I don't really know how to review this to be honest, I certainly wouldn't describe the book as a thriller but I don't think I've ever read a book that puts you right there feeling those exact suffocating emotions as the character. The stifling heat, the frustration and claustrophobia of desperately trying to get across London during a heatwave that has brought the city to a standstill. The main character, Em, encounters some of the most horrific men and I must be extremely blessed in my life that I have not been in these circumstances as its truly horrendous how it appears that being a woman is. Maybe its more of a city situation or maybe I've just been very lucky in life but it did feel at times that if you're a man then you're automatically the bad guy.
However, I did love the character of the homeless guy, Moby and also the unlikely friendship Em made along the way with the brash Rose, I would've loved to have known more about both of these great characters.
Like I said, it's very hard to rate as it felt so depressing to look at mankind this way but for it's pure uniqueness I'd give this 3.5 stars rounded to 4.
Many thanks to #NetGalley for the copy of #GoodGirlsDieLast

Good Girls Die Last follows the main character, Em, on her roller coaster life that consists of more negatives than positives. Em goes through a breakup, loses her job, gets sexually assaulted, and goes through the most horrific and challenging few days as she is traveling to see her sister get married in Spain. This book had some great parts where I couldn't book the book down and some dull ones, but overall I enjoyed the read.

Thank you Natali Simmonds, Headline and NetGalley for the ARC and opportunity to read and review this book!

“They don’t like a woman with a loud voice. You start shouting, bringing attention to them and it scares the shit out of them.”

Em is having one of those days where nothing is going right. She’s lost her job, lost her home, and a heatwave has brought London to a standstill forcing her to have to drag her suitcase across the city to try and make her plane back home for her sister’s wedding and to see her dying mother. But the heat isn’t the only dangerous thing about London’s streets; a serial killer is targeting women and making the streets feel unsafe. Tired of men getting their way at her and other women’s expense, Em refuses to let them win anymore. And her defiance will cause shockwaves…

Good Girls Die Last is a gripping and timely thriller about violence against women, female rage, female fear, and finding your voice. Natali Simmonds has created a book that is part entertaining thriller, part social commentary, and part call to arms. All women will recognise the fear and frustration on these pages. We’ve all had a man say, ‘Smile love, it might never happen’, or make lewd comments when we’re simply walking on the street. We all know that feeling of rage boiling inside while we are forced to plaster on a mask of normalcy and smile sweetly. And Em embodies us all when she decides to take her stand, even if she was unprepared for the ripple effect it caused. Fast-paced, laced with dark humour, and brilliantly written, I loved the mysteries that the author wove into the story that kept me on the edge of my seat. What is in Em’s past that she’s running from? And who is the serial killer stalking London’s streets? I needed answers and inhaled this book to get them. And that last sentence! I’m still reeling from that particular body blow.

“It's not the big things that send you over the edge. People think it is; not having a house, losing all your money, all that. But it's not. It's the little things that kill you. The stuff that sneaks up on you while you're busy holding on tight to the big things.”

Em is all of us. A deeply flawed but real and relatable character who is fierce, feisty and furious. Still reeling from heartbreak, grappling with her 30th birthday looming, keeping who she really is a secret from her family, and harbouring a dark secret of her own, Em’s rage finally boils over. She’s tired of being walked over by misogynists who feel entitled to their own way at the expense of women, and tired of keeping quiet and sweet. But Em isn’t the only brilliant character in this book. I also really loved Rose, the spunky and memorable woman who Em meets on her pilgrimage to the airport and forms a quick but strong bond with.

Fiery, enraging, unapologetic and brimming with tension, Good Girls Die Last is a thought-provoking feminist thriller every woman needs to read.

Such an evocative read, I simply couldn't put it down! Full of very difficult subject matter, but incredibly emotive and fabulously well written.

