🌟🌟🌟🌟.5
Alice Feeney’s books are always an incredibly twisted curveball and GOOD BAD GIRL is no exception!

Being able to alternate between the ebook and the audiobook helped me get to know the characters. They were a little confusing at the beginning and the ebook was a great reference. Thanks to the tremendous narrators, the audiobook was awesome!

Mother’s Day is the center of the story, digging into the intricacies of mother/daughter relationships. Some characters are unlikable and others grow on you as you get to know them. Several seemingly unrelated stories are told. As we approach the end, the author reveals the intricate thread that ties them all together!

Edith (my favorite character) is a cantankerous old woman who is cranky with everyone, but most of all her daughter Clio. She was moved into a care home against her will and her beloved dog was taken to a shelter. Her best friend, another resident, recently died. She’s sure it was murder but no one will listen to her. She has an unusual bond with another employee of the care home, Patience, and Edith lights up every time she sees her.

I loved Edith’s rebelliousness! She and Patience were both interesting and complex characters. Clio was one of the characters that grew on me. By the end of the story, I understood her actions and regarded her as impressive. The rest of the main characters have their own intriguing stories.

Sincere thanks to Macmillan Audio and Flatiron Books for the complimentary ARCs provided through NetGalley and Edelweiss. As always, all opinions are my own and left voluntarily.

#GoodBadGirl #alicefeeney #netgalley #edelweiss #macmillanaudion #flatironbooks #audiobookreview #justfinished #newrelease #giftedARC #igbookreels #thriller #honestreview #thrillerfriendsunite #mysteryandthrills #thrillerobsessedbookishclub #suspense #mystery #lovetoread #bookworms #lovebooks #lovetoreadbooks #fortheloveofbooks #booknerd #bookreviewer #booksbooksandmorebooks #instabook #readaholic

Holy cow, holy cow! I was hooked from the beginning.

The story unravels to take you to a place you will never see coming. A typical Feeney in that everyone appears very guilty.

This book was wild. It gave me so many feels. The intense focus on the relationship between a mother and daughter pulled at my heart strings many times. The acknowledgement that every child deserves to be loved by their parents but not everyone has the same opportunities is heartbreaking. The way it can be seen from both perspectives - mother and daughter - is well done.

There were times where I felt like I knew what was going on, but Feeneylike the plot twist queen she is would get me yet again. Also, if Alice Feeney isn't the queen of one hitter lines, idk who is.

100% would absolutely recommend this one!

This is one of those books where we start at the end and slowly work our way to the beginning while still going through whatever it happening in the present time. Really enjoyed the twists. I did figure one part out early, but it ended up being a tad different than I guessed.

Finally....my first Alice Feeney! I was under the impression that this author is known for big twists. I can't say that this story was overly twisty. I found the story somewhat predictable and not as thrilling as I wanted. This wasn't a total love for me but I would definitely love to read something else by this author.

This book was like putting together a puzzle 🧩 such intricate details that come together perfectly in the end. Feeney packed this one with not only twist and turns but food for thought about mother-daughter relationships. Although a slow burn setup it gave ample time to learn about the main characters Edith, Clio, Frankie, and Patience from multiple POVs.
Character development was top tier by the end of the novel we understand their importance, connections, and best of all their involvement in the kidnapping and murders.

Overall, I really enjoyed this novel and found myself connecting with it on so many levels ( I work with older adults in care homes).

Thank you @netgalley for an ARC of this book.

Alice Feeny is back again with another new book, I was gifted an early audio copy for reviewing purposes, thank you to Netgalley & the publisher for making that happen.

I was excited to read this book as I am with all of the authors, new releases. However, when I started the book, I found that I just wasn’t as interested as I have been in her previous books. This follows two different timelines and we’re not really sure how they’re connected in the beginning. This has a lot to say about motherhood, and while I usually have been enjoying that something about the story just didn’t hit in some of the ways that I expected it to. I still think it is a well written book. I just think it’s not the best of the authors work, and if you enjoy stories about motherhood, I would recommend it to you.

I love Alice Feeney and this book is no exception. I like that her books go out of the typical mystery narrative and each story is a winding road. Sometimes I guess the twist and sometimes I don't. Usually there is at least one element I didn't see coming. I know guessing the twist ruins it for some but for me as long as I have a good time reading and feel connected to the characters it's a super enjoyable time. I Feeney is one of my auto buy authors and I have not been disappointed yet.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC!

Good Bad Girl by Alice Feeney

I’ve really enjoyed this authors other books and was excited to get approved for this one on @netgalley by @macmillan.audio.

Unfortunately it was way too long and sprawling and if not for the overall mystery of how these families are connected I probably would have given up. I also found it quite repetitive, with the characters stuck on the same thoughts and questions.

