3.5 Stars

There are three stories, with three different women: Celia wakes up as a wife, mother, and restaurant owner, but doesn’t remember any of it.

Allie is supposed to get away with her two besties to celebrate her birthday, but plans change when one of the boyfriends (total jerk!) hijacks the trip and takes them to a secluded cabin out in the woods.

Maggie wakes up with several other women forced to participate in deadly competitions.

All three stories connect by the end.

Good Girls Don’t Die had a kind of Twilight Zone vibe. Wished there was a little more to the ending other than that abrupt one, but I was happy with how it turned out for the most part.

Lisa Flannagan's audio performance was excellent. Sort of reminded me of Lorelei King, one of my favs! I listened at 1.5x normal speed.

I was thinking this was a different author when I originally signed up for it. I read this as part of a Berkeley arc buddy read. I prefer physical copies, but this seems to be the only way to get any Berkeley arcs. The book was okay, I wouldn’t say a favorite but I enjoyed it.

This is not my specific interest, so it didn't appeal to me as much. I do horror, but lean into the gothic so I"m not sure I was the best one for this. I didn't ask for this book. It was somehow automatically sent to me.

I had so much more fun with this book than I was expecting! I was initially interested because I loved Near the Bone when I read it last year, and I was curious to check out something else by Christina Henry. This is not similar to that reading experience at all, but I still enjoyed it!

Good Girls Don't Die tells the story of three (well... kinda four) women who are stuck in three different horrific situations pulled from fiction: a scenario out of The Stepford Wives, a final girl slasher moment, and a battle royale. We are dropped into each situation knowing very little about what's going on, why it's happening, and how they might get out of it.

One thing I liked a lot about Good Girls Don't Die is that blurs the line between horror and real life and uses that to amp things up. One of the reasons we're pulled towards horror is that it gives us an opportunity to channel our fear in a way that is ultimately safe. We read about final girls, for instance, and feel both the terror and the catharsis that comes from enduring and surviving. But of course, if we had to experience these things in real life, we don't know what we'd do. And even though this is obviously a work of fiction in itself, the fact that it plays with that makes it interesting and engaging, and it adds another level of terror.

The villain was cartoonish, especially compared to the tone of the rest of the book, but I didn't mind that too much. I wanted to know so much more about the people in the Stepford Wives scenario -- who was in on it, who was an actor, what did they think was going on, etc.

This book is definitely not for everybody. Still, I'm happy I read it!

This was such a fun one! Of you're a fan of Cabin in the woods you'll enjoy this one! I read it in one day haha, I was so hooked and I also enjoyed the gore, and zanniest in it!
Thank you, Net Galley for this arc!

I’ve gotta say, with the number of thrillers and suspense books feeling very predictable and repetitive, I was going into this one with mediocre expectations. I love Christina Henry and her retellings, but holy crap! I was so impressed with this book. Not only did it keep me guessing until the end, but talk about something unique and refreshing. Imagine waking up and just knowing that something is off. You can’t quite explain it but there’s just something that isn’t right and out of place. That is the reality of things for three women – Celia, Allie, and Maggie.

Each woman finds herself dropped into the middle of a story in the genre they love: one in a cozy mystery, one in a slasher movie, and the other in a dystopian novel. I couldn’t imagine waking up in the middle something from my favorite genre – that would be when I’d regret loving horror books and movies. As a reader, you can think all you want that you would make better decisions than the main characters involved, but once faced with that as your reality? You might find that it’s easier said than done. This was inventive, unique, and each story had me captivated. It isn’t until the very end that we find out how they all connect to each other and I was happy with the conclusion! Highly recommend this and her other novels as well. Wonder what Henry has in store for us next!

Good Girls Don’t Die is my first Christina Henry book and I am kicking myself for waiting so long to try one!