Em is having the day from hell. She has lost her job, London is in the midst of a heatwave, a serial killer targeting women is on the loose, the transport network has gone down, and all she wants is to get to the airport. She decides to walk and, along the way, meets feisty Rose. What follows is a story of instant friendship, a spotlight on women's safety, and the most thought-provoking book I've read in a very long time. An absolute must read!

Wow, first thing first do not make the mistake of starting this just before bed, big mistake as you will be desperate to finish it.

I loved the character Em, she was one of the strongest female characters i have read in a long time and I really liked her and saw some of myself in her, i also loved Rose she was lovely and feisty and Great friend too have.

The book was engrossing and i loved the plot and the idea of female empowerment over men who take advantage over everything, this book is so true to life with parts that i feel will resonate with so many females in the way certain men feel they can behave towards women and get away with it.

I loved the setting you could feel the stifling heat coming through the pages and that added a lot to the story.

I was devastated at the end but I knew it was coming and it did make me feel pretty emotional, angry and sad.

I’m looking forward to what Natali Simmonds does next and I can not wait.

Thank you Netgalley for a copy for an honest review

Thank you Natali Simmonds for writing a thought provoking thriller of a book

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book.
This was such a different kind of thriller but just as engaging. Em is such a strong character. Each chapter leads into the next one so it's hard to put down! This one will stay with me for a while! I look forward to reading more from this author. ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I have been trying to figure out how to write a review for this book as there are so many emotions that you will go through. I would Hhighly recommend this book. It was stressful, a fast pace thriller, it will make you sad, and it keep you on the edge of your seat. Like, I said I cannot recommend this book enough and there are so many layers to this book that it was difficult to give it the review it deserves. A must buy book.

It should have been a good day for Em. She should have been made permanent in the job she loves, she should be flying to Spain to see her mum and give her sister away in her upcoming wedding, but none of that is going to happen.

The job falls through, London is in the middle of a sweltering heatwave and gridlocked and to top it off there is a serial killer on the loose targeting women.

The book takes us through the very real plight of females everywhere, toxic masculinity, misogyny, domestic violence and rape are just a few of the topics covered.
We meet the vibrant and unwilling to keep quiet, Rose, the lonely Moby, who, from his kerbside spot is one of the few people who really see Em. And then with echoes of the Sarah Everard murder and subsequent vigil we see women stand together and discover how peaceful protests can flame into riots when emotions are high.

I read this in one day and found it incredibly thought provoking and relatable, the added twitter elements were spot on.
My one gripe would be that at times the story crossed the line to become a little far fetched, but no so much that it ruined the sentiment.

With the current heat and situation with strikes combined with recent events that have shone the spotlight on women's safety I can well imagine that there are plenty of Em's out there just keeping quiet and carrying on - if this is you, you need to read this book -now!

Such a stunning novel, it was so raw and full of emotion. The anger and the rage that came across through the characters was perfect. This combined with the descriptions of the sweltering heatwave made it almost impossible to read, but I was so hooked that I had no choice but to carry on. I can't remember the last time I felt so much empathy for a character - Em was really dealt every blow possible within such a short space of time that everything that followed was inevitable. Not a book that I will forget in a hurry.

If you plan to pick up Good Girls Die Last then can I suggest you clear your calendar as if you’re anything like me you won’t want to put to down. It is an intense read, one that will take you on a real rollercoaster of a journey as you reflect on some of the things women have to deal with in today’s world but boy is it good!

Em is having a bad day - her contract at work has not been renewed primarily due to the say so of a lecherous boss, she can’t go back to her flat thanks to a flatmate for whom she has become a ‘bit on the side’ and on a sweltering hot day London is gridlocked - and she needs to make it across London to fly to her sister’s wedding in Spain. Oh and by the way there is a serial killer on the loose on London who is targeting women.

