Member Reviews
An addictive and consuming sample of a book that I am now running to finish! I can already tell this will be another 5 star read by Tarryn Fisher!
I love Tarryn Fisher and was so excited to get approved for an advance reader copy of Good Half Gone through NetGalley. This book was very unpredictable. It keeps you guessing throughout the story and I was shocked at the crazy ending! I never would have guessed that! The first half of the book goes between past and present and then the remainder of the book is all about what is happening now.
Iris is searching for answers. When she was 15 years old her twin sister piper was taken and she never saw her again. She just wants to find closure for herself, her grandmother, and her son. She thinks she figured out who is responsible for her sister’s death and she takes a job at a mental hospital in the chance to confront who she thinks killed her sister.
This was a quick read that kept me on my toes! I really liked this book!
I have loved some of Tarryn Fisher's past books, but this one didn't do it for me at all. The writing felt YA-ish, which never works for me, and the plot was ridiculous. Will definitely be picking up her next one nevertheless, but this one was sadly a miss for me.
I am so disappointed this ARC was only the first bit of this book. I am looking forward to this being released so much so I can finish! Absolutely amazing, gripping, and the sneak peak has me at the edge of my seat! I can tell this is going to be a five star read and can’t wait to finish
Tarryn Fisher style... love the twists and turns and the way it kept my interest,. Good Half Gone, had me wanting to know what was going to happen next, but that ending... was like ... wait, what... what just happened. Good Half Gone tells the story of Iris's life in the aftermath of seeing her twin get kidnapped and how she seeks revenge or something like that...
"Good Half Gone" by Tarryn Fisher offers a gripping premise with Iris Walsh determined to uncover the truth about her twin sister's kidnapping. The setting of Shoal Island Hospital adds a layer of intrigue, reminiscent of psychological thrillers like "Shutter Island." The initial pace and Iris's quest for justice create a compelling narrative. However, the book falters with a disjointed structure, hopping between times and locations, causing confusion. The abundance of irrelevant details that don't contribute to the plot detracts from the overall experience
While the book's promising premise and initial momentum captivate readers, the execution falls short with a disjointed structure and an ending that, despite its shock value, leaves lingering questions. Despite these challenges, the engaging narrative and Iris's quest for justice make "Good Half Gone" a compelling read for those intrigued by psychological thrillers and mysteries.
This was the perfect little sample to get hooked! I was able to also get the full eARC and I absolutely loved it!
I have loved every single book that Tarryn has written. Marrow being my favorite. I love Tarryns gritty characters picking up the beautifully painted stone and showing the mud and worms that lie underneath.
For this book, I feel like I was immediately sucked in. I worried about Piper thinking about who took her and for what nefarious reason. Instead, the plot takes a hard turn, and after that, I started to see issues with the story line as a whole. Towards the end, it was nearly unbelievable.
I always love how Tarryns stories play out with some kind of lesson or deep dive into the psyche. This one I feel fell flat. I called the plot twist way too early in the story. I knew what was coming, so it felt dry when it happened.
Any of the OG Tarryn fans might remember Muslim. The mention of traffithecking made me believe that maybe Muslim was iris and pipers father, seeing as the drug riddled mom hated him so much.
While I wanted to know the ending, the story felt disjointed. Several times I checked that I hadn't skipped pages or missed something because I was slightly confused. The twist was predictable, and most of the characters unlikeable.
My review is based only on the partial download I received. I was excited to read this book but the book was cut short with only the first quarter of it available through the digital ARC. I was bummed as the book was getting very interesting and held my attention before being cut off. The characters were interesting as well as the storyline. Really hope I get to finish this one one day as I couldn’t wait to see what she discovered at her internship at the insane asylum. I love Tarryn Fisher and will be getting this one when its available.
Thank you so much to Tarryn Fisher and Graydon House Books for my copy of Good Half Gone. It was about Iris, a girl who watches her twin get abducted and no one takes her seriously. She spends the next decade in a pursuit of justice, ending up with an internship on Shoal Island Hospital for the criminally insane. She has taken matters into her own hands and is trying to get close to the man she believes killed her sister. Leaving her grandmother and son at home, she works to get into the secure unit where the most dangerous criminals are kept. But there are roadblocks, and Iris has to be careful or she will be in just as much trouble as her sister was.
Thoughts: I AM SO TORN ON THIS BOOK. On one hand, the premise was freaking amazing. I loved the setting of an island with a psych hospital. It felt like Shutter Island in the best way and I couldn’t wait for the book to actually get to that part. I loved Iris’s back story and her search for justice. The book started off fast and kept my attention throughout the story.
Now the other side. OMG. OMG. First of all, there were so many details thrown in that were totally irrelevant and never came back to mean anything. The story was super disjointed and would hop around to different times and locations without warning and that made the story confusing. But mainly, the ending made no sense. There were so many things that I could argue on why this ending is actually implausible and I think Fisher wanted to lead us there, but it was not a good journey. It was thrown in for shock value but literally WHY. There were so many plot holes. Okay. Well anyway, I give it 3 stars but it could have easily been 5!
