I picked up this book because I remembered it being compared with Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train at the time the book came out.
I was on the lookout for the next great thriller, and so when I saw this book at the library I picked it up in all excitement.
So is the book worth the hype? Read on to find out.
About the Book
One night, Mia Dennett enters a bar to meet her on-again, off-again boyfriend. But when he doesn’t show, she unwisely leaves with an enigmatic stranger. At first Colin Thatcher seems like a safe one-night stand. But following Colin home will turn out to be the worst mistake of Mia’s life. When Colin decides to hide Mia in a secluded cabin in rural Minnesota instead of delivering her to his employers, Mia’s mother, Eve, and detective Gabe Hoffman will stop at nothing to find them. But no one could have predicted the emotional entanglements that eventually cause this family’s world to shatter.An addictively suspenseful and tautly written thriller, The Good Girl is a propulsive debut that reveals how even in the perfect family, nothing is as it seems.
~ Synopsis from goodreads
My Review
So, I went into this book expecting a chilling, twisted kind of story similar to Gone Girl. But it’s not like Gone Girl at all – not one bit. And I am sick of every other thriller with variations on the name Girl, Woman, and so on, getting compared to Gone Girl. The publicists are doing a huge disservice to the writers in my opinion – diluting the value of the original book. The new authors also have impossibly high standards to live up to, and most books crumble under these towering expectations.
Still, I liked The Good Girl on its own merits. No, it’s not particularly thrilling. From the very beginning of the book, we know what happens to Mia. The various people involved – Colin – the kidnapper, Eve – the mom, and Gabe – the detective narrate the story as they experience it.
I liked the use of the multiple narratives in this story. I also liked the development of the relationship between Colin and Mia. The author did a good job with hooking the reader in and having them crave for the end of every chapter, just so they could see what was going on in the next one. The characters were realistic I was drawn into their lives and this again, was great.
What I didn’t like was how tamely everything ended, and the completely illogical epilogue tagged on to the story. I am guessing the original book was too tame. And the editors persuaded the author to throw in a twist at the end to make it more thrilling. But the ending just didn’t work for me.
Still, overall, this book is quite a nice one. If you prepare yourself for the lame ending and lower your expectations a little, it makes for a very good timepass aka airport read. Knowing this was the author’s first book, I”ll give her a pass on this one, and will read other books by her before I decide whether she is going to be my next Gillian Flynn. Those standards are high!
Buy a copy of this book from Amazon.
