Thank you so much netgalley for this early release audiobook! Unfortunately this was not my favorite Alice Feeney book. It missed the wow factor this others seemed to have

Feeney’s books are always suspenseful. Good Bad Girl gives us short chapters that end in a cliffhanger, so that it’s impossible to stop reading. This is the story of four women (and a very, very nasty man). They are all at a different stage of their lives and hiding monumental secrets. The clues are revealed little by little, slotting into place perfectly. They have all committed terrible acts, but were they doing bad things for the right reasons or good things for the wrong ones? The novel explores motivations and how someone who may seem evil may actually be a good person. I kept rooting for one character only to hate her after the next reveal, changing my mind again and again throughout the story. The two really bad people here are maybe a little stereotypical, but I liked the rest of the supporting characters, including a prison inmate and the detective who becomes involved in the case. Extra points for adding Dickens, an adorable, elderly pooch. Katherine Press and Stephanie Racine are so good at creating a full cast of characters, all with their own recognizable voices, that I was convinced that there was a whole team of narrators, instead of just two excellent performers. The plot sometimes requires a little suspension of disbelief, since some of the coincidences strain credulity, but I was so invested in the story that I didn’t mind. I loved the ending.
I chose to listen to this audiobook and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/# Macmillan Audio!

Mystery, murder, and Mother’s Day take the main stage in Alice Feeney’s latest, Good Bad Girl. The book raises the question, “What can make a good person do bad things?”

Strap in for family drama, the unraveling of a twenty-year-old kidnapping case, and flashbacks and clues peppered along the way. Feeney delivers four points-of-view here, leaving the reader to decipher which narrators are reliable and which are serving their own agenda, which are bad girls that do good things and which are good girls that have done bad things.

I listened to the audiobook version, and the narration by Katherine Press and Stephanie Racine had me hooked. I devoured this book in one day at 2x speed. I did not want to put it down.

And, as typically happens for me with an Alice Feeney book, I wanted to start it all over again at the conclusion to see how she weaves the crumbs and clues into the story while knowing how it ends.

I received an advance copy of the audiobook from Macmillan Audio and NetGalley. All review opinions are my own.

"Sometimes bad things happen to good people, so good people have to do bad things."

"Good Bad Girl" is a thrilling mystery about mothers and daughters. On Mother's Day twenty years ago, a baby was taken. In the present day, it's Mother's Day again. Frankie hasn't heard from her daughter since she ran away one year ago and is struggling. Meanwhile, Edith was tricked into moving into a care home by her daughter, Clio, and is plotting her escape. Edith befriends Patience, a young woman who works at the care home. When someone is murdered at the care home, the four women's lives are intertwined. They must solve a mystery with three suspects, two murders, and one victim. If they do, they might find out what happened to the baby twenty years ago, the mother who lost her, and the connections that bind them.

This was my first Alice Feeney novel, and I absolutely devoured it! I listened to the entire audiobook in less than a day. There were so many twists and turns that I never knew what was going to happen next. While a few twists were predictable, some made me audibly gasp. This story is told from the POVs of the four women, Frankie, Edith, Clio, and Patience. I really enjoyed the narration by Stephanie Racine and Katherine Press, who did a great job distinguishing the four main characters. Overall, a captivating mystery with intriguing mother-daughter drama that I highly recommend. I am excited to read more from Alice Feeney!

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC in exchange for an honest review.

I feel like Alice Feeney's books are hit or miss and this one was a miss for me. The beginning was hard to follow and confusing before you get to know the characters. Once everything is established, the book kind of drags on and is all over the place. I didn't really see what the whole point of the story was. Everything seemed pretty predictable from the start so there was no shock for me at the end.

3.5 stars

Fans of Feeney and newer folks to her works will be mostly happy with this recent effort, but they may also predict exactly where it's going earlier than they'd like. If you're the kind of person who really thrives on getting tricked and misguided in a thriller/mystery, well, you may have to trick yourself this time.