It is a book that is hard to sum up - to call it a thriller is an oversimplification as it is so much more than that. It’s hard hitting, thought provoking and I raced through it fully engaged in Em’s story as things spiral out of control, but often recoiling in horror at events and attitudes which felt all too real. The tension never lets up, and the fact it is set in a heatwave fully contributes to the atmosphere as the story races along to its dramatic conclusion. This is certainly a book I won’t forget in a hurry.

Em is having THE worst day! Her roommate wants her to move out, she just lost her job, she has to travel across London to catch a flight for her sister’s wedding but the sweltering heatwave is making it difficult and there is a serial killer on the loose attacking women that look just like her.

I enjoyed this one, in fact I read it in a single sitting however I do have a few issues, mainly it didn’t feel like a true thriller to me. I’m not sure how to describe it but thriller is not a word that would come to mind, there wasn’t enough tension and it didn’t feel very high stakes. I think too much emphasis was put on her struggle to get to the airport, I would have liked more about the serial killer. Although we did get a lot of interactions with terrible men it wasn’t enough.

I’m not sure if this is going to have a follow up book or if the ending was left open on purpose but I didn’t love how it was done.

Overall I enjoyed it for what it was but it was different to what I went in expecting.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book has been featuring all over Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and everyone is raving about it, so suffering from Acute FOMO, I quickly finished my current read and started this book without really looking at the blurb or reviews.

If you think you’re having a bad day – then you really need to meet Em. It’s Friday, she’s about to leave London to travel home for her sister’s wedding in Spain, she’s hoping to get a permanent position in the company she’s working at, having completed a 3 month temporary contract, it’s also her 30th birthday this weekend plus she’s nursing a broken heart and she’s sleeping with her landlord.

On top of this, she’s been lying to her family about her career and love life and has managed to avoid seeing them for 3 years. However, London is the midst of a record-breaking heatwave, causing total gridlock, halting all modes of transport and she needs to get to the airport desperately.

There’s also the additional complication of a serial killer on the loose – targeting young women in London, d causing panic and mayhem everywhere. Em has had enough – literally, she’s been abused, ridiculed, used, discarded, ignored, objectified and mocked by men and now she’s taking back control and making a stand.

Good Girls Die Last is a shocking yet topical story featuring situations which sadly every female has probably encountered in their life.

This books is GRIM, it’s BRUTAL, it’s UNCOMFORTABLE and it’s DEEPLY DEPRESSING, so if you are looking for a bit of light relief, then this really isn’t the book for you. However, it’s also carries a very important message, is utterly THOUGHT-PROVOKING and so POWERFUL that it left me with a little book hangover.

My first read by this author and I must admit I’m very pleased.

Good Girls Die Last by Natali Simmonds was a gripping, poignant page-turner.
It was very hard to tear myself away from the story.
Full of shocking twist that will leave you breathless and you emotions all over the place.
The writing was very compelling and very well done.
Our characters here will seriously have you screaming, crying and feeling every single emotion. It’s hard but my goodness it was so worth the read.
This was an intense thriller! I was anxious and on the edge of my seat for the majority of this novel. Every single page was gripping, atmospheric and suspenseful.
I’m so excited to read more from Natali Simmonds in the future.
She did such a phenomenal job here.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and Headline for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC opportunity!

Wow, where to begin?! I wouldn’t classify this book as a psychological thriller/ perhaps a domestic suspense? The book covers an “everything goes wrong” kind of day for the main character. From the beginning I was wondering what would happen next, and was rooting for Em, the main characters the whole way. The author did a great job of making me like a character I didn’t always agree with (I wouldn’t have made some of her choices) but I was rooting for her and characters she met along the way.

This book is deeper than a typical domestic suspense novel- it covers important topics, such as violence against women. The descriptions of the main characters feelings and experiences are so real I felt I was there. At times I felt like crying, and towards the end I was holding my breath during a scene.

I’ll definitely be reading more from this author!