For some reason this book only showed me three chapters. I was intrigued by the premise of a twin being kidnapped and no one taking the other twin seriously. I will follow up to continue the book when it’s released.
Wow! Very intriguing
I did not realize this was only the first two chapters
Very interesting and I can’t wait to read more!
I absolutley cannot wait to read this book. The Preview was amazing and I am already hooked Tarry is such an amazing author and able to captivate like no other!!
Another shocking read from Tarryn fisher. Twist after twist just kept pummeling me. I'm always a fan of her dramatics
Good Half Gone is descriptive of this novel in more ways than one. Perhaps during the editing process the Good Half of this novel was chopped and is now Gone? Because there isn't much redeeming in this thriller. The summary sounds interesting (Iris is steadfast in finding out what happened to her twin sister Piper, who was kidnapped when they were teenagers, and she secures an internship on a remote island where she thinks her sister's killer resides), but the execution of the story is awful. Iris doesn't undergo much change or have much of a character arc. The plot is choppy. The ending comes from out of nowhere and the "twist" is so outlandish, I felt cheated. We spend more than half the book with Iris hiding from us who exactly it is at the prison that she is trying to connect with. Presumably this is done to create some suspense, but it doesn't; it just frustrates. Definitely not the best of Tarryn Fisher's novels.
Iris and Piper are identical, or monozygotic, twins. This means they have the same DNA and came from one fertilized egg splitting into two. Identical twins occur in about 3 out of 1,000 births. This number is consistent in all populations around the world.
Thank you Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the early opportunity to read and review this book.
Tarryn Fisher is one of those author's just sort of on the edges of my periphery. I always enjoy her books, and most are solid 5-star reads. Her previous book, An Honest Lie is excellent. This one wavers between a 4 and 5-star. The first part was a little slower than I'm used to from this author. It was still interesting, and I wanted to know what happened, but I there were a couple parts that I was not sure if it was past or present and I had a few questions. Now, about that second half or so........ hold on to your hat!! Yes, it definitely requires all suspension of belief, but it is so much fun, just go with it! Like a stone rolling down a hill, it just gets bigger and bigger. Iris is a teen at the movies with her twin. She witnesses her sister shoved into a car by two men. She is never seen again. No one, except her Gran, believes her sister was kidnapped. Police consider her a runaway and barely look. Years later, Iris takes a job at a mental institution on an isolated island searching for clues. Like I said, just go with it! I never saw where this one was going! I did guess a couple plot points, but nothing like what actually ended up happening! I am definitely looking forward to more from this author!
Thank you to #NetGalley, Tarryn Fisher and Harlequin Trade Publishing, Graydon House for this ARC. All opinions are my own.
I will publish my review to Amazon, Instagram and other retail and social media sites upon publication.
In the enchanting realms penned by the author, the twins' story, though captivating in its initial chapters, serves as a mere prologue to the expansive narrative yet to be unfurled. The snippets of their adventures tantalize the imagination, offering glimpses into a world rich with potential. However, the absence of the complete book leaves an ineffable desire, akin to an unfinished melody yearning for its final notes. The characters, poised at the brink of development, beckon for the reader to explore the untrodden paths of their journey, a journey that, regrettably, remains confined within the bounds of those few chapters. The unwritten pages hold the promise of revelations, resolutions, and emotional crescendos, a promise echoing in the hollowness left by the incomplete tale, fueling an insatiable craving for the comprehensive narrative that remains beyond reach.
🌟🌟🌟💫
A missing twin
Piper and Iris may be twins, but couldn’t be more different. Piper the popular one, Iris the follower. Now, after Iris witnesses Piper being kidnapped, no one will believe her. In fact, it takes the police days just to agree she may be missing. The case quickly goes cold.
Now years later, Iris has the chance to finally get answers. She believes she will find what she is looking for on an island off the coast of Washington state. In a hospital for the criminally insane. And her way in is through an internship for her masters program.
I wondered from beginning to end what this internship was for. It was never clear…psychologist? Nursing? She seemed to fill every position in the hospital, professional and otherwise.
I loved the premise of this book with the missing twin, but the execution was just off. I’m perfectly fine with suspending my believability, but the ending just didn’t add up.
It didn’t help that there were so many characters that started with the same first letter…which left me🤪.
I’m a huge fan of Tarryn Fisher, hopefully this was just a one off (for me) as others are loving it, so be sure to take a look at those reviews.
I know I’ll be reaching for her next.
A buddy read with Susanne.
Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing.
It pains me to give this book only 2 stars but my end statement stands true and I must be honest. I’ve enjoyed Fisher’s past books but this seemed like it was written by a completely different author. The story was very disjointed, jumping from one scene to the next without any points of transition. It was choppy and confusing. There was an abundance of extraneous details that did not enhance the plot and made it seem like it was going in a different direction, but not in a good way. I figured out the plot twist pretty easily but found the ending to be completely implausible to the point of being ridiculous. I won’t go into specifics and I urge other reviewers to make their own decisions since many have really liked this. It just wasn’t for me.