Name: The Good Girl
Rating: 3.45906432748538 (171 reviews)
ISBN: 9780778317760

Mary Kubica

The daughter of a prominent Chicago judge and his socialite wife, inner-city art teacher Mia Dennett is taken hostage by her one-night stand, Colin Thatcher, who, instead of delivering her to his employers, hides her in a secluded cabin in rural Minnesota to keep her safe from harm.

The Good Girl

achei uma leitura bem mais interessante que A Outra, desde o começo eu queria saber o que tava acontecendo porque sabia que viria um plot twist muito bom. meu problema foi achar que o plot twist tava óbvio daí fui no google enquanto lia o último capítulo e tomei um spoiler faltando 10 páginas kkkkkkkk…

tirando isso, muito bom, ela sabe muito fazer plot twists chocantes e nada teria me preparado pra isso, já quero começar mais um dela. 

queria mais aspectos de suspense que nem em A Outra mas aqui o foco foi mais na relação entre eles e acho que no final isso faz sentido mas ainda gostaria de mais elementos de suspense quase terror. enfim, apenas expectativas minhas que não impactam na obra de fato, continua sensacional.

vivi

achei uma leitura bem mais interessante que A Outra, desde o começo eu queria saber o que tava acontecendo porque sabia que viria um plot twist muito bom. meu problema foi achar que o plot twist tava óbvio daí fui no google enquanto lia o último capítulo e tomei um spoiler faltando 10 páginas kkkkkkkk…

tirando isso, muito bom, ela sabe muito fazer plot twists chocantes e nada teria me preparado pra isso, já quero começar mais um dela. 

queria mais aspectos de suspense que nem em A Outra mas aqui o foco foi mais na relação entre eles e acho que no final isso faz sentido mas ainda gostaria de mais elementos de suspense quase terror. enfim, apenas expectativas minhas que não impactam na obra de fato, continua sensacional.

An addictively suspenseful and tautly written thriller. 'A tremendous read' - The Sun on The Good Girl Now optioned for a major movie by the company behind Winter's Bone, Babel, Being John Malkovich and the TV series True Detective. A compulsive debut that reveals how, even in the perfect family, nothing is as it seems... I've been following her for the past few days. I know where she buys her groceries, where she has her dry cleaning done, where she works. I don't know the colour of her eyes or what they look like when they're scared. But I will. Mia Dennett can't resist a one-night stand with the enigmatic stranger she meets in a bar. But going home with him might turn out to be the worst mistake of Mia's life... Don't miss Mary Kubica's next novel, Pretty Baby!

This was a fascinating psychological thriller that delves into the psyche's resilience against trauma and well as exploring how individuals can redeem themselves despite their flaws. It offers a compelling exploration of human complexity and the capacity for transformation. And naturally, the twists and turns will always have you guessing! 

Hannah Colbert

Fully boring until the last 15 pages. Gave away too much too soon with the timeline jumping between POVs. Without the epilogue, would’ve been a 1-star and even that twist was somewhat foreseeable. None of the characters seemed likable at all.  Enjoyed local woman missing so much more. 

Paige Paul

Rebecca Shaffer

I really tried to enjoy this book, but just couldn't. It started out OK, but as the book went on I became more & more disinterested in the characters, and found the writing style annoying. I couldn't connect with anyone in the book except for Eve, the mother, and even that was a stretch. Then the plot twists towards the end were not inspired, and actually sad. The ending actually made me regret reading it all the way through. :(

Brittney Browne

While I don’t believe comparing it to Gone Girl is fair, this was an enjoyable read by itself. If you think it’s going to be Gone Girl, you’ll be disappointed. Yes, the Stockholm Syndrome was obvious from the beginning, but I’m not sure it was supposed to be a secret. From the time Colin and Mia meet its obvious that’s where this book will go. The before/after storytelling I also found enjoyable. The question was refocused to “will she “escape”?” To “how will this unfold? What happened in that cabin?” I was emotionally wrecked by the outcome and then the surprise at the end was just the icing on top. Maybe I should have seen it coming, but...oh well. 

I also thought the use of the 3 different perspectives really enhanced the storyline. I realized by the end that a character i thought i knew, Mia, as described through 2 of the characters, I actually didn’t know at all. 

This book left me thinking about it for days after i finished it - a sure sign of a good book for me.

Lauren Tabor

Celeste Richardson

For this and more of my reviews, as well as my friend Petrik's reviews, check out my new blog, Novel Notions. 

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

Wow. I definitely didn’t see that ending coming.

Have you ever read a book where the last chapter completely changes the entire book for you, and how you view all of the events that preceded it? That’s what happened to me with this book. Before that final chapter, I found the book compelling, but honestly kind of predictable. This is the story of a kidnapping, told from the perspectives of three people: the mother of the kidnapped girl, the detective on the case, and the kidnapper. Each chapter is from one of these perspectives, from either before or after an unspecified event. 

Getting multiple sides and angles of the story like this maintained my interest. The back and forth flow of the timeline kept me from ever bogging down in the story. When the book first started, it felt like none of the characters, the kidnapped Mia included, had many endearing qualities. While they might look good externally, there was so much whining and self-pity and fury from all sides that no one was very likable. All of these characteristics were completely understandable considering the circumstances, but made the characters unpleasant. 

The mother becomes maudlin and borderline crazy after the disappearance of her daughter, as I’m sure I would in her place. She strengthens as the book progresses, but she’s incredibly weak and full of denial in the beginning. The detective likes to throw his weight around too much in the beginning for me to enjoy his perspective, though he does improve throughout the book. The kidnapper is enraged and scared and way harsher than he needs to be, if only he would communicate with his captive a bit better. Again, this improves throughout the book.

As I stated earlier, while I found the story compelling there were very few surprises for me. There were things that were supposed to be twists that were hinted at and foreshadowed so strongly that I was basically just waiting for the characters to realize the things the reader already knew. But again, that final chapter provided a twists that I most certainly didn’t see coming, and it completely changed the book for me. I was honestly tempted to go back and reread the book, just because of that final chapter. 

There’s not much more I can say about the book without giving anything away. It’s so hard to write a good review for a mystery novel! I will say that, when it comes to modern mystery/suspense novels, I’ve read some that were better than this one, but I’ve read many more that were worse. I can see myself trying more of Kubica’s work in the future.

Brittany Womble

A true nail biter. I listed to the audiobook on a road tip and I couldn’t so much as pause it. I was always anxious to know “what’s next.” I thought I had it figured out until the very very end. I definitely recommend this if you enjoy thrillers and suspense. I will definitely be reading more from this author.

Arianna scasino

This book was so good, but certain parts felt like they were dragging.

Sarah S

I would never recommend this book. Very slow pace, no depth, and extremely predictable. If that wasn't enough, the multiple storyteller style of the novel was incredibly repetitive.

Waste of time.

Juliana Callahan

I rated this one 3.5 stars but I rounded it down to three. It was a very basic plot line, none of the characters felt particularly original and I didn't care for most of them. I will admit that the ending was quite shocking and that was what bumped this from a 2.5 to a 3.

Ally Wagner

This book ruined me. The plot twist at the end blind sighted me, but damn did it make sense. I was upset at what happened with the two of them and I’m a bitter as fuck.

Nikita Barsukov

Solid and engaging thriller / kidnapping story, excellent for a summer book. Most important twist is revealed at the epilogue, during the last 10 minutes, so don’t finish it too early. Extra points for a non-linear plot (you learn of how the kidnapping ends at the second chapter, 15 minutes or so after the start), and for surprising-but-not-so-surprising twists throughout the narration.

The Good Girl

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