Book Review: Good Me Bad Me by Ali Land

Title: Good Me Bad Me
Author: Ali Land
Publisher: Penguin books
Release Date: 12th January 2017
Synopsis: Milly's mother is a serial killer. Though Milly loves her mother, the only way to make her stop is to turn her in to the police. Milly is given a fresh start: a new identity, a home with an affluent foster family, and a spot at an exclusive private school.

But Milly has secrets, and life at her new home becomes complicated. As her mother's trial looms, with Milly as the star witness, Milly starts to wonder how much of her is nature, how much of her is nurture, and whether she is doomed to turn out like her mother after all. nf

When tensions rise and Milly feels trapped by her shiny new life, she has to decide: Will she be good? Or is she bad? She is, after all, her mother's daughter.

Review: This was a book I was bribed to read. They gave me chocolate and it was shiny and quite frankly who could say no to that! I should point out that I openly and willingly choose to read this book, in fact I was in some what of a reading slump (i must sound like a broken record saying this) and I bumped this up the list because I hadn't read this type of genre for a while and I felt that it would give me the kick i needed. I liked it so much I organised an event between Ali and Sarah Pinborough just so I could talk about their books.

We're given premise and situation from the beginning, and so this allows for a beautiful unravelling of the effects but in true style you don't know all you think you know. Keeping me on my toes! It's a dark tale, one that sends shivers down your spine from the get go. 

Annie was faced with the enigmatic problem. Is she good or is the evil hereditary. This is a self inflicted problem that society doesn't help but in many ways makes worse. Its a beautiful problem to have to struggle with ( that sounds weird) because it drove the narrative forward and allowed you to get into the struggle of Annie. It is a grim gritty situation that is very real in its actualisation, born of Ali's experience. You want to be on team Milly you want to hug her but you are also weary of her. She was a tough nut to crack.

There are a number of books that have have those creepy characters that stick with you. The ones you see when you close you eyes (OK that's a slight exaggeration but you get where I'm going with it), that are just nasty. Enter Annie's mother. They had this deep connection and the level of possession and control that existed made me uncomfortable. You wanted to be a shield between them. It was this dynamic that had me gripped.   

And in any book here has to be a voice of good, a voice of reason and you had hope that would be Mike. Why couldn't it be Mike. I wanted to like him but in the end, he drove himself into a hole he couldn't get out of! His beginning was his undoing, and I think that was the point. You weren't supposed to like him. 

Mission accomplished...I'm looking forward to reading more from Ali.