The premise for this book is wonderfully unique and I loved the way that Henry divided the book into parts, with individual sections focused on each of our three main characters and then a final section that serves to tie the stories together. I honestly could have read full books about each of the three women. Henry creates compelling, tense, and thrilling plots for each of them. Our characters are unique in their personality and outlook on life, but their shared motivation to survive helps to tie them together and make these stories connected.

I was hoping for a bit more from the ending. It left me feeling rushed compared to the sections for the women, but I appreciate that Henry was aiming to wrap up any and all loose ends. Overall it makes sense with the story and the flow, I just wasn’t ready to part ways with the book as soon as it happened!

A huge thank you to Berkley for my gifted copy!

Thank you to Berkeley Publishing, NetGalley, and Christina Henry for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
What a unique read! The first part of this book had me drawn in almost instantly and I couldn’t put it down until I knew what happened. As the different worlds & stories were taking place, I just started getting more and more angry with most of the male characters. The ending was so so satisfying to me. I look forward to reading more of this author in the future.

This title is available now!!

This is one unique and good book.
Three different women Celia, Allie, and Maggie wake up one day not knowing where they are and what’s going on.
Told over three different stories each women wake up in different like stories.
One ends up a cozy like mystery.
Ones ends up in a Thriller
And the last women woke up in a dystopian story like in Hunger games or the Maze type games
This book keep you up reading to find out what’s going to happen next and why did these three different women end up in their own story.
I recommend reading this thank you @netgalley

Great and original plot idea! It did fall somewhat short for me when the 'girls' came together though. I really loved all the mentions of various thriller stories. Expect allusions to Memento, every teen age cabin in the woods horror flick, The Maze Runner and Hunger Games.

Three women, three different scenarios, and a WTF is going on mind bender story that leads to a crazy connection reveal with ramifications for the villains who have trapped them in stories that are not of their own.

Christina Henry's Good Girls Don't Die is a story that follows three women who wake up in a fantasy like world reminiscent of an episode of Black Mirror. The main players are Celia, Allison, and Maggie. The book itself is broken into 4 sections with 1 section each for the three main players. Celia wakes up in a house that’s supposed to be hers. There’s a little girl who claims to be her daughter and a man who claims to be her husband, but Celia knows this family—and this life—is not hers.

Even though she has a New York State drivers license, and even though she clearly has some skills as a restaurant owner and cook, there is something at the back of her mind telling her that this is all wrong. Then things spiral out of control. A woman who Celia argued with ends up dead, and she receives a phone call saying "You're going to pay for what you've done. Women like you always get what they deserve." Is this some sort of survival game? Someone did this to Celia. Someone stripped her of her life and now it is time to fight back. It appears that someone intends to treat Celia like she's one of the Stepford wives by stripping away her entire identity.

Allison is supposed to be on a fun weekend trip with her best fiends Cam and Madison. When her friend’s boyfriends (Brad & Steve) unexpectedly shows up and invites the group to a remote cabin in the woods, Allison is weary about being a third wheel. To make matters more twisted, Alli is an aficionado of horror classics. Let's call this scenario Cabin in the Woods. She knows most if not all of the signs that something is wrong. No one else believes Allie, but when the car they were riding in is destroyed, and one by one her friends are attacked and left for dead, Allie knows that someone has picked her for some sort of sick survival game.

Maggie wakes up to find that she is with 8 other women who seemed to have been chosen for some sort of survival game. The people running the game claim that they have no right to refuse anything they are told to do or they will lose someone close to them. In Maggie's case, that is her daughter who she fought tooth and nail to get away from her psycho ex-boyfriend. Maggie allies herself with a woman named Sonya to try to get though the maze and the ending that wakes for them. Let's call Maggie's scenario a cross between the Hunger Games and the Maze Runner.

At the end of the main characters parts in the story, they each find a door where the have escaped from a mob of men who want them dead. Maggie, Allison, Sonya, and Celia now have to figure out why they were chosen in particular. There are hints along the way that should give readers a clue as to why they were chosen, and who is responsible. Let's just say that the twists at the end of the book are not only surprising but unexpected. It is mentioned quiet a few times along the way that these character think of themselves in terms of books like Hunger Games, Truman Show, and Black Mirror.