This would fall under the category of domestic drama, not the thriller I was expecting from this author. It did have some twists but none that were shocking or even all that interesting. Curious if anyone else has read this one and what you thought!

Also the cover for this one bugs me for some reason - I feel like they could have done something way more unique than this stock photo of umbrellas.

#bookthoughts #bookreview #bookish #audiobookreview #canadianbookstagrammer #netgalley

I'm always tempted to grab the new Feeney. Three suspects, two murders, one victim. A baby stolen from the stroller 20 years ago. An elderly woman in a care home planning to escape. The caretaker that's lying about almost everything. I was definitely expecting interesting twists with this one.

I'll be honest, it took me a while to get into this especially when I was reading the physical ARC. I was super happy to get access to the audiobook via Macmillan Audio because I love Stephanie Racine reading Feeney's novels. This was definitely no exception once I got the audio! This one also had an additional narrator (Katherine Press) which worked great with the alternating POVs. While the way everything connected was fun, I found one of the twists way too impossible to believe.

A domestic thriller following mothers and daughters with alternating POVs. The beginning was confusing for me with how much was going on but at the same time moving very slow somehow. I struggled to really get invested in the story because of this. The end had some fantastic twists so I’m happy I kept reading.

Fast and furious twists! Characters with enormous damage and flaws, but a writer that handles them so well that you find enough redemption to yearn for a satisfying ending. Skilled execution by the writer.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillian Audio for my ALC! Two separate crimes with a 20 year difference between them- an infant abducted from a supermarket and then a woman murdered in a nursing home- both of which occurred on Mother’s Day. Patience, Clio, Edith, and Frankie are our main characters and interchange as different point of views throughout the book. At times, it’s not fully clear whose POV you’re reading, and that left me questioning until I got to the twists. This book begins at ‘the end’ and ends at ‘the beginning,’ which is an interesting concept, but it lead to me being more confused. I really enjoyed the snarky detective in this book, I think she was my favorite character.


I wanted so badly to love this book. So badly that I listened to the audiobook twice. I did enjoy the book more and it made more sense the second time around. But overall, for me, this books lacked the twists I’ve come to expect from Feeney’s novels. I loved the way everything (very conveniently) came together at the end. Feeney is still one of my favorite authors, and her writing is beautiful. I had to stop and write down so many amazing quotes while reading. This book definitely explores the intricacies of mother/daughter relationships.


The narrators in this audiobook did an amazing job, but being that this book seemed to aim to intentionally confuse the reader, I think I might have enjoyed it more if I had been able to physically read it.


“Doing something wrong is sometimes the right thing to do. Everyone knows that.”

“Sometimes, we all have to become smaller versions of ourselves to fit the story life writes for us.”

Good Bad Girl publishes TODAY 8/29/23!

Good Bad Girl has all the hallmarks of a classic Alice Feeney thriller - family dysfunction, unreliable narrator(s), and a pretty good twist at the end!

The plot was actually a bit unusual at first because it takes quite a while to figure out how the characters’ lives intersect. The characters were well developed and I found myself guessing how elements of the plot were related to the Mother’s Day story shared in the beginning of the book.

While it’s not overly suspenseful and I didn’t find myself on the edge of my seat, this was an enjoyable read and actually provides quite a discourse on mother/daughter relationships. I enjoyed the audiobook but will say that the two narrators have very similar voices so if I wasn’t paying close attention when listening it was tough to tell when the POV switched.

I do LOVE the cover of this book - it’s really striking and reminds me of dark, rainy days.
Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the advanced copy of Good Bad Girl!

I was beyond thrilled for the chance to read another Alice Feeney book. I have absolutely loved the ones I read previously. I must say on some levels I was disappointed in this one. It starts out, well, confusing. That did improve as time went on but I think it kept me from being invested in any of the characters through much of the book.

I did like how it all played out in the end and then it made much more sense to me. The characters were quirky to say the least and I LOVE a good quirky character.

I fully admit that much of my lack of connection to the book is probably due to my own mind space and not the fault of the author or book. I think it was the wrong time for me to read this one. I am confident I would have liked it much more at a different time.

I listened to the audio version and enjoyed the narrator and how the book was read.

Thanks to netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the arc.

This is a mystery with 4 characters at the center that you follow and who are all connected in multiple ways. It took me a bit to keep straight who was who and how they were connected to the next character, but also the mystery is focusing on their connections and the reveals make it even more confusing, yet I didn't mind. The other main focus of the book is mother-daughter relationships which was really interesting, even if I wasn't the biggest fan of it at points. That being said this is my favorite Alice Feeney I've read (I say as I've only read one other).

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Edith was tricked into giving up her legal rights and was forced into a care home for the elderly. She has made very few friends there, but one of them is Patience, a young girl who works for the care home. But Patience hasn’t been honest with Edith about many things, and it’s only a matter of time before those secrets force their way into the light.

