Good Me Bad Me by Ali Land

Good Me Bad Me by Ali Land is a debut novel and a gripping psychological thriller. From the first page, I was lured into the dark places of a twisted and disturbed mind. The mind of Milly, who used to be Annie, and the story of the abuse she suffered at the hands of her mother a serial killer of children. Milly has seen and heard what no one should have to…. especially a child.

The story opens as Annie, at the age of fifteen, finally reaches a breaking point and turns her mother into the police. She tells the detective what happens in her home. What her mother does. She gives him a bloody piece of clothing and a teddy bear. She is scared. As promised, they come in the middle of the night and arrest her mother. She is given a new name, Milly, and a great foster family. They tell her how lucky she is to have a foster father like Mike, who is a psychologist. He will help her with the trauma and prepare her for the trial against her mother where she is the key witness.

Milly is desperate to have a new life. She wants to be good, but for her to achieve this, she and others must feed the good wolf inside her not the bad. As she starts to settle into life with Mike, his wife Saskia and their daughter Phoebe, she discovers that her new foster family is dysfunctional. Despite Mike’s glowing reputation he is unable to deal with his own family’s problems.

Milly has her own set of problems. Besides the trauma, she has a new family, a new school, and her own guilt at not helping the murdered children.  Milly’s emotional problems escalate as her mother’s trial draws near and the press is whipping up a media frenzy.  She must keep her true identity a secret at all costs or she too will be swept up in the frenzy.

Unfortunately, this might not be possible. Phoebe and her group of friends from school start bullying Milly. Phoebe will stop at nothing to get back at Milly for the attention, that is rightfully hers, she is receiving from Phoebe’s parents. This includes exposing who she really is. Phoebe is feeding the bad wolf and there will be consequences.

From the beginning there is no doubt Milly is deeply traumatized and psychological damaged. You just don’t realize the breath and scope until the end. This made for a very complex character that you wanted to see something good happen to after all the bad. The plot was expertly written with twists and turns that keep the reader engaged. Between the two it made for a book that was hard to put down. I promise, you WILL be reading well beyond your bed time.  It is hard to believe this is a debut novel. A seasoned novelist could not have done a better job.

I recommend Good Me Bad Me to all loves of psychological thriller.  A word of caution, though the author gives very little gory details about the abuse Milly suffers or the torture and death of her mother’s victims, you still have enough information to at least be shocked if not disturbed.

Disclosure: I received an ARC from Flatiron Books in exchange for my honest review.