3.25
This was an interesting book which had a unique concept. I enjoyed each individual woman's story but I was sort of disappointed when the women joined together to confront their enemy.

Good Girls Don’t Die is a trippy, exciting, compelling thrill. I absolutely couldn’t put this book down, and finished it all in one day. It's best to read without expectations -- the twists and turns will keep you guessing!

Thank you, NetGalley, for this book.

I’ve only read one book by Christina Henry, Horseman, and thought it was great. I know her books are usually retellings of familiar stories, and I expected this one to be the same. Although it wasn’t, I still thought it was great. I was hooked from the first chapter. This story wasn’t like anything I’ve read before, either.

We first meet Celia who has no memory of who she is. Several chapters are devoted to her story. We move to Allie, trapped in a cabin in the middle of nowhere with her friends when things begin to go wrong. Several chapters of her story follow. Finally, we meet Maggie, kidnapped and plunked into a survival situation. Her chapters come next. Three women. Three stories. Only one way out. This book was so much fun to read. I had no idea what was happening in each one, much like the women, and following their situations was captivating. I loved this book.

The amateur sleuth. The FInal Girl. The death game contestant. We all know how their stories end in the books.


But as three women will discover, real life is nothing like the stories.


I love short stories, and I really love when a book includes 3 separate stories and merge to a satisfying conclusion like this one. While all three of the women in the story feel like one we read before, she puts her own twist on horror in real life scenarios, which in my opinion makes it that much more suspenseful.


I will probably always read anything Henry puts out but I thought this one was particularly creative and I liked how it tied together in the end.

I really loved the premise of this story. It was unique and I highly recommend to go in blind. I love Christina’s writing. She really gets you hooked and keeps you wondering.

Christina Henry's novel, Good Girls Don't Die, reminded me a lot of The Hunger Games. This was a unique read for me. I enjoyed the three plot lines for women with very different stories. I couldn't figure out if they would connect and if so, how they would. As the overarching plot was revealed, I had to keep listening to I could figure out what would happen to these 'good girls". The novel is definitely cutthroat and violent so if that's not your jam, stay away. I found it to be intriguing, but not scary which is my favorite type of read.

A huge thank you to PRH Audio for granting me access to the audiobook and to Berkley Publishing for granting me access to the title on NetGalley.

This is definitely a book I'd recommend if you enjoy Black Mirror. It has the mind bending twists you'd expect from that show. It's almost like three separate novellas that all come together at the end. While some of the scenarios weren't my favorite, I know this story will stick with me for awhile. I really enjoyed my time reading this one.

Thank you so much to Berkley publishing for an advanced copy of this book for review.

I really liked the unique premise that this book had. It was split into three parts, three separate stories, all coming together. It is best to go into it blind and figure out what is going on for yourself.

Celia wakes up to a life she has no knowledge or recollection of.

Allie is on a trip with friends in a cabin in the woods when she gets a feeling that something is quite wrong.

Maggie has to fight to survive and be reunited with her daughter.

Overall, it was an original idea, which is hard to come by these days, and it kept me engaged all the way through.

“A sharp-edged, supremely twisty thriller about three women who find themselves trapped inside stories they know aren’t their own, from the author of Alice and Near the Bone.”

This is such a fun and unique read. Told from the POV of three women trapped in different stories, it kept me on my toes and fully engaged. A twisty, edge of your seat ride as each woman fights to reclaim their own life story. With each story being so different from the others, I was completely confused how they would merge together. But the ending was great and so satisfying…….and the final act 🤌🏻.
This is the first book that I’ve read by Christina Henry but won’t be the last! Uniquely told and engaging from beginning to end, this one is for every thriller lover out there.

Thank you to @netgalley @PRHaudio and @berkleypub for the gifted copy of this book.