There are a lot of characters at play, and they all have complicated relationships. They also all present a very basic dichotomy: being bad and good at different stages and in different ways. While some of their motives are positive, this is not quite a universal trait. Because of the way information gets disseminated, readers may find themselves mildly confused at the start, but that uncertainty will resolve too quickly. There are a couple of clues/details that are just so obvious, and I wished for a stronger red pen (or at least a COMMENT IN CAPS!) on those. This noted, the pacing kept me relatively engaged, and the audio is compelling enough.

Are die-hard fans going to rave that this is their favorite of Feeney's? Maybe not, but most who come to this gathering of *good bad girls* will be glad they attended (and that they got to do so from the outside).

The first chapter hooked me in, but the ending did not payoff. There were too many POVS, the twists were predictable, and the story dragged. The narration was good, but only one of the POVs had a different voice. It would have been easier to follow if the voices were more distinct. I also didn't like how the trauma involving motherhood was handled. Even though the story was long, the way everything was wrapped up at the end felt rushed and unearned. I think thriller lovers will enjoy this book, but it didn't work for me.

It was good but just very predictable. I think this book confirmed my dislike of Alice Feeney's books. I've never really been a person who likes these family domestic thrillers so I don't know why I put myself through this stuff when I know I don't really like them.


I did however like the writing and set up of the book.

Easy easy easy 5 stars!

🐞Ahh that was the most fun I've had reading a book in a long time! Every single sentence was worth reading slowly and every detail mattered. I took more notes while reading this book than any fiction book ever!

🐞I really took my time to understand what was going on and still finished in less than 3 (very busy) days.

🪨📃✂️Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney is one of my favorite thrillers of all time and this one either tied with it or topped it!

🐞There's not much I can say without spoilers, but you should definitely go in blind and trust the process on this one!

🙈Also, I saw a ladybug on my wall while reading this (first time all year) and once you read it, you'll understand how crazy that is! 🐞

👌I'm so glad Alice just posted that she finished book 7 to be released in 2024 because I already have no patience (inside joke here, iykyk) for it.

The narration is absolute perfection! Stephanie Racine reads most of Alice Feeney's books and I loved the addition of Katherine Press, they are both beyond talented and easy to listen to!

📆This one will be released on August 29, 2023!

🥰Thank you so much to Macmillan Audio for the gifted audiobook!

Well done Alice Feeney! This book wonderfully narrated by Katherine Press and Stephanie Racine is full of twists and turns and keeps you guessing all the way through. No one is who you think they really are and as the story goes between present day -real time and 18 years prior you think you know how it will unfold... but you've probably got it all wrong. Well worth the time spent listening. Thank you to Net Galley and MacMillan Audio for this ARC.

Alice Feeney never fails to surprise me. Each of her books feels distinct as she isn’t afraid to try something new. GOOD BAD GIRL takes Feeney’s signature cleverness into domestic suspense territory as she explores mother-daughter relationships with a kidnapping of a child and a murder in a nursing home.

The story lacks the page-turning thrills of her previous books, but it makes up for it with fully developed characters and a thoughtful portrayal of postpartum depression. Feeney challenges readers to consider what it means to be a “good” mother.

I thoroughly enjoyed the story on audio and found it easy to follow. The dual narrators brought the characters to life in a fun way. Fans of Sally Hepworth won’t want to miss this one!

RATING: 4/5
PUB DATE: August 29, 2023

Many thanks to Macmillan audio and NetGalley for an ALC in exchange for an honest review.

Mother’s Day means different things to different people. To some it’s a day of celebration, to others it’s a reminder of the worst days of your life. 20 years ago on Mother’s Day a baby was stolen from a stroller. Now, two murders exactly 20 years later, are opening up old wounds from the kidnapping and have unknowingly tied four women together. 80-year-old Edith is convinced she doesn’t need to be living in a nursing home while her estranged daughter Clio is struggling to cover the financial cost of the home and keep her life together. 18-year-old Patience, as a caretaker at the nursing home, has developed fond feelings for Edith but is also searching for answers on her past. Lastly, prison librarian Frankie is convinced Clio knows where her runaway daughter is and is determined to find her. All four of these women have secrets, and this Mother’s Day they’re all about to be revealed.

