The ultimate conclusion, though, I felt was a bit too spelled out. I found where it ended up chillingly satisfying, but I think it would have been more effective if it had been left with even the smallest doubt as to what had actually happened.
I thought the portrayal of Mike, the therapist and dad of the foster family, was particularly well done - his flaws as husband, father and therapist were the main driving force of the eventual outcome and were very believable.
So, a good read overall, though there were certain aspects that didn't quite work for me.
The book follows her going to a temporary foster family while she's preparing to give evidence at her mother's trial. It focuses on her relationships with the couple fostering her (one of whom is her therapist, though I'm pretty sure that wouldn't be allowed...), their also 15-year-old daughter, and a young girl she befriends from the neighbouring estate. It also goes into detail about her own inner conflicts regarding the voice of her mother in her head, her choices about how to act and present herself, and most importantly how to treat the people in her life.
It's a fascinating character study of someone who's not the most reliable narrator, and who is struggling to figure out what kind of person she wants to be, majorly hampered by the abusive and violent upbringing she's just escaped from.
It got a bit repetitive in the middle section, but the presentation of the trial was very effective, and I was engaged all the way through, wondering how things would turn out.
I saw the first twist coming, but it was still impactful in the way it was revealed. The ultimate conclusion, though, I felt was a bit too spelled out. I found where it ended up chillingly satisfying, but I think it would have been more effective if it had been left with even the smallest doubt as to what had actually happened.
I thought the portrayal of Mike, the therapist and dad of the foster family, was particularly well done - his flaws as husband, father and therapist were the main driving force of the eventual outcome and were very believable.
So, a good read overall, though there were certain aspects that didn't quite work for me.
