[Thanks to @netgalley and @bookouture for this ARC!]

#GoodGirl is the story of Della, a teacher with a dark secret from her past. When a new student, Zoey, joins her class she becomes convinced that the girl is just like her brother - a clever psychopath. However, she has a hard time convincing those around her that Zoey could be responsible for all the bad things suddenly happening in the school.

Overall this is a great book. The story pulls you in and you want to keep reading because of the constant tension present - will Della be branded mad or will the others finally see the truth? The way it is structured, with chapters in the present and in the past, reminds me of Gillian Flynn's Dark Places.

The main question that comes up - nature or nurture - is very interestingly developed. There is no finite answer, although I believe the author could have delved a bit more into it.

The writing style seems a bit simple at first, but it definitely does not subtract from the reading experience. And aside from some minor inconsistencies (Della has no social media, but wants to plan her trip on Pinterest) and moments when the main character feels a little too pushy suspicious (especially because she is suspicious of a teenager), the book leaves an excellent impression.

I simply couldn't put it down! 🤩

The book has a slow start but a wonderful premise and storyline. As a teacher, I sometimes think of my students as being terrors, but this takes it to a new level. I, typically, like for books to start with action, and it opens with a strong start, then tapers off a little. Despite the slow start, it's a pretty quick read, and I think it does a great job of weaving the past and present.

This was a great novel that I had a wonderful time reading. The characters were well depicted and the storyline flowed seamlessly.

I enjoyed this overall. A quick read, but I felt there wasnt enough strong twists. The suspense and 'bad feelings' Della felt were well executed and the time frames were good to see the background underneath her behaviour.

This novel was FANTASTIC. It is a fast paced psychological thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat. I was hooked from the very first page, I just needed to know what had happened.

There are so many twists and turns in this story. I actually felt shocked at multiple points in the book which I find rare when reading these days.

I sped through this in one sitting, and cannot wait to read more from this author.

Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this E-book to review via Netgalley.

I have mixed feelings on Good Girl, it’s enjoyable and full of action but there’s no surprises.

The blurb is the entire story. No twists, no red herrings. Della was a weak character, if you know acting crazy gets you nowhere then why act crazy?

The best parts were set in the past. I would love to read Brian’s full story! (Please?)

Some Days Are Dark was explosive, Good Girl is alright! I would recommend for casual thriller readers looking for a good poolside read. 3.5 / 5

Della loves her job teaching English, but the day Zoey enters her classroom, Della knows she’s dealing with pure evil. She should know, her own brother, a charmer on the outside, was in reality a psychopath. An attack on a student shortly after convinces Della she was right about her student, but will she be any more successful at being believed than she was when she accused her brother of trying to kill her when he was 13? A chilling story of what lies behind the eyes of some of the most innocent looking members of our society

I really liked this twisty thriller about a teacher, Della, with a dark past who recognizes a potential psychopath among her students. This isn't so much a "whodunit" - but just a scary thrill ride as you wait to see if the student is really as dangerous as the person in Della's past. Both the stories unspool together and, even though you might have an idea where both stories are heading, it's truly terrifying when they both come to a conclusion.

This was my first book by Miranda Smith and I will definitely read more. If you like thrillers that explore the minds and habits of psychopaths (guilty!), this is a really well-written, thoughtful and scary read. 4.5 stars rounded up.

Thanks so much to NetGalley, Bookouture and Miranda Smith for this introduction to a great new thriller author to watch!

Della had always known that her brother was evil, but no one believed her until it was too late.
Now Della is a teacher, and she wants to put her past behind her.
When Zoey, a new student, joins her class with only a month until the summer holiday, Della appears to be the only one who's not fooled by the new girl's pretence.
Soon a female student gets violently attacked, and Della has strong reasons to suspect that Zoey was the attacker.
When no one believes her, she decides to find the proof herself, determined as she is not to let the history repeat itself...

The story follows Della's perspective and is interspersed with her recap of past events.
It was a very good, entertaining read that got me hooked really fast.
The story was well-paced, kept me interested throughout and never once had me bored.
However, I'm on the fence about the rating.
I definitely enjoyed this book more than the author's previous one (3 stars), so I feel like I should give it 4 stars. But despite the book being very good, I found the ending wasn't shocking enough, and as it is the determining factor, for me, in receiving a rating of 4 stars and above, I'm torn.
In the end, having thought long and hard about it, I decided to overlook the lack of a surprising twist and to go for 4 stars.
It is definitely a book worth checking out.

It was a bit of a slow start so I wasn’t completely invested in the first section of the book. Once I’d got through about 25% that definitely changed. I loved the way each chapter changed from the perspective of the past and the present.

As the book goes on it shows layers and layers of the plot of the book. It’s not really a ‘who done it’ kind of book, I guessed pretty much from the off who the person causing all the trouble was, as it was very obvious. But that’s not to say it was bad for that reason, I found that it really worked. It was just frustrating when no one believed Della!

Throughout the story you are told of the relationship between Della and her brother, Brian when they were younger. Over the years Della and Brian obviously don’t get along and have their issues. But Della has always known about Brian’s dark side, but no one ever believes her...

In the present day Della has, what you would consider, a normal life. She’s a married woman and has the job of a teacher. It isn’t until Zoey joins the school that Della’s life is turned upside down. She see’s something in Zoey... The same as what she saw in Brian all those years ago... But again, no one believes her... Will it be too late?

Overall I enjoyed the book, it was a quick read and different to anything I have read before. I would definitely recommend this book to others!

A brilliant thriller. Edge of seat keeps you reading the next chapter. One of those books you cant put down