Em is having a very bad day. She loses her job, transport to the airport to get home to Spain for her sister's wedding, and her flat keys. It's the biggest heatwave London has ever known and she has to get to City airport. With a serial killer of young women who look just like her on the loose. The tension mounts as she puts herself in increasingly dangerous situations. I wasn't expecting what happened - it really shows how all the little things truly add up until you get to breaking point. A really good read. #netgalley #goodgirlsdielast

The term 'must-read' is thrown about with casual abandon, but every now and then you come across a book that really deserves that label. While Good Girls Die Last is cleverly framed as a thriller, this novel is so much more! It is a primal scream against the deeply-held misogyny, the casual cruelties and the everyday micro-aggressions that most women are all too familiar with.

Em is having a terrible day. As she sets out for an office meeting, her mind is already on her forthcoming travel to her sister's wedding, where she'll also see her fading mother. As if that weren't bad enough, she finds out at the work meeting that she has lost her job, and is then advised not to make a fuss about it, because really, who likes it when a woman creates a scene?

Trudging homeward, things go from bad to much, much worse. London is in the grip of a fierce heatwave and there are fears of a serial killer on the prowl. But it is often the smallest things that lead us to crack, and that is precisely what happens here.

Em has already been royally screwed over by the men in her life, and she has finally had enough of it. Why she has put up with it for so long is indicated, and that story too will not be unknown to most readers.

What follows is something that will resonate with many women - and perhaps also men who are sensitive enough to realise that real equality is very far away still.

This book blazes with intelligence, and it provides so many relatable insights. It stirs up deep emotions, from despair and anger to sadness, empathy, and a measure of satisfaction. I started the review by saying that it is a must-read, and I am going to end on that note as well. Please read it!

I’m not entirely sure what I expected, but it wasn’t this!

London is in a blistering heatwave while a serial killer is on the loose. Our girl Em wakes up in bed of her landlord/room mate (who has a girlfriend), and gets ready for work where she is confident she will be made permanent in her role, then plans to head to Spain for her little sisters wedding. That was the plan. In the most catastrophic of ways, her day did not go to plan.

We’ve all had bad days, which makes Em likeable and relatable in her actions in the first half of the book. As the book progresses and she meets some unexpected characters, who turn out to be friends and influences for her, Em strengthens and grabs empowerment by the big ones!

This book is intense!!! It faces into some of the most important, yet heavily debated, topics that face women everywhere. We look at rape culture, sexual harassment, slut-shaming, staying quiet for an ‘easy life’. The story unfolds as we desperately want to know more about Em - what about Nikki? What happened with her dad? And what is her real name?

I read this book, and after finishing, I was ready to take to the streets and fight! Some of this book was hard to read as it was so realistic, but the author dials the intensity up and down throughout, making you desperate to follow her journey.

A 5⭐️ read for me!

Thank you to the author, NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

Em is having, quite literally, the worst day. As she heads into work for an important meeting on the morning she is also due to leave for her sister's wedding, wheeling her purple suitcase along behind her we get a sense of how kind-hearted she is. But the meeting doesn't exactly go to plan when she is instead fired on the spot. Devastated at no longer having her dream job she heads for home in the heat as London has been experiencing a heatwave that has no end in sight only to find she doesn't have her keys. And the day goes from bad to worse, trekking across the city in heels when transportation lines go down, contemplating the recent slew of murders around the city, and the loss of the love of her life we learn just how much a person can take.

The words on the cover of this book really say it all. It was electrifying, amazing, I didn't want to put it down to sleep, thus resulting in two extremely late nights. I'm not usually a huge thriller reader, but after hearing about this book for so long I knew it was one I had to get my hands on one way or another. What's even more fun is also being 29 and only five months away from turning 30 myself. I completely related to the "I was meant to have my life in order by now" mindset. Really I related to Em very easily, which I think gives even more power to the book, how many people can relate to her? Whether you're almost 30 or not, she's one of the most relatable characters I've ever come across. And I've come across a lot of characters. I loved the addition of Rose, every girl should have a friend like her. She puts her heart out there to help her friends, new and old. She had barely met Em and was willing to go to such lengths to help this woman who was clearly having a bad day. I want to say more about her, but she has such a large part near the end of the book, I don't want to give anything away. Basically, all I can say is this, go pick up this book. You won't regret it.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author via Netgalley & Headline books in exchange for an honest review.

