Good Me, Bad Me by Ali Land Review

Title – Good Me, Bad Me

Author – Ali Land

Publisher/Published – Penguin Books / January 2017

Pages – 338

Genre – Thriller, Fiction, Mystery, Psychological Thriller

Summary From Goodreads – Good Me Bad Me is dark, compelling, voice-driven psychological suspense by debut author Ali Land.

How far does the apple really fall from the tree?

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.

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.

My Thoughts

5 out of 5 Stars

I received a copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Where do I even begin. This is the debut novel from the author Ali Land and I must say for it being her first book it is to me a great success. it was so well written and was one of the intense thrillers that takes you on a rollercoaster ride of emotions. This was such a thrilling read that I could hardly put down and just had to keep reading to find out what was going to happen.

The story is told from the POV of Annie who later becomes Millie. Annie is the daughter of a serial killer and decided after one of the children she was close to became a victim of her mother to tell the police what had been happening. From the first page this was epic, You get the feeling that Annie/Millie is not being completely truthful about something but just when you think you know what she is lying about a huge twist happens that makes you question everything you were thinking. I enjoyed the way the story was told, like it was the thoughts of Annie/Millie so sometimes the sentences were long and some were short one or two words.

This was an epic, thought provoking story that left you guessing right to the very end and the twist that happened at the end was so well done and made my jaw drop. I had to sit for a minute after I finished it to think about the ending.

I really hope the author will write more books because after reading this Ali Land has become one of my favourite authors. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys a mind bending, full of twists thriller.

 

The Red Ribbon by Lucy Adlington Review

Title – The Red Ribbon

Author – Lucy Adlington

Publisher/Published – Hot Key Books / September 2017

Pages – 304

Genre – Young Adult, Historical Fiction, War.

Summary from Goodreads – Rose, Ella, Marta and Carla. In another life we might have all been friends together. But this was Birchwood.

As fourteen-year-old Ella begins her first day at work she steps into a world of silks, seams, scissors, pins, hems and trimmings. She is a dressmaker, but this is no ordinary sewing workshop. Hers are no ordinary clients. Ella has joined the seamstresses of Birkenau-Auschwitz.

Every dress she makes could be the difference between life and death. And this place is all about survival.

Ella seeks refuge from this reality, and from haunting memories, in her work and in the world of fashion and fabrics. She is faced with painful decisions about how far she is prepared to go to survive.

Is her love of clothes and creativity nothing more than collaboration wth her captors, or is it a means of staying alive?

Will she fight for herself alone, or will she trust the importance of an ever-deepening friendship with Rose?

One thing weaves through the colours of couture gowns and camp mud – a red ribbon, given to Ella as a symbol of hope.

 

My Thoughts –

5 out of 5 Stars

I was lucky enough to win a copy of this book from Readers First.

I want to start by saying how beautiful the cover of this book is. The cover initially drew me to the book and when I received the copy I couldn’t get over how beautiful the book was both on the cover and the inside of the book. The dust jacket made the book look like a box and then there was details on the pages that tied in with the story. Such as the red ribbon, buttons, scissors and pins. So much attention to detail which I truly appreciated. Now onto the story, I found this story wonderful and captivating. I read in in two sittings because I just couldn’t put it down. I found the story beautiful, but there were also heart breaking moments and because I felt connected to the main character I was feeling what she was feeling. The story as a whole is beautiful, heart breaking but so well written and I highly recommend everyone to go out and read this book.

 

The Girl Before by J.P Delaney Review.

Title – The Girl Before

Author – J.P Delaney

Publisher/Published – Quercus / January 2017

Pages – 448

Genre – Thriller, Mystery, Fiction, Suspense

Summary from Goodreads – Enter the world of One Folgate Street and discover perfection . . . but can you pay the price?

Jane stumbles on the rental opportunity of a lifetime: the chance to live in a beautiful ultra-minimalist house designed by an enigmatic architect, on condition she abides by a long list of exacting rules. After moving in, she discovers that a previous tenant, Emma, met a mysterious death there – and starts to wonder if her own story will be a re-run of the girl before. As twist after twist catches the reader off guard, Emma’s past and Jane’s present become inexorably entwined in this tense, page-turning portrayal of psychological obsession.

My Thoughts:

3.5 Stars out of 5 Stars.

I had such a emotional ride whilst reading this. From feeing intrigued and captivated with the story to then being so angry and annoyed at it. I am going to put my initial review that I wrote when I read the book and this best sums up how I felt after I read it and also how I still feel about it.

I don’t know how I feel about this. Don’t get me wrong it’s a captivating story and the twist took me be surprise. Although I got sucked into the story there is just something about it that angered me but I can’t quite put my finger on it. Maybe it was the fact I disliked Edward so much, he annoyed me so much. I liked Emma’s character in the beginning but by the end I despised her. I did however like Jane’s character through out.

 

Friend Request by Laura Marshall Review

Title – Friend Request

Author – Laura Marshall

Publisher/Published – Sphere / July 2017

Pages – 384

Genre – Thriller, Mystery, Fiction, Suspense

Summary from Goodreads – When Louise Williams receives a message from someone left long in the past, her heart nearly stops.

Maria Weston wants to be friends on Facebook.

Maria Weston has been missing for over twenty-five years. She was last seen the night of a school leavers’ party, and the world believes her to be dead. Particularly Louise, who has lived her adult life with a terrible secret.

As Maria’s messages start to escalate, Louise forces herself to reconnect with the old friends she once tried so hard to impress. Trying to piece together exactly what happened that night, she soon discovers there’s much she didn’t know. The only certainty is that Maria Weston disappeared that night, never to be heard from again – until now…

My Thoughts:

5 out of 5 stars

So I want to start this off by saying that the thriller genre wasn’t a genre I would read often but I must say that this showed me how good thrillers can be and has started my love for the genre and I am reading a lot more thrillers than I ever did before.

This was a great read I found it captivating and kept me reading. I quite enjoyed the main character and did find myself on her side even after you find out what she did in the past. There were all sorts of twists and turns in the story and just when I thought I knew what was going on and thought I had got the plot a massive twist happened that left me so shocked. I did not expect the way the book ended and I was genuinely surprised by the ending.

Over all this was a really exciting, thrilling read that made me keep reading and wanting to know what would happen next. I highly recommend that you read this book. It isn’t a particularly long book so it can be read in no time at all.