This work is told from the POV of four characters, all women, all of whom have complicated relationships with their mothers. This theme was probably my favorite part of the work, and I especially liked its exploration in Clio’s and Edith’s POVs. I did enjoy how all the seemingly unconnected stories started coming together towards the middle of the read, especially since I wasn’t sure how it was going to work. I also liked how well the author incorporated small lines that were ambiguous or slightly misleading, so it made it difficult to know exactly how folks were connected.

Often at end of someone’s POV there would be something along the lines of “If only they knew how bad I really was” or something like that. I did find that it got a little repetitive and that it didn’t really build suspense. I know that the author couldn’t reveal those secrets too soon or it would have ruined the journey, but the constant references to them made me want the characters to hurry up and spit out their secrets or at least stop referencing them so often without providing more context. I honestly wanted a bit more from the care home mystery/subplot and think making it a heftier part of the story would have resulted in a more impactful read.

Publishers are going to give readers trust issues with this mislabeling of books as thrillers. This is a good slightly suspenseful mystery that begins slowly and is focused on the characters and involves a lot of domestic drama; do not read this expecting a thriller. My thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This whole book was a rollercoaster of a read. There was so many ups and downs, twists and turns, it was crazy. I had figured out some of the twists about halfway through the book as the storylines started coming closer and closer together, but there were still some shock factors at the end of the book that had my jaw on the floor. In typical Alice Feeney, queen of twists, fashion, she had me hooked until the very end. I was so enthralled with these women in this book, I loved learning about them and their pasts, I wanted to find out what happened and I was on the edge of my seat hoping all would turn out okay for them. I am so amazed at how Alice Feeney is able to write the plot from so broad and mysterious, to so revealing and shocking. She will never fail to amaze me. I have to read more by Alice Feeney, I am so thankful I got the chance to listen to this ahead of release. Highly recommend to Alice Feeney fans, women's mystery fans, and thriller fans everywhere.

Alice Feeney never disappoints when it comes to deliciously twisty thrillers and she really delivers with her latest, Good Bad Girl!

The story revolves around several women. First, there's Frankie, a prison librarian and who is distraught because her teen daughter has gone missing. Then there's Edith, an 80-year old whose children tricked her into moving into a care home, and Patience, a young woman who works at the care home, and who Edith convinces to help her escape since she hates it there. Lastly, there's Clio, who is Edith's daughter and a psychologist. Edith clearly can’t stand Clio.

What drives the plot of the story are two events from two Mother's Days 20 years apart. The first Mother's Day features an infant that was stolen from a shopping cart in a grocery store, while the second one features a murder at the care home.

How are these two seemingly unrelated events connected and how are these women connected to one another and to those two events?

I will say up front that this is a slow burn mystery. It took me some time to really settle in and watch all of the seemingly unrelated pieces start to piece themselves together. What Feeney does so incredibly well though is that her characters are so well developed and multi-dimensional that you become wholly invested in learning everything about them. These characters, as the title implies, are basically good but flawed people. They're dealing with fractured relationships and all of them are keeping secrets. That level of character development, combined with a riveting mystery had me more than willing to patiently follow the clues wherever they led me.

I don't want to say anything else for fear of spoilers, so I'll just say that while it may be a slow burn, the payoff is so worth the wait. I didn't see any of the twists coming and was enthralled until the very end.

I listened to the audio ALC from @macmillan.audio & @netgalley & it was fantastic. The narrators, Katherine Press and Stephanie Racine did a wonderful job bringing all of these characters to life.

4 1/2 STARS

Three suspects, two bodies, one woman in the pink house.
Good Bad Girl follows Cleo, Patience, Edith, and Frankie. Four women who seem to think they have nothing in common, but as they are each investigated as suspects in the murder of Edith’s care home manager, secrets come to light, and no one is who they seem to be.
I really enjoyed listening to this audiobook, although it was a little slow at times. I found myself being more drawn into the plot, and trying to figure out who murdered Joy, and why Frankie left the old, crumpled £10 note on Cleo’s wall. Why did Frankie’s daughter run away? Whose secret was Patience keeping? Whose blood was on the brass statue that Edith hid in the church? Why did Frankie find the woman in the pink house?
Telling each chapter from alternating viewpoints kept the reader (listener) guessing, and as the storylines came together, I was definitely surprised by the ending. Definitely recommend!

𝘛𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘺, 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵-𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳!

I love when a story takes me by surprise and this one sure did. It was dark, disturbing, twisty and so clever, only Fenney can develop these kind of messed up characters and complex plots that keep you guessing until the end.

Thank you Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for this complimentary audiobook.

𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗕𝗮𝗱 𝗚𝗶𝗿𝗹 by Alice Feeney releases today August 29, 2023.

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