Good Girls Die Last is a fast paced and thought provoking read. Set in London in a time frame of 24 hours. 29 year old Em is not having the best of days. Her 30th birthday is coming up but she has just split up with her partner and to make matters worse she is not being kept on in her job working in a PR Company in central London. And to add to all this she has been kicked out of the room she was renting . Losing her job and room is all down to two despicable men. Adding to all this Em needs to get back home to Spain where her sister is getting married . London is suffering with a blistering heatwave and due to problems with public transport she us struggling to get to the airport for her flight . As all this is going on there is also the small matter of a serial killer on the loose ! Things just go from bad to worse for Em as she makes her way through London in her efforts to get to the airport.

Wow just wow ! How can I review this book to give it the full credit it deserves. It’s a very different read to what I would usually class a thriller. Yes it is a thriller but it’s so so much more than that. I was completely invested in this story right from the very start. So engrossed was i that everything else was forgotten as I was reading . There is so much going on in this book, but that didn’t make it a confusing read as can sometimes happen when there’s a lot going on. The author has written and described the characters so well . This can be an uncomfortable read at times and certain things that happened I’m sure many women have suffered at one time or other. From start to finish this to me was an outstanding read. 5⭐️

Oh wow - one of those books that will have you thinking about it for ages afterwards, nodding your head in recognition at each stage, and feeling the tension and frustration ramp up as you do so. The injustices and inherent sexism built into our society was completely captured in Em's story.

Em is a 29 year old Spanish woman living in London; she's living at the edge of her means but is hoping for her temp job in a prestigious PR agency to be made permanent. She's broken up with her wonderful girlfriend Nikki and moved in with a posh entitled man called Matt who has sex with her whilst talking about his fiancée. Em is due to go home to Spain for her sister's wedding and a long overdue reunion with her mother; she's been telling her family a lie that she's living with a male fiance Nick and has a successful career, scared to tell them the truth.

But on the day that Em goes for the interview for the promotion, she's told that her contract is terminated because she's inappropriately infatuated with Paul one of the male bosses. She is kicked out on to the street in the middle of a blazing unrelenting heatwave that shows no sign of breaking, She tries to go home but has lost her keys and Matt is with his girlfriend and has banned Em from the flat. She has to get to the airport to catch the evening flight- she has promised her family endlessly that she will be there no matter what - but when traffic is gridlocked and there's no way of travelling due to the excessive heat, how will she get there?

She grits her teeth and keeps moving but on her journey to catch the flight, Em encounters so many seedy entitled men, either directly or indirectly -'give us a smile love', type comments come thick and fast. As well as the comments, there are unwanted physical encounters and sexual assaults adding to the building anger that she's feeling at how Paul and Matt have treated her without a second thought.

On top of all of this, there's a serial killer in central London who is killing young women and activists on social media is taking a stand. Women are planning an all night vigil to reclaim the streets whilst some men are mocking them for their attempts and blaming women for being out in the first place. With deliberate echoes of the Sarah Everard story, the social activism storyline is strong and real, with women joining in from across the country, determined to have their voices heard.

I inhaled this book in one gulp, it is a strong necessary read about so much that is going on in our world every day - Natali Simmons has captured it all in one incredible story, Em represents so many women facing everyday incidents that men often wouldnt even think about.

This is mentioned a few times in the book - and it sums the book's message up completely- 'It's not the big things that send you over the edge, it's the little things. The stuff that sneaks up on you, while you're busy holding on to the things that matter."



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