In Good Bad Girl, Feeny tackles the complex dynamics of mother daughter relationships, and she has certainly crafted some unique and interestingly flawed characters. I found all our main narrators to be both unlikable and likable at the same time but while I felt they were well crafted, the different POVs and not fully understanding how they were connected gave the story a slow start. The web Feeney was laying out for us with these characters was almost too complex which made the first half of the book feel slow. Once I finally started to make connections, I had lost some of my initial interest in the story.

Something that could be triggering for some people but that I appreciated in this story as a new mom, is Feeney’s portrayal of postpartum depression and what it means to be a good mother. As a newer mom, I’m finding myself to be very vocal about the struggles women face in the 4th trimester and on. Even though this is a thriller with a kidnapping, I feel strongly that the more we see these topics in mainstream media the more likely we are to see change in the way society stigmatizes new moms. But this could certainly be a Trigger Warning for some people.

I’m ashamed to say that while I have copies of Daisy Darker and Rock Paper Scissors, this is my first Alice Feeney book. I think with most her books it’s good to just dive into the story without any context and so I’m glad that’s what I did here. While I did enjoy this book, the complexity of the plot bordered on confusing resulting in 3.5 stars rounded up to a 4-star rating.


Good Bad Girl comes out August 3, 2023. Huge thank you to Flatiron Books for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion. If you liked this review please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my instagram @speakingof.books.

OMG. Alice Feeney, you've done it again.
I literally SCREAMED when I opened this piece of book mail... Like how did I get so lucky to receive an ARC from ALICE FRIGGIN FEENEY, the wizard herself??? I am so thankful to Flatiron Books for thinking of me, and YOU KNOW I had to drop everything and read this one in less than 24 hours because that's how I roll as a mood reader.

In proper Alice Feeney form, we have a multi-POV tale where it's pretty confusing at first, but strap in because this is one hell of a story. 20 years ago, a baby was stolen from her buggy, leaving the mother to go mad, as she should. Fast forward into the present-day scenario, we have Edith who feels she was wrongfully placed in a care home, her daughter Clio who is just trying to make it work with her mother but can't seem to get ahold of their relationship. There is Frankie who is a prison librarian and has been keeping a huge secret and is dying to let it out to her therapist, who also happens to be Clio. And then we have Patience, who has run away from home and is staying in a gallery attic for free in exchange for information. She is also providing care for Edith in more ways than the average employee, including helping her to leave the home and reclaim what's rightfully hers.

That's a mouthful, but there's the setup. Of course, every character is lying and really good and being bad, as the title lets on. I won't spoil anything further, because I know how anticipatory this book is, but take my word for it. You don't want to pass this one up.

Good Bad Girl is set to hit shelves on August 29 -- so get your pre-orders in now yall.

I enjoyed this one. I love when an author keeps you guessing about the lives in the boos. This one connecting 3 women for different reasons. It too me a second to keep straight who everyone was, but once I did it had a nice pace and a good story.

Edith is a reluctant patient in a nursing home, Patience works in the home helping care for the residents. Edith thinks she’s found a kindred spirit, not realizing that Patience is lying to her. When the truth comes out, there’s no more reason for pretense, but the two women must rely on each other to sort out the past and keep another tragedy from occurring. Feeney is the queen of plot twists and her latest doesn’t disappoint

This book leans more towards the family drama/ domestic suspense side rather than a psychological thriller, so I was not as shocked by any of the major twists. Still, the story was fast paced, clever and engaging. I loved the multiple POVs and how with time, each narrator’s story intersected in ways I did not fully expect. Plus, the short chapters made it easy to binge the book, as I was eager to find out the truth of what really happened.

Read if you like:
-Domestic suspense
-Slowburns
-Family drama
-Alternating POVs
-Sally Hepworth books

This was one of my most anticipated reads for 2023 and I really enjoyed the twisting and turning storyline.

This revolves around four women who are all more connected than they realize. I went into this one completely and I mean COMPLETELY blind… I knew Alice Feeney had a new book and I was already sold! I am glad I didn’t know anything, because the way this story unfolds was remarkable.

What happened when you do something bad for a good reason? That’s what this book really is about. Four women connected by their actions. And the ending had me REELING.

I thought this was narrated to perfection!